The much higher standard of living in the United States exists even during recessions. Moreover, people come to America for many reasons, including joining family, to avoid social or legal obligations, to take advantage of America’s social services, and to enjoy greater personal and political freedom. Thus even a prolonged economic downturn is unlikely to have a large impact on immigration levels. If we want lower immigration levels it would require enforcement of immigration laws and changes to the legal immigration system. (Center for Immigration Studies, 2004)
Illegal immigrants are gaining a larger share of the job market and are spreading beyond traditional immigrant states like California, Texas, New York, Florida, Illinois and New Jersey, according to this article. More illegal are moving to states like Utah, Washington, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Georgia and the Dakotas because of the increasing number of companies eager for cheap labor. (Wagner, 2005).
In the data collected by the Census Bureau, there were roughly 9 million illegal aliens. Prior research indicates that 10 percent of illegal aliens are missed by the survey, suggesting a total illegal population of about 10 million in March of this year. Totaling of around 20 million illegal immigrants (Engler, 2006)
The U. S. economy was obviously a very important factor in determining these flows, said Roberto Suro, director of the center and a co-author of its study (2005). It is said in the survey that 10 million illegal are now in US and 80% of it from Mexico. (Center of Immigration Studies, 2005).
From the above point of view should US build borders on Mexico? This research will explore if US should build borders in the Mexico. To my point of view it is right that US should build borders along Mexico. Here are my reasons why: First, the illegal Mexican outnumber the US residents and steal their works. Secondly, for the improvement of economic stability. Thirdly, for the security of US citizens and illegal immigrant who are crossing the borders
First, the illegal Mexican outnumbers the US residents and steals their works.
If the US will not build the borders the immigration — both legal and illegal — topped 1.5 million people in 1999 and 2000, according to the report. The number of people entering the United States then plummeted to 1.1 million people by 2003, the same level as in 1992. Since 2001, the number of legal permanent residents entering the United States has declined from 578,000 to 455,000, while the number of illegal immigrants has increased from 549,000 to 562,000. Legal, temporary residents account for the remainder of people entering the country. (The associates Press, 2)
Immigration 1996 to 2004. The net growth in immigrant population figure 1 report the number of immigrants living in the United States based on the March CPS. The figure shows that between March 1996 and March 2000, the foreign born grew by 4.04 million, or about one million a year. The very similar to the 4.25 million was growths on the year 2000 to 2004. These two numbers are the same statistically. Thus, it would appear that the growth in the foreign born during the economic expansion in the second half of the 1990s was the same as during the much weaker period of economic growth between 2000 and 2004. Over each four-year period the annual growth of the immigrant population averaged a little over one million
The US should build the borders because, legal and illegal immigrant contributes to the dramatic population growth overwhelming communities across America–crowding school classrooms, consuming already limited affordable housing, and straining precious natural resources like water, energy, and forestland. It also make trouble on job competition by waves of illegal immigrants willing to work at substandard wages and working conditions depresses the wages of American workers, hitting hardest at minority workers and those without high school degrees. (Engler, 2006)
See illustration: Overall Employment, 2000 and 2004, this survey taken from Center of Immigrant Studies by Steven Camarota (2004)
Declining Native Employment. Table 1 examines the labor force status of adult natives and immigrant workers in the United States. The top of the table shows that the number of employed natives was 500,000 fewer in 2004 than in 2000. In contrast, there was a net increase of 2.3 million in the number of foreign-born workers holding jobs over this same time period. Put another way, there was a net increase of 1.7 million in the total number of adults working in the United States, but all of that increase went to foreign-born workers. The middle section of Table 1 reports the number of unemployed natives and immigrants. It shows that there were almost 2.3 million more natives unemployed in 2004 than there were in 2000. While it would be a mistake to assume that there is a one-for-one relationship between immigrant employment gains and native losses, it is clear that the number of immigrants with jobs increased dramatically at the same time as the number of natives looking for a job also increased.
Native Non-Work Increased. The bottom of Table 1 shows the number of working-age (18 to 64) natives and immigrants not in the labor force. Between 2000 and 2004, the number of natives not working increased by nearly four million, from 30.8 million to 34.8 million. Thus, not only are 500,000 fewer natives working and 2.3 million more unemployed, fewer natives are even in the labor force at all. Of course, many adults do not work by choice, but, as we will see, changes in child rearing, pursuit of higher education, or other factors do not seem to explain the increase in the number of natives not in the labor force. It seems almost certain that at least some of the increase is related to economic conditions and perhaps a continued high level of immigration. (Camarota, 2004). If wall will not be build more unemployment with the Native American in the future.
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Secondly, for the economic stability of US.
