Migrant Workers Argumentative Essay

Words: 1208
Pages: 5

An estimated 61% of migrant workers lie below the national poverty line in the United States due to how little they are paid (Nichols 365). Because these migrant workers do not have enough money to support their families, many migrant workers’ children suffer the consequences. Migrant workers’ children are negatively affected in their health and education, and there is much that is needed to be done to help them.
Not only do migrant workers face severe health detriments, but also their children suffer the same consequences themselves. Children of migrant workers are three times more likely to be prone to illness and have poor health than non-migrant children (Nichols 365). One reason for this is the insufficient health care they receive.
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There are over 400 government funded clinics for health care for migrant workers however, they only assist around 12% of the migrant workers in the United States. Many people are working to eliminate the five year waiting period, which stops legal immigrants from receiving insurance. Although this would help legal immigrants, illegal immigrants still could not receive health care. There have been many efforts to allow all children to be covered under Medicaid, a health insurance program for low income use, regardless of citizenship. If all children were given the right to health care, many of the health struggles that migrant children face would disappear (Wilson). In terms of education, there are programs such as the University of Texas at El Paso's High School Equivalency Program. All students in the program are children of migrant workers. The program is funded by the United States Department of Education and is intended to help students graduate high school. The school is free and there is free housing for students whose parents must migrate to another area to harvest crops. This school and others like it can be beneficial to migrant children because it can help them to get a better job after graduating. In an article by The Economist it states, “In May 2012, for adults aged 25 and over, the national jobless rate among high school dropouts was 13%; for those who had the diploma or equivalent, it was 8%” (Economist). Meaning that students who receive a diploma are 5% more likely to find a