A Day in the Life at the Hampton's

Thornburgh, Nathan. "INSIDE THE LIFE OF THE MIGRANTS NEXT DOOR." Time 167.6 (2006): 34-45. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 23 Nov. 2010.

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In Nathan Thornburgh’s opinion, illegal immigrants working in the Hampton’s are hard working people who deserve the chance to make their lives better. While comparing a small city in Mexico with New York’s wealthy Hampton’s, he believes both sides have benefited from immigrants, and both have paid a price. “They came with nothing, and many have managed to build a solid facsimile of middle-class American life.” Still, most of them “are--in the hard parlance of the immigration debate--illegal aliens.” Thornburgh writes, “Illegal immigrants are part of an emerging presence that was once seen as a blessing but has turned into one of the Hamptons' biggest controversies.” In his opinion, the wages in the U.S. are undeniably good for manual labor in the Hamptons. He mentions, as much as $15 an our for manual labor in the Hampton’s which is 10 times the rate for the same rate in Tuxpan Mexico. In Thornburgh’s opinion, the Hampton’s have long cultivated a climate, “of easygoing tolerance, and for years town leaders dealt with illegal immigration by simply looking the other way.” He believes that is changing, as the numbers grow larger and the complaints grow louder. According to Thornburgh, immigrants will always find themselves coming here, “Their safety comes in numbers: hundreds of thousands of migrants will always win a game of Red Rover with a little more than 11,000 border-patrol agents.”

This article is very important because you get to view immigration from an illegal alien’s point of view. The one theme that explains their arrival is their pursuit of happiness. To them being happy is feeding their children, and shelter. Thornburgh interviews and talks with some of the “better off” immigrants and stresses to his readers how hard and dangerous it is to get to America. After reading this article I personally gained a better respect for immigrants and their reasoning for finding their way to America and it has the potential to do the same for others. Thornburgh challenges his readers to put themselves in the shoes of these immigrants in order to better understand them. By explaining the domino effect immigrants’ fall into when one success story leads to 20 more immigrants attempting the same path, the readers can comprehend the huge number of migrants each year. “In 1985 he brought over his half brother Fernando. Fernando invited two friends, who started bringing their relatives. A handful became dozens. Dozens become hundreds.” This article helps form the reader’s opinion on immigration so that they may make wiser political and moral decisions in the future.

Alien Impact on American Economy

Nadadur, Ramanvjan. "Illegal Immigration: A Positive Economic Contribution to the United States." Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies July 2009: 1037-1052.

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Ramanujan Nadadur lays out the basic argument that illegal immigration has a positive impact on the US economy. Nadadur writes, “Classical economics holds that immigration benefits the host country because it subsides the labor supply.” Nadadur uses statistical facts and history of illegal immigration as a backdrop for his paper. He makes it seen that illegal immigrants positively contribute to the US economy as consumers in the market. “90 percent of the wages that the undocumented population earns are currently spent inside the US. As a result, “The total consumptive capacity of illegal immigrants remaining in the US is around $450 billion.” Nadadur notes many different arguments throughout the article. “Immigrants also positively benefit the economy by increasing demand, spurring investment, and keeping receiving-country industries competitive through enhancing capital productivity.” Nadadur acknowledges that “immigrants are more willing then legal immigrants and native workers to take jobs where high labor turnover and poor working conditions” and suggests that this may also be a hint to the US economic downfall.

Nadadur’s point of view is important because it addresses an issue the US is currently facing. The issues of illegal immigration and the economic crises in the US have been a continuous, and controversial topic among American’s. Some believe that illegal immigrants are a part of the economic downfall but Nadadur proves a greater good for these aliens. On top of educating the readers on immigration and the amount of money used to control the borders he makes us aware of the positive contributions they bring to the country. He suggests, “Allocating resources between the federal and state governments could help solve this dilemma.” By purposing the positive attributions illegal immigrants bring to the economy, Nadadur challenges his audience to consider how immigration is indeed a positive economic stimulant.