Illegal immigrants – a big social issue in Canada
One of the biggest social issues in Canada is illegal immigrations. Illegal immigrants are people who are not legally permitted to live in the country. Every year thousands of people come illegally from Mexico, Argentina, Hungary, Costa Rica, Ireland and Eastern Europe. It has been said that more than 8% of people who immigrate to Canada arrive illegally, and that another 8% have expired their visa. That makes the total number of undocumented people in Canada between 100 000 and 200 000. Only a few off these people will ever get a legal status in the country. One of the reasons why so many people immigrate to Canada is that the living standard is very high. Actually only the United States of America have more immigrants than Canada. For political reasons, the Canadian government some years ago took the initiative to legalize undocumented people by granting amnesty. So far these efforts have not been successful, and the number of illegal immigrants has increased even more. This is a paradox, since Canada has some of the most liberal immigration rules and refugees in the world. Therefore illegal immigrations should not be necessary.
-Caroline Janson.