Name: Obil Samuel Flores Quintanilla

Course: Recent American History

Topic: Special Topic Paper about the topicCentral American Immigrants, a real U.S. challenge
in the 21st century (2000-to present).
Central American Immigrants are a real U.S. challenge in the 21st century. The immigration of
Central American people to the United States is a phenomenon that has deep historical and socio
political roots. After two decades of internal wars in the isthmus due to the influence of the
Soviet Union and the United States, poverty, misery and the estimate number of 300,000 deaths
between 1975 and 1991 were left. All these social phenomena were part of the causes of a
massive migration of Central Americans to the United States. Thousands of people left their
homes, family, and possessions looking for a better future and the American Dream. The Central
American Immigrant Population grew dramatically from 354,000 in 1980 to 1,134,000 in 1990
when the most difficult part of the crisis in the region had already past. However, the pattern of
migration did not stop there, but continued and grew during the subsequent years.
Much attention is paid to mistaken concepts about the problem that migration of Central
American people represents. Many people think that immigrants come to take job opportunities
of the U.S. citizens and therefore harm the American economy. Nonetheless, evidence and
official numbers show the opposite. Most immigrant people have a constructive monetary
influence on the U.S., adding $88,000 more in tax profits than what they consume. Likewise, the
capitalism economic system is strongly benefited as demand on products and services are raised
and when consumerism is increased. Consequently, immigration per se should not be considered
in terms of a challenge to face and defeat because it causes problems in economy. The real
challenge about illegal Central American immigrants is that they weaken the legal environment,
and consequently the national security of the United States. Because they enter in an illegal way,
they break the rules established by this country. Likewise, this type of immigration not only

promotes instability in the security system, but also it creates the enabling environment for
illegal actions. According to Kane, T. &Johnson K.A. (2006), The real problem with
undocumented immigrant workers is that floating the law has become the norm, which
makes the job of terrorists and drug traffickers infinitely easier (para. 18). Central
America and more specifically the Northern Triangle, which is a new term to refer to Guatemala,
Honduras, and El Salvador, is facing a crime wave due to the fight against gangs and cartels of
drug dealers. There are cases in which criminals run away from their countries in Central
America and find it easy to enter in the U. S.and continue committing crimes. Estimated
numbers state that three out of every one hundred people who live in the United States whether
have no documents or possess fake documents. This is a serious security problem.
Addressing this challenge is important to the United States because despite the fact that illegal
immigrants contribute with this country by paying State and local taxes, they do not contribute as
they should. According to the Institute Of Taxation and Economic Policy, contributions
would increase by$805 million under full implementation of executive actions and by $2.1
billion under comprehensive immigration reform (para 2). Furthermore, it is important to
the United States in terms of saving money. The cyclical process of capturing in borders and
deporting might sound something easy and cheap. Nevertheless, the 2015 budget of the
Department of Homeland (DHS) requested $229.1 million to make work related to deportations
only. In the same year, more than 100,000 Central Americans were caught crossing the borders
illegally. At the end, this tedious process represents a waste of money and effort which could be
avoided by creating an integral program of non-citizen workers in the country.
The topic of Central American immigrants is also important for the society in general for
security aspects. A country without demographic control is prone to cover all kind of criminals

and terrorists. Media is informing all the time about the delicate situation that Central America is
going through. For example, Guatemala is well known as a country in which impunity reigns
because of the corruption in the system of justice; El Salvador suffers the impact of two criminal
organizations called Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) and Barrio 18 (M-18). Honduras is known as the
murder capital of the world; there are 169 homicides per 100,000 residents. In Chicago, the most
violent city of the U.S., the average murder rate is 15 per 100,000. It is important to state that
many of these criminal organizations have strong connections in the United States. So, when
they their members are persecuted in their home countries, they come to the U.S. to continue
committing crimes. More control is needed to avoid the entrance of harmful people.
If the United States fails to handle this issue, other effects would be also perceived in other
areas of the U.S. civil life. It is clear that Central American immigrants contribute to the
economy of this country. For example, In the last two decades, the U.S. economy has reflected
an increase in terms of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), this means that there is more production
per worker and more people working. Maybe it would be a mistake to attribute this growing to
the labor force of the immigrants, but there is an important point of analysis that can be taken
from this. An integral and intelligent immigration program will never kick the productive
immigrants out, but will offer the immigrant workers, whether legal or illegal, the opportunity to
work, generate wealth, and be part of a dignified status as a non-citizen visitor worker. However,
this integral program also has to take into consideration people who are not productive for
society and become a charge of others.
There is discontent for the increase in job rivalry with low-skilled workers. If the United
States fails to handle the immigration topic carefully, this discontent will get worse than it is
now.

In social media there are thousands of opinions which claim that this lack of control is leading
down salaries and conditions of theAmerican workers. Today, more than never in history; the
existence millions of people, who live illegally in the United States, represents a powerful
workforce that degrades the work conditions and discourages Americans to go to the field of
work. For example, when employers have to decide between a low-qualified immigrant and an
American technician, most of them focus on how much they will have to pay to them. Obviously,
the low-qualified worker is going to request a lower salary and the employer will be grad to pay
less. Therefore, this situation makes employers more reliant on an unlawful and alien labor force.
Besides, employers get used to offer low pay and deplorable conditions which is not fair for
someone that has studied hard during years to be a professional on a field. In the long term, the
most affected ones are going to be Americas poorest workers. In addition, if the U.S. authorities
do not take concrete actions, massive immigration will be used as a covering for criminals.
If the U.S. handles it successfully, areas like economy, security, control on borders will result
very benefited. The Central American immigrants are a very active and hardworking population.
According to the Migration Policy Institute (YEAR) 87% of Central Americans between
18 to 64 years old are employed workers in the civilian labor force (p. 9). With regulations,
and a new inclusive policy the economy would be boosted to incredible levels. Also, a more
formal status would make the workers contribute with taxes and they would stop making use of
services that they do not pay for. That would also help to bring equality among the whole
population that lives in this country.
Another advantage that could be gotten from a careful attention to the challenge of
Immigration is Security. A better control of who goes in and out of the country is the ideal
process to avoid the entrance of people who committed crimes in their home countries.

Moreover, nobody doubts that the U.S. has many enemies around the world that would make
terrorist attacks if they could. Maybe sad actions will not be eradicated at all, but the authorities
will be able to identify who the responsible are.
RESOURCES
Galeano, E. (1973, 1997). Open Veins of Latin America. New York, NY: Siglo XXI Editores
Main, A. (2014, July 8). Misguided U.S. policies fuel immigration crisis. Washington Times, The
(DC). Retrived from http://www.washingtontimes.com
Foot, R. (n.d.).The Cold War and human rights. Retrieved from
http://phobos.ramapo.edu/~theed/Cold_War/y%20Cambridge%20C%20W%20vol%203/Ch
%2021%20The%20Cold%20War%20and%20human%20rights%20ROSEMARY%20FOOT.pdf
Kane, T. &Johnson K.A. (2006). The Heritage Foundation: The Real Problem with
Immigration... and the Real Solution. Retrieved from http://www.heritage.org
Institute of Taxation and Economic Policy (2016, February 24). Undocumented Immigrants'
State and Local Tax Contributions. Retrived from http://www.itep.org/immigration/
Migration Policy Institute. (2015, September 2). Central American Immigrants in the United
States. Retrieved April 1 , 2014 from http://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/central-americanimmigrants-united-states