Introduction
Border Protection policies and new measures taken to secure the region in the United States have shown little to no results that have benefitted the country or affected the illegal immigrant population or the number of trespassing immigrants. This indicates that the problem doesn’t exist on the border but is due to internal issues.
The United States of America has been subject to criminal and terrorist activities, which are often associated with illegal immigrants or other ethnic and religious groups. According to the Pew Research Center, there were over 11 million illegal immigrants in the United States in the year 2015. Moreover, the number of Mexican illegal immigrants has decreased. At the same time, it went from 6.4 million in 2009 to 5 million in 2016. While the number of non-Mexican illegal immigrants has increased in recent times. Nevertheless, Mexicans account for half of the illegal immigrant population in the U.S. The Republicans believe that strengthening border security is the solution to the increased population of illegal immigrants and providing legal status to the existing immigrants in the United States (Passel and Cohn).
Discussion
The United States Homeland Security claims that the border between the U.S. and Mexico has never been more secure. In the past decade, the U.S. government has spent more than $126 billion to ensure the security of the border and improve enforcement. This included the building of more than 660 miles of fencing, surveillance towers, drones, plans, mobile surveillance, and the installation of thousands of ground sensors. Moreover, the number of Border Patrol agents has doubled in the past decade to about 21,000 agents. These agents work at the ports of entry and patrol the area to ensure protection from any illegal trespassing or violation of international border laws.
The Presidency of Donald Trump, since 2016, has changed the attitude towards border protection policies. The Trump administration focuses on blaming the increased number of illegal immigrants for the majority of the adverse activities happening in the states, such as criminal activities, mass shootings, drug abuse and terrorism. Trump’s opinion about taking out the illegal immigrants and creating a ‘wall’ on the border instead of fences to entirely avoid further unlawful trespassing is a significant contributor towards the changing attitude of the majority population regarding border policies. This has also resulted in increased racist attacks on immigrants and people of other religions (Alexander).
However, border protection has always held a prominent place in the history of politics in the U.S. The United States has still focused on strengthening border security and controlling foreign entries to the states. The immediate aftermath of the incident of 9/11, when the World Trade Centre was subject to a terrorist attack in 2001, included increased border protection and immigration restrictions. The United States closed their land borders and airspace, controlling the territory’s security and discontinuing its foreign trade relations for some time. This was meant to develop better and more effective border security policies that allowed free trade but restricted immigration policies and the control of immigrants entering the country, which might impose danger to their security.
The history of the two nations, Mexico and the United States, is one of the major contributions to the tensions between them. During the 19th century, when Mexico opened up its trade with the North, many Mexicans saw economic opportunity in the states, which led to a significant increase in American immigration. Meanwhile, the new international border and restrictions on trade encouraged the smuggling of illegal goods and drugs. Additionally, the political tensions between the nations grew as most of the criminal activity, drug cartels, and mafia gangs could be trailed back to Mexico. By the 20th century, the US adopted strict control over its southern border to control the illegal immigrants entering the country, while the Mexicans saw employment and business opportunities in the states, which increased their interest towards the country. It is concluded that most Mexican immigrants come to the States seeking economic benefits and decent employment in the country instead of encouraging crimes. A large number of Hispanics provide a labour force to the states, which means that both parties have equally benefitted from the increased wave of immigrants (Gravelle).
The United States relies greatly on foreign workers for its major economic sectors. The country has always encouraged immigrants from all parts of the world to contribute to the economy and use their specialities. The increased labour proves to be cheaper for firms, which helps them reduce their costs and causes economic growth for the country. Some people might argue that this has resulted in increased unemployment for U.S. citizens and is a reason behind their loss of jobs. However, this is not possible as most firms prefer American citizens over immigrants for employment and decide upon individual performance.
Conclusion
Focusing on a single aspect of a problem never creates an effective solution, as there are many other factors that require consideration. Similarly, border protection is not the answer to the current problems in the country. The United States requires to address increased border security and its link with the economic needs of the country, the solutions of providing legal documentation to current illegal immigrants and the possibility of permanent or temporary residency that caters their issues and the country’s needs are met. They should labour exploitation and the violation of immigrant rights and laws. There is no proof that these policies will be the permanent solution to the problems of unemployment, crime, and terrorism, but this will be a more appropriate and balanced approach to the situation than the protection of the border and the waste of billions of public taxes.
Works Cited
Alexander, Robert. “US Policy Toward Illegal Immigration and Border Security: Summary and Evaluation.” Politics, Bureaucracy & Justice 1.2 (2009).
Gravelle, Timothy. Politics, Time, Space, and Attitudes toward US–Mexico Border Security. 2017.
Passel, Jeffrey S., and D’Vera Cohn. “As Mexican Share Declined, U.S. Unauthorized Immigrant Population Fell in 2015 below Recession Level.” Pew Research Center, 25 Apr. 2017, http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/04/25/as-mexican-share-declined-u-s-unauthorized-immigrant-population-fell-in-2015-below-recession-level/.
