Illegal Immigration

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Date: August 18, 2012

Countering illegal immigration has become a grave issue to countless states around the world. Some of us will be shocked by the surprising statistics of illegal immigrants around the globe. Although, an accurate estimate of these immigrants is difficult to make, according to International Organization for Migration (IOM), it is estimated that 25.5 to 32.1 million people of the world’s total 214 million international immigrants are illegal immigrants.

Since the rise of cross border terrorist activities over the last few decades the issue has becomes more serious and grave than it had been in the past years. Illegal immigration has been a rising trend, specifically since the late nineteenth century. This kind of immigration basically refers to entering or migration into a state with violation of immigrant laws. It is entering a state without its government’s permission or staying in a state beyond the termination date of a visa. Illegal immigration raises many political, economical and social issues.

Before pointing fingers at the immigrants, it is more important to keep a check with the executive branch of these laws and regulations. It is noted that the primary cause of illegal immigration is due to a lack of enforcement or the inadequate enforcement of existing immigration and border laws by the executive branch of the victim state. Second cause of immigrations can be explained when looking at the source of most illegal immigrants. It is observed that, a large number of illegal immigration migrate for greater economic opportunities and a better quality of life. Hence, we see illegal immigration mainly occurs from countries with lower socio-economic circumstances, immigrants migrating to a country where they perceive greater economic openings and prosperity. So the arrow runs from third world countries to developed countries.
Illegal immigration takes many forms, but the most common of these can be divided into four; undocumented/unauthorized entrants, individuals who are inspected upon entry into another state, but gain admission by using fraudulent documents, violators of the duration of a visa, violators of the terms and conditions of a visa. Undocumented entrants are nationals of one state who enter another state clandestinely. Most of these entrants cross land borders, but also at times use sea routes, and rarely use air routes. Basically, these entrants use routes where they manage to avoid detection and inspection. The second kind is the individuals who use fraudulent documents to enter another state. The fraud may involve a person’s identity or the documents supporting the admission. Then there are the violators who violate their duration of visa. These individuals enter another state legally and properly but overstay their period of legal stay, hence fall into illegal or irregular status. Lastly, there are violators who breach the terms and conditions of their visa. These are the nationals of a one state who have entered another state legally and legal procedures but at a certain point violate the terms of their visa. An example of violation of visa terms include acceptance of employment.