Fencing off reality

What is truly needed to curb illegal immigration

By Aditya Kashyap
From the December 2006 Print Edition

As recent Gallup, CNN/TIME, and Fox News polls have shown, almost everyone in the United States agrees the current illegal immigration problem must be addressed. Democrats and Republicans supposedly have reached an effective consensus on how to approach this dilemma: develop a guest-worker program and erect a massive fence along the U.S.-Mexican border. Unfortunately, the construction of such a fence is another example of wasteful government expenditures that address the symptoms of the nation instead of the roots of the problem.

President Bush signed a bill mandating 700 miles of fencing along the U.S.-Mexican border recently at a White House ceremony. The fence, designated to be 15 feet in height with barbed wire and flood lights is projected to cost tax payers a minimum of $1.2 billion; even then, there is not guarantee of completion and contractors are projecting estimates in the decades. The United States has been throwing money at enforcement of these laws for years with little to no result. There is no proof that further expenditures, such as the erection of this fence, will curb the inundation of illegal immigrants.

For the past two decades, big government has attempted to reduce illegal immigration. Since the late 1980s, the number of border-patrol agent has tripled and their median salary has increased by 150 percent. One should keep in mind that the current proposed solution of a fence is not a new idea; in the 1990s major urban areas such as El Paso and National City were hosts to major fencing projects conducted by the federal government. The presence of these fences did not deter illegal immigrants — it simply forced them to detour around the fenced areas. After the completion of these fencing projects the total number of illegal immigrants entering the nation each year increased.

Assuming that this new 700-mile fence became a reality, approximately 1,000 miles of the U.S.-Mexican border unfenced As the immigrants are forced to cross the border through more dangerous terrain, the body count of unsuccessful illegal attempts will only increase. Furthermore, as the price for entry into the nation increases, illegal immigrants will be motivated to stay in United States longer and perhaps never return.

The typical big-government bureaucrat’s response to these concerns would be a proposition to simply fence the entire two thousand miles of the U.S.-Mexican border. This solution still fails to address the problem of those who enter legally, but overstay their visas. One-third of all illegal immigrants in the country are from this group. On an average day, almost one million Mexicans enter the United States legally through points across the border for purposes of commerce or family visits. Although the majority do return home in a few days, some do not.

If the government truly wishes to find a comprehensive and effective solution to the illegal-immigration problem, they must not be afraid to accept two realities: the inevitable globalization of the free market as well as the fact that the United States is at war with terrorists.

The populist claim that Mexicans are taking away job from Americans is inane; a temporary worker program would allow legal immigrant workers to come and fill jobs in food processing, agriculture, and retail. These sectors are experiencing a lack of available and willing workers from the United States.

Also, Congress must realize that a fence itself does not deter illegal immigration. Anyone with wire-cutters, dynamite, or a truck can tear through a chain-link fence. A state of martial-law must be declared along the border. The National Guard must be increased in size and then stationed along the U.S.-Mexican border with authorization to non-lethally fire on all unidentified intruders. Over the last few years, there have been several documented cases of al Qaeda operatives successfully entering the United States posing as Mexican illegal immigrants. As September 11 illustrated, it takes only one terrorist sleeper cell to initiate a catastrophic attack. As much as Americans would like to deny it, The United States is not only at war overseas, but at home as well. Let’s start acting like it.

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