Approximately 34 million foreign-born people live in the United States; they represent 12 percent of the population – the largest share since the 1920s. According to Manuel Orozco of the research group Inter-American Dialogue, 70 percent of these foreign-born people send money home. Estimates of the value of such remittances vary, but even the lowest figure for 2004 — $30 billion, reported by the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) — is an amount 1.5 times larger than U.S. government foreign aid for 2004.(Kelleher, 2006).
The implications of these massive inflows of workers are enormous who send money back to their countries are economic disadvantage to cheap, illegal labor, there are significant costs associated with circumventing the labor laws. The social expenses of health care, retirement funding, education and law enforcement are potentially accruing at $30 billion per year. Many of these costs lag and will not be realized until the next economic downturn and beyond as new immigrants require a safety net. Estimated there are approximately 5 million illegal workers are collecting wages on a cash basis and are avoiding income taxes. Tax collections, budget projections and school capacity planning are a few of the public sectors functions that rely on accurate head counts. (Bear Sterns Report).
The public school system is most greatly affected by illegal immigration costing taxpayers over $4 million dollars each year. Law enforcement costs $942,000; public health department services costs $894,000; and social services costs $575,000. Fifteen percent of the students in our school system are Hispanic and over half of them do not have English as their first language, she said in a prepared statement. “Our social service caseload is about 19 percent Hispanic which is a substantial increase in recent years. In our public health department, 38 percent of the clients are Hispanic. At a local outpatient healthcare facility, 34 percent of the patients are Hispanic. And of the prisoners in the county jail, about 11 percent are Hispanic. (Justich & Ng, 2005)
Building the border could have positive impact for their economy. According to the latest news by Jason Kobely, Internet News Producer (2006), the Senate Judiciary Committee passed a more moderate version of the bill Tuesday. The biggest changes include instituting a guest worker program for undocumented immigrants backed by President Bush as well as allowing illegal immigrants the chance to work toward legal status without first returning to their home country.
Thirdly, for the security of US citizens and illegal immigrant who are crossing the borders
The wall must be build because it will not only increase unemployment to the Americans but it also threatens US security. Some illegal immigrant seeking to improve their economic situation by crossing the border but their guns, drugs and their dealers also cross over. Crime in the northern Mexican border towns has become an uncontrollable problem that reaches into Texas and Arizona, where armed vigilantes have started patrolling the border regions. If this case will not be stop more terrorist will come into the US by passing the borders and other alternative to stop is building the wall in the crossing borders. Not only carrying the guns and bringing drugs but string of kidnapping involving US citizens (Wagner, 2005)
Between May 2004 and May 2005, there have been 35 reported abductions of US citizens in this region.1 Thirty- four of these abductions occurred in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, and involved US citizens who had crossed the border. Twenty-three victims were released by their captors, nine victims remain missing, and two are confirmed dead. (Swecker, 2005). Hardly a night goes by when fewer than 10 people are killed in the Mexican border towns. (Smetz, 2006)
The wall must be build to protect not only American from terrorists’ acts but also Mexican in crossing the borders. Farah said his commission was simply trying to prevent deaths and estimated that around 500 Mexicans died trying to cross the border in 2005. Many die in the desert, where summer temperatures soar above 100 degrees, and many drown while attempting to cross the Rio Grande. (Smetz, 2005)
This is a Humane Borders Water Station Maps and Warning Posters
Some dots represent more than one death. During Oct. 1, 1999 and Sept. 30. 2004. More than 650 migrants died while attempting to cross the deserts of Southern Arizona. Between Oct. 2004 and Sept. 30, 2005, 279 deaths were recorded and will be shown on a future map.
Another example that the US needs to build borders, a man name Juan Carlos a gang member. He’s an ex-convict and he’s been crossing the borders for four times. He left Honduras alone at the age of 7, never has revealed his true identity to U.S. authorities, fearing deportation to his native country and not Mexico. So far, no one has caught on. His ability to continually re-enter the country and hide his identity from authorities is a warning, many analysts and border critics say, that national security is at serious risk. (Beyond Borders, 2006)
“Something terrible is going to happen here if things don’t change,” said Rep. Gary Miller, R-Brea, a vocal opponent of the United States’ immigration policies. “Every time an argument for closed borders is made, the person is painted as a racist. This is not about race. This is about security – the security of this nation and all Americans. “If a terrorist attack occurs again because we haven’t protected our borders, it will be the worst of all tragedies.”
Furthermore, Border Patrol agents have no shortage of horror stories to tell when they talk about the dangers of guarding America’s frontier. Santiago’s death is just one such tale. Since 1990, 23 Border Patrol officers have been killed in the line of duty. The job also has its share of nonfatal hazards, as agents sustain all manner of injuries while patrolling the hot deserts and mountainous terrain of the Southwest or the cold, desolate lands of the Canadian border to the north. Roughly 11,000 Border Patrol agents guard nearly 7,000 miles of border. It’s not enough, say critics who claim that lax U.S. border security has left the nation at risk. (Carter, 1994). These agents can only be protected if US build wall on the borders.
