US immigration debate

Illegal immigration to the United States is the entry into the United States of foreign nationals without government permission, and in violation of United States immigration laws. Foreign nationals are also illegal immigrants if they continue to be in the country after their visa, or other authority to enter or be in the country, has expired. The United States nearly had open borders until 1924, which meant that all immigrants to the United States up to that point were legal. The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 and a few other modest border regulations were enacted in the 1870s and 1880s. The Immigration Act of 1924 established visa requirements and enacted quotas for immigrants from specific countries.

The most recent estimates put the number of unauthorized immigrants at 11 million in 2015, representing 3.4% of the total U.S. population. The population of unauthorized immigrants peaked in 2007, when it was at 12.2 million and 4% of the total U.S. population. Illegal border crossings are at the lowest levels they have been in decades. In 2014, unauthorized immigrant adults have lived in the U.S. for a median of 13.6 years, with approximately two-thirds having lived in the U.S. for at least a decade. In 2012, 52% were from Mexico, 15% from Central America, 12% from Asia, 6% from South America, 5% from the Caribbean, and another 5% from Europe and Canada.

Research shows that illegal immigrants increase the size of the U.S. economy, contribute to economic growth, enhance the welfare of natives, contribute more in tax revenue than they collect, reduce American firms' incentives to offshore jobs and import foreign-produced goods, and benefit consumers by reducing the prices of goods and services. Economists estimate that legalization of the illegal immigrant population would increase the immigrants' earnings and consumption considerably, and increase U.S. gross domestic product.

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Wikipedia