How Can We Actually Stop Illegal Immigration?

Anonymous

How Can We Actually Stop Illegal Immigration?

The issue of illegal immigration, and even to some extent, legal immigration, has obviously been a big topic of debate in recent years. Many feel like illegal immigrants are an absolute threat to American society and are by definition, criminals, whilst others feel like they are helpful for our economy and not a real reason of concern. Given the proposed solutions to the illegal immigration problem, I think we have a major case of the solutions being worse than the problems. I liken it to the current War on Drugs in this country--the amount of police, money, efforts, campaigns we've thrown at the problem have barely chipped a dent into it because of the massive scope of all the issues involved with it, and in this case, illegal immigration.

How Can We Actually Stop Illegal Immigration?

Deportation

Eleven million illegal immigrants equals a lot of 11 million illegal immigrants worth of police, lawyers, transportation, paperwork, holding cells, splitting apart and managing broken families, and most importantly, your money. It is not realistic to think that the American people are going to fund a program to rid this country of all illegal immigrants. We don't even want to pay our high taxes, and high health insurance rates, let alone spend even more money that we already don't have trying to get rid the highly touted, illegal immigrant problem. Even if we could afford to do even half that number, that's not actually solving the problem and we'd be right at square one.

How Can We Actually Stop Illegal Immigration?

Deportation also doesn't work. If someone is determined to get somewhere, they will find a way. Think of Nazi Germany or the Berlin Wall or even in modern times, North Korea--how many people risked or risk what for some was certain death or harsh punishment to try to escape to better places. If what you've got behind you is worse than the potential prospect of what's in front of you, someone shipping you back home is not going to stop you from making all efforts to come back as evidenced by the amount of people who have come back illegally in their lifetimes after deportation.

How Can We Actually Stop Illegal Immigration?

Building a Wall

Along with deportation, walls don't work. The Mexican border has a massive amount of tunnels below it right now with more and more popping up everyday for either drugs or an underground passage for immigrants trying to make it to the US. Walls don't work. They've never worked in history either. A wall says, you have something someone might want, and it's up to that person to try and figure out how to get it. The US is simply put, absolutely massive. Closing off, or attempting to close off one border, is not going to prevent people from getting in elsewhere like the likes of Florida, or California, or Canada, or anywhere else for that matter where building a massive wall, is again extremely expensive and extremely impractical.

How Can We Actually Stop Illegal Immigration?

Tougher Punishments

You going to lock people up? Where? Where are we going to lock people up in a prison system that is already more than overflowing? You're talking about people who are not even citizens so short of enacting some form of legal torture (and I'm being facetious when I say that), there isn't much that would be practical enough to provide an adequate threat to illegal immigrants especially if their home countries are more than happy to see them flee or don't care.

How Can We Actually Stop Illegal Immigration?

Economic Impact

You cannot disappear 11 million people and expect there to be no dramatic economic impact. A lot of illegal immigrants are paying into our system through additional tax revenues. They also help keep labor costs down, and work at many jobs American's won't do. Farming, manufacturing, construction, cleaning, lawn care, nannies, etc. A lot of American's don't realize that a lot of the labor they depend on already comes from illegal immigrants. In an economy where minimum wage workers are now demanding 15$/hr, why would employers now accept paying American's higher wages or frankly, be able to do so to replace a massive loss to the work force? We already have jobs fleeing the country as it is because they can't afford American labor, and no amount of presidential bluster is going to convince companies to want to spend more on wages when they are already paying much less and no American's already making more than what illegal immigrants are making, is going to now suddenly accept a lower wage. Who does that? This is a reality that few people think about in their rampant desire to just rid the country of all illegal immigrants.

How Can We Actually Stop Illegal Immigration?

So what can work- how do we solve this problem?

In the ongoing debate about immigration, it is unfair to say that all illegal immigrants cause problems and crimes, but also unfair to say that illegal immigration is not a problem in this country. In some states with particularly high numbers of illegal immigrants, a lot of the crime rate is due to the likes of drugs, gangs, drunken driving, and murders caused by illegal immigrants, but that's also not every state, that's not 50, 75 or 100 percent of the total crime rate, nor is it every illegal immigrant. Those who commit crimes should be punished and in this case, not allowed back into this country.

I don't know what a practical solution can be for such an overwhelming by the numbers issue. Illegal immigration is a problem, but so are kids who are going hungry on our streets, cities with lack luster police forces, our education and healthcare systems, etc. In many ways, we are at an impasse, the way we are with terrorism. We can throw millions...billions of dollars at the problem and track people down and kick people out and ban this and spy on this, but the problem is so incredibly massive and far spreading that at this point, we simply don't have the money needed or the manpower needed to tackle this AND deal with the problems that exist in this country and come out on top.

This is just my opinion on illegal immigration, but I do however, welcome any ideas or solutions one may have or if you don't feel illegal immigration is a problem, then state your case.

How Can We Actually Stop Illegal Immigration?
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