If building the wall would be the course of action the US government takes, it must be manned with border patrol agents. We must have properly trained personnel for the job because if we rush through the screening process for these agents, there can be devastating consequences. We know this because after 9/11, George W. Bush tightened the security at the border doubling the manpower from 10,000 to 20,000. To meet the ambitious quota that was needed, the recruitment campaign was very aggressive and they advertised it everywhere even sponsoring a NASCAR team. As they doubled in size, the screening process was neglected. According to Tomsheck, the former head of the Department of Internal Affairs, most of the current employees have failed the polygraph test and a majority of them provided details on crimes they have committed or have been involved in. They found out that over half of the current agents that have cleared the highest level of background checking were unsuitable for service and as it grew, corruption became more and more widespread ultimately becoming one of worst corruption cases in any US Federal Law Enforcement Agency history. Since 2005, 77 agents were arrested for corruption and most of these cases come from the newly hired agents. Currently, there are around twenty thousand of them but Trump has made an executive order authorizing the agency to add five thousand more agents to tackle problems on the United States’ southern border.
So now, we are at the brink of another ambitious recruitment surge. For the sake of everybody, and the good border patrol agents that do their job properly and do it well, if we hire all of these new people, the very least we can do is be more careful this time around. The issue isn’t just the border patrol agents themselves, it’s also discontinuing to treat human beings like criminals because they want better lives for themselves and maybe even their families.
Being an immigrant comes with the connotation that you are a second-class citizen. The media and politicians skew what immigration actually is. I think its easier to take the blame and put it on somebody who came here as opposed to much larger economic decisions that has been made over the past few decades. A stereotype that is especially used now is that gangsters, criminals and rapists are coming in to the country and that’s why we need to stop illegal immigration but it’s ironic because in Mexico and Central America especially, people are leaving or at least trying to leave from gang violence. They’re leaving the gangs and the poverty to come to a place that’s promised to have something a little bit better. Regardless of the hardships that came with the entire process. Research has shown time and time again that immigrants are less crime-prone than their native-born counterparts. If they’re going to detain these individuals seeking
Personally, I somewhat understand why people try to come to the United States illegally. It is incredibly hard as it is just to enter legally dealing with the bureaucracy involved and it takes so much money and time to make sure everything is filed correctly. I know this because for three years my parents that were in the United States struggled to get me here legally paying a large amount of money for paperwork and the fees involved with the procedure but my story is relatively gentle compared to others.
Hearing immigration stories from first-generation immigrants are absolutely incredible. Constantino Morales was a Mexican police officer that fled to the United States because he was targeted by Mexican drug cartels. He couldn’t afford an attorney so he represented himself in court. He lost his case and his request for asylum was denied after four years of waiting and he was deported back to Mexico. Six months and 29 days later, he was gunned down by the people he was trying to flee from. People act like these refugees wanted to leave their families, homes and everything they know because they wanted to. They leave because it’s necessary for them to and their need for a better life.
You have to carry this weight on your shoulders. You want to prove to your parents that it was worth it to jeopardize their lives, future and happiness just for the child’s sake and it is up to the second generation to make sure all of their hardship and sacrifice doesn’t go to waste. There is no opportunity for failure. I am what I am because of it and I’m thankful for it.
United States history is riddled with racism every which way you turn. When the Irish and Scottish immigrated to the United States, they were met with hostility from the already established English settlers during that time period. This led to the Irish and Scottish immigrants taking the most dangerous jobs available, since nobody would do them. This is why there is a strong culture primarily composed of traditions from these two ethnic groups.
