Persuasive Essay On Illegal Immigration
Illegal Immigration: Mexico/America Border Fence Illegal immigration between the U.S. and Mexico border has been an ongoing problem, long over due for a resolution. Many ideas and possible attempts to prevent illegal crossing of the border have failed. California, Texas, Arizona, and New Mexico are a few states that are heavily impacted by the large mass of illegal aliens crossing over into America. Some Americans argue that illegal’s are taking advantage of government aide, are criminals, and take away jobs. Loss of jobs is of huge to concerns for Americans with the economic situation we are in today. Since there are no legal record of illegal immigrants there is no accurate reading of the number of illegal immigrants in the U.S. There is an estimate of 400,000 to one million illegal immigrants crossing the 2,000 mile border between Mexico and the U.S. annually, out of these illegal aliens, only 1.2 million get caught by border patrol.(Global Security) The statistics
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are staggering, with a problem this severe, one would think more attention would be given to finding and effective, affordable solution. One step we are taking to stop, this problem is a border fence -- Operation Gatekeeper. According to the Pew Hispanic Center there were 12.3 million Mexican immigrants living in the United States during 2008. Mexicans make up 32 percent of all illegal immigrants in the U.S. Illegal aliens from Mexico have been entering the U.S. since the end of the U.S.-Mexico war of 1848 when the border lines were drawn. The problem with illegal immigration wasn’t give major attention until the 1970s (Nevins, Dunn 2008). A visit to the border in Imperial Beach, California by first lady Pat Nixon, she witnessed first hand, America’s attempt to keep out the large masses of people attempting to cross for a better life. First Lady Nixon stated, “[she would] hate to see a fence anywhere.” She opposed fences from the beginning. From that time, throughout the 1990s, the fences that were in place were in need of repair or were easily crossed to gain access to the U.S. With increase in the number of illegal immigrants living in the
U.S. many American are causing uproars, blaming illegal aliens forcrimes, the economy, and shortage of jobs. All though many immigrants from Mexico come here to make money, are stuck at dead end jobs, and working hard for very little pay. Many Americans argue that illegal aliens are not contributing equally, but there is no exact way to determine if they’re harming are economy.
They pay taxes through things they purchase from stores, and in their rent. However some say that isn’t as near as much as the millions of dollars we are paying to support all the illegal immigrant families on welfare. The latest attempt to stopping illegal immigration, is to create a series of impenetrable barricades. So far this isn’t an effective way of stopping illegal immigrantsbecause one in four illegal immigrants is caught while trying to make it across (Global Security). The new fences that will be used to barricade stop illegal crossing of the border, the wall will be extremely expensive as well, the cost of just building it is $2 to $3 million dollars, but that jumps to a substantially to $16 million when you factor in paying for privately owned property(Nevins, Dunn, 2008). Parts of San Diego where the majority of illegal immigrants go through, there is a wall being built. It was originally
going to cost $14 million, but it actually has cost $42 million dollars for the first 11 miles, and will cost and additional $35 million to complete because the toughness of the terrain. The cost for repairs is left untouched as well, you would have to factor in a couple more million to maintain the walls that have the durability to last for 25 years. (Nevins, Dunn, 2008). The 2005 Real ID act gave the secretary of Homeland Security the right to bypass any acts that have already been in place. This is an issue because parts are the border are home to many endangered species, and animals that migrate to different areas along the border, by building these walls, it will destroy the habitats of these animals, and those who travel from place to place my die off, because they’re not going to be able to live their lives the way they usually do. The border is staffed with 15,000 workers who patrol, known as, “pedestrian borders” this is the placement ofworkers where barricades are not. This costs $1.2 million. The areas of the border that have no barricades or surveillance are the most dangerous, and difficult places to cross. This is proven with 5,000 corpses of illegal aliens who didn’t make it. Since there is so much difficulty in crossing many Mexican immigrants stay in the United States rather than go back and forth across the border illegally risking the chance of getting caught. Since the border fence is a federal matter, and those who are unwillingly to cooperate, and allow them to divide their land with this massive wall are fighting back. The University of Texas at Brownsville was recently victorious, when the reached a compromise with the Department of Homeland Security, the school must increase the size of the fence to 10ft in height, and add high tech security cameras to help with patrolling the area (Kreighbaum, 2008). If the fence had been built it would have gone through the schools golf course. The school is very close to the Rio Grande, but the government doesn’t believe that the river is a sufficient barricade, and that illegal immigrants will still cross it trying to make it to America for a better life. If everyone would view the border as First Lady Nixon did, “seeing people from the other side of the boundary as our neighbors and embracing them--rather than constructing them as faceless masses to be feared and repelled—would be a great start to tearing down walls.” Until there is more damning evidence that illegal immigrants are harming our economy, increasing crime, and abusing our welfare system, then they to deserve the “right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” If Mexico will possibly be a declared state, can we as Americans just turn our backs on these people? We fight many other peoples wars, but this is an internal war within our country, and it should be a priority we take care of quickly. Nevins, J, & Dunn, T (2008). Barricading the Border. NACLA Report on the Americans, 41, Retrieved April 17, 2009, from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=ip,url,cookie,uid&db=a9h&AN=35113537&loginpage=login.asp&site=ehost-live&scope=site. Andrew, Kreighbaum Border Fence Begins on Brownsville Campus. (2008, 10, 17). The Daily Texan, US-Mexico Border Fence/Great Wall of Mexico Secure Fence. Retrieved April 17, 2009, from Homeland Security Web site: http://www.globalsecurity.org/security/systems/mexico-wall.htm Mexican Immigrants in the United States, 2008. Pew Hispanic Center, Retrieved 4, 6, 2009, from www.pewhispanic.org
