The following editorial appeared in: Rio Grande Guardian on June 8th, 2007
The current national debate over immigration reform and the ongoing regional debate over the construction of a fence along the southwestern U.S. border with Mexico has centered on the single issue of the security of our borders.
For years U.S. policy toward dealing with the issue of illegal immigration has focused on increased security at our ports of entry and along the border. This de facto policy, which has spanned multiple Presidential administrations and Congresses, has done little to slow the flow of illegal immigration into the United States.
In the span of a decade, and despite additional security measures and several deployments of federal troops and the National Guard, the number of illegal immigrants has nearly doubled. An estimated one-third of these 12 million plus illegal immigrants arrived here by legal means and simply overstayed their visa.
Constructing a fence won’t deter every individual and it may actually accelerate the number of people who opt to overstay their visa. Each new layer of security put in place to stop illegal immigration is an attempt to plug the latest leak in the dam and in doing so we only seem to find that more leaks have sprung somewhere else.
The focus on additional security measures diverts resources and energy from the only proven security measure to stop people from crossing into the United States illegally, other people. However, on its own a vastly increased number of border agents will not stop every individual determined to enter the United States.
Like it or not, in the case of illegal immigration, we are the victims of our own success. With the largest economy on the planet, a high rate of employment, and with an economic system that rewards hard work and ingenuity, the United States remains as it has since its founding a land of opportunity for immigrants, both legal and illegal.
Additionally, the cold reality is that many U.S. employers depend upon the access to immigrant labor, especially in jobs that are labor intensive.
If the comprehensive immigration reform legislation before the Senate succumbs to politics and is taken from the table, we can be assured of having the opportunity to hear this debate again even if the fence is built twice as high as currently proposed.
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“Constructing a fence won’t deter every individual and it may actually accelerate the number of people who opt to overstay their visa. Each new layer of security put in place to stop illegal immigration is an attempt to plug the latest leak in the dam and in doing so we only seem to find that more leaks have sprung somewhere else.”
The above is pure speculation. There are absolutely no facts listed or available to support such an assertion. Seldom have I seen such a flagrant red herring on immigration being written as being factual.
i can give you a great piece of evidence to support the above statement: between europe and the lands of most of its immigrants is an entire ocean, and the immigrants still manage to find a way to come and stay. this alone demonstrates how useless a silly fence would be. like the EU has done with its poorer neighbors with land borders, the US should help mexico improve its economy and political situation (those billions on the fence could be used for example) and make mexico a nicer place to stay, live and work for its own people. it’s really not that hard a task since mexico is only somewhat ‘poor’ to begin with (it is one of the wealthiest ‘poor’ nations in the world). if we gave a few billion per year but required some results (better infrastructure, less corruption, some economic and legal reform), mexico would slowly start to shine, and we would have a much more friendly neighbor.
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