Jake Pellegrino

Writing 106-Dr. Holder

Paper #2: Information
October 23, 2014
Ethics in Illegal Immigration

There are millions of illegal immigrants living the U.S. today seeking better education,

better jobs, better government, and more opportunities. Illegal immigrants often enter the U.S.

and start a family but can have their parents deported back to their home countries if they are

caught, these parents often try to come back into the country again illegally to see their kids

who are safe because they were born in the U.S., and if caught again can spend years in jail. Do

illegal immigrants deserve jail time for trying to reunite with their families or find better

opportunities to have a greater life? Ethics in illegal immigration is a big issue in the U.S. and

the result of many factors. One factor is the moral views people have on illegal immigrants

coming into their countries.

In the article, Is Illegal Immigration Moral, by Victor Davis Hanson, National Review

Online (2010), the author explains four main ideas that debate the morality and the effects

illegal immigration has on America. Hanson explains the moral ramifications of a legal

immigrant who went through the lengthy and costly process of obtaining citizenship, was he

silly to follow the laws (1)? If it is deemed ethical to grant in-state tuition discounts to illegal-

immigrant students, is it equally ethical to charge three times as much for out-of-state,

financially needy American students (1). Hanson explains that illegal immigrants break the law

and often have to keep ignoring more laws, does this mean that American Citizens should also

be allowed to break laws or pick which ones they want to follow?

 In the article Amnesty, by John F. Kavanaugh, America (2008), the author explains that

Americans should let immigrants into the country instead of turning the cold shoulder.

Kavanaugh states the North American Free Trade Agreement is benefiting the most powerful

and technologically advanced, has threatened farmers and their communities in South America

who cannot compete with the heavily subsidized producers forcing many to flood into the U.S.

(3). Kavanaugh explains that many immigrants come to America to escape the harsh area they

came from. We should welcome immigrants instead of turn them away and face the fact that

we are not a nation of Judeo-Christian values but a nation with self-interested people hiding

under the protection of lesser, human-made laws (13).

In the article Why illegal immigrant is a slur, by Charles Garcia, CNN.com (2012), the

author explains the Arizona immigration case, now people in Arizona cannot use the words

illegal immigrants and illegal aliens unless quoting an outside source (1). Thomas Hrach

conducted a study of 122,000 news stories to see what words were being used to describe

people coming into the country without status, 89% of the time writers used the biased terms

illegal immigrant and illegal alien (2). New York Times editorial writer Lawrence Downes

says illegal is often a code word for racial and ethnic hatred. This case shows the different

view the U.S. has towards people coming into the U.S. without citizenship.

In the article Scholars Discuss Ethics of U.S. Immigration Reform, by Andrew Duncan,

law.virginia.edu (2007), the author explains that economic uncertainty and social

transformation have blurred Americas ideas about immigration and racial identity and have led

to moral issues about why America has certain duties to immigrants coming into the country

(1). The immigration debate tends to be very much focused on specific reforms, but when
issues of ethics or race are brought up, they often are brought up accidentally or in

embarrassing ways. Immigration is often viewed as negative for the economy and employment

because immigrants often work at lower wages and these are some debates concerning the

U.S. Immigration Policy will often hear (1). The U.S. does not want to deal with another

immigration issue similar to the Chinese or the Haitians, so the U.S. is trying to find the most

moral way to deal with the sudden influx of people coming into the country.

In the article Carroll: Ethics role in issue of illegal immigration, by Archie Carroll,

onlineathens.com (2007), the author states three ethics principles about illegal immigrants and

how they and their employers are unethical. The most important of the three principles Carroll

states is the one explaining how employers are fueling the immigration issue. He explains how

ethics are brought up when talking about illegal immigrants and how business ethics are often

brought up because the employers who hire these immigrants are one of the main reasons

behind the immigration problem (1). One thing is clear: The majority of American citizens think

the problem is critical. A Time magazine poll found that 63 percent of those surveyed think the

problem is extremely or very serious. If businesses do not start to become accountable for

hiring illegal immigrants then illegal immigration will continue to be a serious problem.

Ethics in illegal immigration is a big problem in the U.S. Many factors contribute to the

ethical problem in illegal immigration, the racial slurs used by many which affect legal as well as

illegal immigrants. If ethical views on illegal immigration is to be solved then people need to

accept immigration instead of deny it.

 Work Cited

1. Victor Davis Hanson. Is Illegal Immigration Moral. National Review Online. 26 November

2010. Web.

2. Kavanaugh, John. Amnesty, America. 10 March 2008. Print.

3. Garcia, Charles. Why illegal immigrant is a slur, CNN.com. 6 July 2012. Print.

4. Duncan, Andrew. Scholars Discuss Ethics of U.S. Immigration Reform, law.virginia.edu. 23

February 2007. Web.

5. Carroll, Archie. Carroll: Ethics role in issue of illegal immigration, onlineathens.com. 4

February 2007. Web.