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Another poster giving warning to the Mexican illustrated by Douglas, Lukeville and Noqales, this poster is distributed widely in churches, shelters, shops and other locations on the south side of the U.S.-Mexican border. They warn migrants in stark terms about the dangers they face trying to cross into the United States illegally, on foot through the desert, despite what human smugglers tell them. The estimated walking times from entry points are highlighted, as are the sites of migrant deaths and the location of water stations.
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Keeping the safety of the American is the priority project of the government below is the proposed fence.
Most of it is a fifty yard wide multi-layered composite obstacle comprised of several elements:
A ditch, coils of barbed wire, two tall, sturdy wire fences, with sensors to warn of any incursion, a patrol path for vehicles between the fences, a smoothed strip of sand that runs parallel to the fence, to detect footprints, closed circuit TV cameras and motion detectors.
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The fence looks like the cost of a modern border security fence is in line with its national security priority: roughly the cost of 4 B-2 bombers. A 2,000 mile state-of-the-art border fence has been estimated to cost between four and eight billion dollars. That is roughly equivalent to four B-2 bombers or Virginia class submarines. Such a fence could be designed with up to two hundred legal crossing points to accommodate commerce, tourism and legitimate commuting. Although expensive in terms of initial outlay, in the long term it is both less expensive and more effective than any other solution currently being proposed. (We needafence.com)
Conclusion
Generally, record numbers of such immigrants were finding their way into the United States, fueling a growing concern about the nation’s security. However the result of those journeys is tremendous that threaten their lives and security of the country. The country where the illegal come from actively encourages its poor and jobless to come across the border to find work and set up new homes. They are claiming the taxes that suppose to be for US government. Is that an attitude of a friendly neighbor?
Additionally, building of wall in the borders would mean security for possible entry of terrorist and lessen illegal workers to penetrate the different industry where they work without tax deduction. This also prevent illegal immigration in contributing significantly to school overcrowding, traffic congestion, our health care crisis, environmental degradation, social tension, and other negative impacts upon our country. Building the wall it can help the economy to generate $3 billion and $4 billion annually from the millions illegal workers. The positive impacts on economy would help the government supplement the needs of the citizens in providing benefits.
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Finally, I can say the US has a responsibility to address these challenges. They have a responsibility to enforce the laws. They have a responsibility to protect the people. They must take this responsibility seriously. They must build a wall in the borders of Mexico.
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References
Camarota, Stevn. A Jobless Recovery? Immigrant Gains and Native Losses. 1 December 2006, from <http://www.cis.org/articles/2004/back1104.html>.
Carter, Sarah. Borders Patrol Agents always at risk. 1 December 2006, from <http://lang.sbsun.com/socal/beyondborders/part_4/p4_day1_agents.asp>.
Engler, Robert Klein.Illegal Immigration and a More Perfect Union. 1 December 2006, from <http://www.alipac.us/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=1359>.
Half of growth from Illegal Aliens. Center for immigration Studies. 1 December 2006, from <http://www.cis.org/articles/2004/back1204release.html>.
Humae Borders Water Station Maps and Warning Posters. Humane Borders. 1 December 2006 , from <http://www.humaneborders.org/news/news4.html>.
Jason Kobely (2006). Internet News . November 13, 2006, from://www.news10.net/storyfull2.aspx?storyid=16747
Justich, R., Ng, B. (2005). The Underground Labor Force Is Rising to the Surface. November 11, 2006, from Bear Sterns Report
Kelleher, Elizabeth. U.S Immigrants Fuel Local Economies in their Home Countries. 1 December 2006, from <http://usinfo.state.gov/eap/Archive/2006/Apr/27-169858.html>.
More Foreigner crossing into U.S. The Associate Press 2006. 1 December 2006, from <http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9507403>.
Porous Borders stokes terror fears. Beyond Borders. 1 December 2006, from <http://lang.sbsun.com/socal/beyondborders/>.
Smets, Fraz. U.S Proposal to Build wall on borders Provokes Mexico. 1 December 2006, from <http://news.monstersandcritics.com/northamerica/article_1076851.php/U.S._proposal_to_build_wall_on_border_provokes_Mexico>.
Soru, Roberto. Illegal Immigrants now outnumber legal ones. 1December 2006, from <http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9507403/>.
Swecker, Chris. Terrorism and Homeland Security. 1 December 2006, from <http://judiciary.house.gov/media/pdfs/swecker111705.pdf>.
The Proposed Fence. We Need a Fence. 2 December 2006, from <http://www.weneedafence.com/>.
Wagner, Angie. Underground Economy as illegal Immigrants Head to New. States. 1 December 2006, from <http://usinfo.state.gov/eap/east_asia_pacific/chinese_human_smuggling/smuggling_in_the_press/impact_on_governments.html>.
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