The Infiltration of America: Illegal Immigration Solutions

In writing a paper on immigration in America, the featured texts illuminate what problems have arisen and what measures can be taken to solve them. Illegal immigration, primarily from Mexico, has become an increasing problem since the early nineties. While immigration laws are set in place to stop this infiltration, authorities do not always act. America has become a feeder for emotionally injured people, or people seeking refuge from their own country. A high majority of illegal immigrants arrive in poverty and inevitably end up on welfare. The problem is not the arrival of these refugees; it is that they are illegally benefiting from America’s generosity. The following gives a general overview on the steps that can be put into place to help prevent this problem. Through an increase in border patrols, stricter repercussions for violations, and a set punishment for employers, America can regain its economy, job security, and health as a nation.

The Infiltration of America: Illegal Immigration Solutions
America has become the melting pot for the world. Written directly on the Statue of Liberty’s base states, “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.” What many fail to realize, though, is that the statement does not say, “Give me your tired and poor and let me use tax money to pay for their lives.” Many misread the quote as one of offering a life; instead it is one of offering a chance to make a life. America takes in anyone from anywhere. In America, being selective is a downfall; it will not discriminate against anything, even if that something is a parasite slowly draining the life force from a nation’s people. Illegal aliens manage to collect welfare, steal jobs, and increase the overall number of impoverished in whatever country they infiltrate. Immigration is good, illegal immigration hurts a nation. The number one offender of illegal immigration into the US is Mexico. Mexicans cross the border from a terrible life into the promise land, but return little of their profits back into the system.

The problem lies not in the fact that they are here, but in the fact that the law has been broken and the damning effect on the nation’s people. In order to solve the problem of illegal immigration the United States government needs to tighten restrictions on those who employ undocumented immigrants, increase border patrols, and apply more severe penalties for those in violation. Employers exploit runaway aliens with the promise of low, but manageable, wages. The job economy is a crashing beast, as it has been from the beginning of time. Larger ones trample small businesses daily. However, a new trend has sparked; if the business employs an illegal alien at a low rate, the alien cannot say anything for fear of being deported. With the world economy collapsing “where there is a job waiting, people will cross the border” (Unknown). Employers themselves hold the blame for enticing the immigrants with guarantees of better lives. If a pregnant woman seeks asylum and is turned away she will “claw her way back to the US in search of a new beginning” (Maddali). Young women all over other countries face a horrible future of poverty and shame if they become pregnant.

In America they have the promise of a job and a home, which is the most enticing of all. The promise land also includes payments for children, free good schooling, free books, huge public libraries; all things many families strive to experience. A tax-free job just solidifies the allure of America. Current repercussions for employers do not provide motivation to follow the law. The US congress seems more interested in arguing over more publicly accepted ideas than tackling the beast ahead of them; once the employers understand that employing illegal immigrants results in heavy penalties perhaps the calling for unethically cheap workers will cease. While current laws prohibiting the employment of non-citizens, or those granted permission by the government, exist the “US congress [lacks] the will to impose serious penalties against the benefiting businesses” (Unknown). If the monetary penalties were high enough, businesses would not want to risk saving a buck or two, to only have to pay a million in the long run.

Employers in the Agriculture field seem to be the worst culprits as they “work the immigrants like slaves” (Maddali). Employers who employ knowingly employ illegal immigrant manage to evade things such as basic humanity all in the interest of profit. America is quickly becoming an abomination, and the whole world is not too shy to say so. The US government needs to step up and have these moral and ethical issues stopped before they taint the whole country. Current border patrol policies and documentation checks have holes in protocol that allow aliens to slip through the cracks, and into America unnoticed. A survey of Americans asked, “would you want to control the borders at the moral expense of a 2,000 mile long Berlin wall with minefields, dogs, and machine-gun towers” (Waldinger). The resounding answer was a horrified no. However, the alternative letting immigrants sneak through at a growing rate of over half a million per year does not seem appealing either (Unknown). While helicopters and timed foot patrols do catch many trying to sneak into the US, the amount that make it through is alarming. Fake ids are also in abundance, as are the documentation papers required to pass. In order to acquire the fake documentation to pass, “some immigrants pay huge sums of money, even sell their homes to make it through” (Bankston).

