Immigration is one of the most controversial issues that arise every time we approach an election. Despite being quite broad in nature, many potential candidates attempt to address the aspects that are relevant to their campaign; usually centering around how it is either hurting or helping the economy as a whole and how we must strengthen our borders. There is little focus, however, on topics such as the exploitation of illegal immigrant workers or how the undocumented work force might actually be helping our economy grow. .
To this end, I decided to explore some of the larger ethical issues at play in the judgment of whether hiring unauthorized workers is moral or immoral. Using three different ethical schools of thought, distributive justice, deontology and utilitarianism, I will analyze several points. First, I will talk about the effect of NAFTA on the increase in the undocumented population here in the United States as well as country's obligations, if any, towards this underground group. Next, I will introduce evidence that support the claim that illegal immigrants are exploited as well as discuss some of the ethics surrounding this issue. Lastly, I will debate whether or not undocumented immigrants take American jobs, followed by my personal opinion and what I believe to be a plausible solution to at least part of the problem.
From a distributive justice point of view, proponents of hiring undocumented immigrants argue that because of the North American Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA, many local Mexican farmers were displaced due to a lack of available local jobs, forcing them to migrate to the United States. Because of this, they argue, it is only fair that the United States provide work for them. Mexicans account for 60% of the undocumented workers here in the United States (Orrenius and Zavodny 2005), a number that has been increasing since the implementation of the NAFTA in 1994.
