The United States-Mexico Border Region

The United States for decades has benefitted at the cost of lThe United States-Mexican border is one of the most complex and influential boundaries in the world, in this region one could research the social, economic and political aspects intertwined. Particularly, the border between San Diego-Tijuana is a place of growing technological innovations, asymmetry variation, and the most controversial aspect – immigration. Immigration is a global issue, throughout the world thousands of refugees and asylum seekers are experiencing hostile unjust treatment from border agents and the generic border security system as a whole.ow income communities and the undocumented populations. Today, the political circumstances have advanced into a new form of capitalism which include privatization of immigration detention centers.

This paper will focus on the hateful rhetoric against illegal immigrants in Donald J. Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign, the full extent of the private sector business implicated in the U.S immigration enforcement process, the discrepancies of immigration law within the criminal justice system and how undocumented families are treated at detention centers throughout the United States. By the study of history, statistical research, and storytelling this paper will present how the bourgeoisie class exploits undocumented children and families in the pursuit of money, wealth and power.

Immigration was not always perceived as an atrocious thing, before the 1920’s the freedom of movement was encouraged. During the 18th century and early 19th century America was complacent when it came to providing refuge for immigrants around the world. However, after World War I in 1914 American point of view toward immigration changed permanently. The rise of nativism and xenophobia began raising suspicions as the presence of immigrants increased in America. After the 1920’s, there was a pattern of legal action through policy making which created an era of restriction that is evidently seen today. The Immigration Act of 1924 was part of the first series of legislation introduced by Congress as a desire to maintain social and political dominance. In a book called Impossible Subjects , explains how the American nation has imposed hierarchies of race and nationalism. The creation of restrictionist policies was later reinforced in 1996 when President Bill Clinton signed the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act (“IIRIRA or IIRAIRA).

This piece of legislation action is significant because it fabricated immigration enforcement as we know it today – a constant threat to a million of immigrant families. IIRIRA was collection of provisions with one goal at hand, create further regulations to enforce deportation and illegal crossings. Policies like the Immigration Act of 1924 and IIRIRA lead to the formation of the first immigration detention facility in the United States.

According to federal government data, the United States is the world’s leading country of more than two hundred immigration detention prisons and jails (see Figure 1).The top five states with the largest number of people in detention centers per day include: Texas (15,852), California (6,527), Arizona (3,869), Georgia (3,717) and Louisiana (3,143) (Freedom For Immigrants). It is important to recognize that each person sent into a detention center is worth a specific amount, for example in at a private facility in California it cost $144.35 per person in comparison at a public facility at $98.27 per person detained. The value per person at a private detention center is worth more than the cost of a person at a public municipal-run immigrant jail.

As a result, many wealthy stakeholders avoid making deals when it pertains to public facilities although it would ultimately be more cost-effective. This practice alone presents how private interest fuels the growth of mass incarceration of immigrants from Mexico, El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala. To exacerbate this issue, since the 2016 general elections and the nomination of President Donald Trump, these communities have been experiencing hateful rhetoric encouraged by political platforms.

Domestically and internationally when there are issues rooted from border security the government tends to falsely advertise what occurs behind closed doors. This is generally transformed as depicting refugees and migrants as “illegal immigrants” that are threatening nationalism, taking away jobs and bring crime into America. Donald J. Trump used this perception of immigrants as the hard-line stance of his 2016 campaign which helped him get elected as the 45th President of the United States. During Trump’s candidacy in 2015, he remained firmed on his perception of Mexicans as he said, ‘They’re sending people that have a lot of problems, and they’re bringing those problems with us. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people’ (Business Insider). This comment was spoken out on live TV, which amplified what red conservatives have already been thinking Trump gave these nationalist a platform to voice their opinions. As a result, immigration was Trump’s political strategy which showed how racist America really was.

According to the Los Angeles Times, about 49% of Trump voters favored changing the Constitution that would prohibit children born to undocumented immigrants from receiving U.S citizenship, Hillary Clinton, his opponent, only 18% of her voters took this view (LA Times). The hostility demonstrated in Trump’s campaign gave him the pathway to the Presidency by mobilizing Americans with anti-immigration views. His campaign rhetoric created fear within the undocumented community present in America, and as well as uncertainty for their future in America.