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In view of the fact that illegal aliens pose a state-level problem in the USA, their legislatures are extremely active in creating legislation aimed at controlling the illegal influx of people and solving issues concerning ones who are already residing in the United States. This paper presents current trends in states' immigration policies, as well as the debate between the supporters of illegal immigrants and those who advocate the creation of more stringent laws. It focuses both on states where the percentage of undocumented individuals is relatively high and states where "national xenophobia" towards illegal aliens has appeared. In the second part, there is an attempt to answer the following question: Do undocumented immigrants solely generate costs for the federation and the individual states, or are there any benefits that they bring?
Every year the U.S.-Mexican border is crossed illegally by nearly 400,000 people. Although the United States is a country of immigrants, conducted surveys show that the predominant attitude of Americans towards people crossing the border illegally is not open and friendly, mainly due to the costs (health, social and education) which are carried by the state and taxpayers. 61% of respondents believe that they pose a "serious problem" (for both federal and state authorities), and a further 27% say that they are "a problem" (Quinnipiac University Poll, 2010).1 What is more, slightly over 50% of Americans believe that the Constitution should be amended so that the children of illegal immigrants (so-called "undocumented immigrants") do not receive citizenship automatically ("natural born citizens") in accordance with the law of the land, established in 1868 (14th Amendment to the Constitution).2 Dissatisfaction with the cost of undocumented immigrants and the ineffectiveness of the federal immigration policy - the Obama administration3 - has meant that more and more states have begun to create restrictive legislation in order not only to inhibit the further inß ux of people, but also to deport those who already reside within the U.S. (Quinnipiac University Poll, 2010).
The aim of this paper is to present the current state of legislation based on selected examples, and attempt to answer the following question: Do undocumented immigrants generate only costs for the federation and the states, or are there any benefits that they bring?
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