Immigration Problem in the Uk

A movement through which individuals permanently move their residence from a particular country to another, immigration is no doubt one of the most frequently mentioned and debated concepts in the past decade. Immigration might cause ethnic conflicts and certain job crawl-outs, but it can also help draw talents, technologies and investments. Without exaggeration, a country’s economic power, political institutions, and international influence are all correlated with its immigration population to some extent; therefore, some people consider immigration a nation’s “mosaic border” (Baldwin-Edwards). But as Mr. Donald Reagan, former president of the United States, stated, “a nation that cannot control its borders is not a good nation.” The United Kingdom seems to be at the brink of losing grip of control on its mosaic border. According to the Migration Statistics Quarterly Report dated February 2013, there was a “net flow of 163,000 migrants to the UK in the year ending June 2012” and “247,000 in the year ending June 2011” (Office of National Statistics). This high monthly immigration rate yielded an annual immigrant population of approximately 536,000 in the year 2012, taking illegal immigration into consideration (BBC). Such data is far from reaching the expectation of Mr. Mark Harper, the immigration minister, who plans to “reduce net migration to below 100,000 by 2015” (BBC).

The overfull immigrant population has been a concern for both the government and private sectors. According to the survey The Guardian conducted in January, one third of the survey pool believes tension between immigrants and people born in the UK is the major cause of division, while well over half “regard it as one of the top three causes” (Boffey). Summarizing the government and private sectors’ utterance, there are four major factors that have been deepening the British’s worries.

The first and foremost one is the lost track of immigration record and ineffective border control. As Tony Smith, the newly retired boss of Britain's Border Agency, admitted, the immigration to the United Kingdom was out of control, and that he had no idea “who is here and who isn't” (Arkell). This has become the fundamental issue and the root of the British citizens’ fear. If Tony Smith was telling the truth, the British government is failing to carry out two of its duties against immigration: keeping record of the inflow and outflow of the population, and being able to track the movement of the population. This flaw makes it hard for government to amend immigration policies by reflecting on the up-to-date statistics. Hence the British government’s goal of cutting immigration to fewer than 10,000 by 2015 is groundless and unrealistic. Moreover, stowaways can exploit this loophole of the border system to facilitate illegal immigration in groups from their home countries. These groups usually become gangs in the United