The parade to American soil needs to stop. The US border patrol needs to increase the level of documentation required in order to stop the flow of illegal immigrants. Many of the immigrants pay for documentation, but then are given old documents and the border patrol catches them. However, for every two immigrants caught, one makes it through. Perhaps the US does not want to seem judgmental of every person entering the country, but without suspicion people are able to slide through. Unlike in other countries, the US does not follow up with people that enter. Anyone can come through and “the authorities simply do not follow up to make sure everyone that comes in goes out” (Bankston). The deployment teams either they need more people, or to disperse over a wider section. Too many people make it across the desert into southern US territory. While it still remains unknown exactly how people cross without notice, an investigation has not been mounted to find out.

With the stricter documentation requirements and heavier border controls in place, unwelcome illegal immigrants will be deterred. Actions speak louder than laws; America must authorize the heavier reinforcements against illegal immigration, not just say it shouldn’t happen. America promotes freedom and an escape from a lesser life. Each year people escape from terrible situations into America. Of the people that make it through, over 60% will never be found and never legally register themselves as citizens. From the view of those trying to escape to a better life “Migration controls imposed by the us and other rich countries are all too effective; they prevent millions from enjoying the amenities of a wealthy county” (Waldinger). While many citizens of the US believe that their amenities should not be shared. Taxes are a huge issue with citizens. If a good Samaritan has a job (s)he has to pay taxes that are then redistributed throughout the system. With the major poverty based in the immigration population, American citizens are paying for illegal immigrants to live among them. Only as the world’s economy takes a downturn, does immigration suddenly slow.

The numbers will go back up since “only the [temporary] recent recession has managed to curb immigration” (Johnson). As soon as America shows promise yet again, more people will flow freely into the stream of welfare and promise In order to stop the constant flow of immigration, America needs to create policies that discourage the testing of the law. The abundance of illegal immigration has begun to strangle the American economy; lawmakers need to “weigh the good of all citizens against the desire to welcome needy stragglers” (Unknown). The current policies seem like just a slap on the wrist. Deportation or jails are the only two viable options to cleanse America. Jail not only seems harsh for a person just trying to escape to a better life, but also uses more taxpayer dollars. Also, “if the US would be more open to legalized immigration in the case of asylum more people could become true hardworking citizens” and not be looked down upon (Maddali). If the consequences for living in America illegally were stringent enough, less would try it.

If someone knows they can steal a candy bar and just receive a small slap on the wrist they will keep taking the candy bar, it is worth the punishment; but, if the person knows that stealing the candy bar results in having a month jail sentence and being brandished a thief, they will at least think twice. America needs to punish those stealing the metaphorical candy bar. America can barely support itself in the current economy, much less another country’s population; therefore, illegal immigration laws need to tighten. Without the laws in place to at least slow the pour of illegal citizens, America will soon choke on its welcoming words and die a suffocating death. The US is founded upon the principle of immigration; legal immigration stimulates a nation and is the reason America is a wonderful melting pot where discrimination is muted. Illegal immigration, however, eats the resources hard working citizens work so hard to produce. The US government needs to take a stand and implicate laws against employers, repercussions for illegally crossing, and make a point of deporting anyone unable to provide suitable documentation. While these policies seem harsh, they have already been passed through the House; they are simply not being acted upon. To put it plainly: welcome to the promise land, you may all now throw down your shovels and sit on your asses.

References

Bankston, R. (2007). New People in the New South: An Overview of Southern Immigration. Southern Cultures, 13(4), 24.
Johnson, K.R. (2000). Immigration, Citizenship, and US/Mexico Relations. The Bilingual Review, 25(1), 25.
Maddali, A. (2008). Sophia’s choice problems faced by female asylum-seekers and their U.S.-citizen children, Feminist Studies, 34(2), 277.
Unknown. (2006). Immigration Reform. Commonweal, 133(11), 5-6. Waldinger, R. (2011). Immigration: The New American Dilemma. Daedalus, 140(2), 215.