Illegal Immigrants Crossing the Border

Illegal Immigrants Crossing the Border

"The U.S. Census Bureau estimates that there are 8 to 9 million "undocumented workers," as they are often called, in the U.S., and each year the number goes up by about 500,000. Other estimates are much higher" (Shapiro, 2012). Many Mexicans are crossing our borders every day in order to find a better life for themselves and their families. It has cost many of them there lives in order to make the trek to get here. There living conditions are less than poverty. The majority of inhabitants builds their homes brick by brick and has no indoor plumbing. The thought of a better life right over the border has intrigued many. Due to government policy of limiting how many Mexicans enter the United States, many choose to risk their lives and enter illegally. We will discuss the sociological theories based on illegal immigration, the impact that the Mexican government has on allowing their citizens to cross the border, and the impact have on entering into the United States.

There are two sociological theories that apply to illegal immigration. The first one is deviance. The definition of deviance is simply any violation of society's norms (Henslin, 2010). In the United States, fleeing into someone else's country to find work is a violation of our society's norm. Having thousands of people attempt to illegally enter into our country every day is behavior which starts the relationship on a bad note.

The other sociological theory that can be applied to illegal immigrates is the conflict theory. Conflict theory is based on challenging the status quo, encouraging social change (even when this means social revolution), and believing rich and powerful people force social order on the poor and the weak (Henslin, 2010). Illegal immigration on one hand, allows individuals to have a better life that they otherwise would not have had if they had stayed in Mexico. On the other side of conflict theory, the weak and poor need to stay where they are and figure out how to make their life better or come into our country legally like our grandparents did decades earlier.

The Mexican government has quite an impact on allowing their citizens to enter U.S. soil illegally. Mexican economy relies on the billions of dollars sent home by Mexicans who are, legally or illegally, in the United States (Shapiro, n.d.). Nevertheless, the Mexican government relies on it even more. Most Mexican illegals entering the U.S. are male. Most of them have families that they have left behind. In every case, they must pay steep and constant bribes to the mayor of their town, as well as to the police chief, before they leave and while they are gone. If they do not, no one will protect their wives and children, in addition to the thousands of dollars the illegals must accumulate to pay the "coyotes" that bring them across the desert frontier,