are staggering, with a problem this severe, one would think more attention would be given to finding and effective, affordable solution. One step we are taking to stop, this problem is a border fence -- Operation Gatekeeper. According to the Pew Hispanic Center there were 12.3 million Mexican immigrants living in the United States during 2008. Mexicans make up 32 percent of all illegal immigrants in the U.S. Illegal aliens from Mexico have been entering the U.S. since the end of the U.S.-Mexico war of 1848 when the border lines were drawn. The problem with illegal immigration wasn’t give major attention until the 1970s (Nevins, Dunn 2008). A visit to the border in Imperial Beach, California by first lady Pat Nixon, she witnessed first hand, America’s attempt to keep out the large masses of people attempting to cross for a better life. First Lady Nixon stated, “[she would] hate to see a fence anywhere.” She opposed fences from the beginning. From that time, throughout the 1990s, the fences that were in place were in need of repair or were easily crossed to gain access to the U.S. With increase in the number of illegal immigrants living in the
U.S. many American are causing uproars, blaming illegal aliens forcrimes, the economy, and shortage of jobs. All though many immigrants from Mexico come here to make money, are stuck at dead end jobs, and working hard for very little pay. Many Americans argue that illegal aliens are not contributing equally, but there is no exact way to determine if they’re harming are economy.
They pay taxes through things they purchase from stores, and in their rent. However some say that isn’t as near as much as the millions of dollars we are paying to support all the illegal immigrant families on welfare. The latest attempt to stopping illegal immigration, is to create a series of impenetrable barricades. So far this isn’t an effective way of stopping illegal immigrantsbecause one in four illegal immigrants is caught while trying to make it across (Global Security). The new fences that will be used to barricade stop illegal crossing of the border, the wall will be extremely expensive as well, the cost of just building it is $2 to $3 million dollars, but that jumps to a substantially to $16 million when you factor in paying for privately owned property(Nevins, Dunn, 2008). Parts of San Diego where the majority of illegal immigrants go through, there is a wall being built. It was originally
going to cost $14 million, but it actually has cost $42 million dollars for the first 11 miles, and will cost and additional $35 million to complete because the toughness of the terrain. The cost for repairs is left untouched as well, you would have to factor in a couple more million to maintain the walls that have the durability to last for 25 years. (Nevins, Dunn, 2008). The 2005 Real ID act gave the secretary of Homeland Security the right to bypass any acts that have already been in place. This is an issue because parts are the border are home to many endangered species, and animals that migrate to different areas along the border, by building these walls, it will destroy the habitats of these animals, and those who travel from place to place my die off, because they’re not going to be able to live their lives the way they usually do. The border is staffed with 15,000 workers who patrol, known as, “pedestrian borders” this is the placement ofworkers where barricades are not. This costs $1.2 million. The areas of the border that have no barricades or surveillance are the most dangerous, and difficult places to cross. This is proven with 5,000 corpses of illegal aliens who didn’t make it. Since there is so much difficulty in crossing many Mexican immigrants stay in the United States rather than go back and forth across the border illegally risking the chance of getting caught. Since the border fence is a federal matter, and those who are unwillingly to cooperate, and allow them to divide their land with this massive wall are fighting back. The University of Texas at Brownsville was recently victorious, when the reached a compromise with the Department of Homeland Security, the school must increase the size of the fence to 10ft in height, and add high tech security cameras to help with patrolling the area (Kreighbaum, 2008). If the fence had been built it would have gone through the schools golf course. The school is very close to the Rio Grande, but the government doesn’t believe that the river is a sufficient barricade, and that illegal immigrants will still cross it trying to make it to America for a better life. If everyone would view the border as First Lady Nixon did, “seeing people from the other side of the boundary as our neighbors and embracing them--rather than constructing them as faceless masses to be feared and repelled—would be a great start to tearing down walls.” Until there is more damning evidence that illegal immigrants are harming our economy, increasing crime, and abusing our welfare system, then they to deserve the “right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” If Mexico will possibly be a declared state, can we as Americans just turn our backs on these people? We fight many other peoples wars, but this is an internal war within our country, and it should be a priority we take care of quickly. Nevins, J, & Dunn, T (2008). Barricading the Border. NACLA Report on the Americans, 41, Retrieved April 17, 2009, from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=ip,url,cookie,uid&db=a9h&AN=35113537&loginpage=login.asp&site=ehost-live&scope=site. Andrew, Kreighbaum Border Fence Begins on Brownsville Campus. (2008, 10, 17). The Daily Texan, US-Mexico Border Fence/Great Wall of Mexico Secure Fence. Retrieved April 17, 2009, from Homeland Security Web site: http://www.globalsecurity.org/security/systems/mexico-wall.htm Mexican Immigrants in the United States, 2008. Pew Hispanic Center, Retrieved 4, 6, 2009, from www.pewhispanic.org