by Forrest Gittleson
Daily Staff Writer
Problem: Thousands of Mexican citizens illegally cross the southern border of the United States every year in order to find work and send earned money back to their families in Mexico. While some decide to pay human smugglers, or "coyotes," thousands of dollars (American) per head to be transported safely into the U.S., others attempt a dangerous crossing on foot.
Proposed solution: Put up a fence!
American relations with Mexico over the past six years, while at first warm, have now cooled off considerably in light of disagreements over the war in Iraq and immigration concerns. But a new fight may be ensuing over a budgetary provision that provides $2.2 billion for the construction of a 700-mile security fence along the southern border of the U.S.
Representative James Sensenbrenner's (R-WI) proposal - which would provide for "structural enhancements" along the southern border, make illegal immigration a felony, and create the crime of employing or aiding undocumented migrants - passed on Dec. 16, 2005 in the House of Representatives.
The bill has met with a reasonable, logical and mature response from Mexican President Vincente Fox and his administration, who called the bill shameful and "stupid" while celebrating Mexican illegal immigrants as "heroes."
Though President Fox's rants may hold little significance because of his lame duck status (given the upcoming Mexican presidental election in 2006), one must consider that he is correct to label the project foolish because of its inefficacy and wastefulness of resources and American taxpayer dollars.
As noted by national and international columnists, walls and fences have a tendency to fail-witness the Maginot line, the Great Wall of China, Hadrian's Wall, and, of course, the walls of Troy.
When making a proper comparison, it is also important to recognize that these historic walls were constructed for defense from siege weapons and massive armies, in some cases, over hundreds of years. The materials were stone, sand mortar, and blood. The Sensenbrenner bill, however, merely provides for a chain link fence with security spotlights over a stretch of 700 of the border's 2,000 miles.
Given the recent increase in illegal crossings due to the bill, the Mexican government and activists have been swift to respond. In order to prevent needless deaths, 70,000 maps of the border region will be handed out showing the locations of water dispensers and border patrol units.
While clearly an honest attempt to save lives, from a purely legal perpective, this map distrubution plan encourages illegal immigration and should be immediately condemned by the Bush administration.
Thus, the United States is left with an expensive and feeble plan for a fence- unlike that on the border of the West Bank in Israel, which is effective when supported by the necessary manpower and resources. Meanwhile, each year, illegal immigration is rising, and Mexico has finally begun to encourage it for both humanitarian ends and economic gain. (When illegal immigrants send funds to family members in Mexico, the Mexican economy benefits.)
Clearly, the illegal immigrant population is an important and valuable part of the economic base of the U.S. because of its willingness to work in jobs that Americans see as degrading, at wages less than the national minimum.
In a way, the continuous influx of illegal immigrants also helps to ensure that workers are always available to provide unskilled labor as new jobs are created and other workers retire. Furthermore, with a currently expanding economy, the growth of the worker pool-while unfortunately driving down wages-will ensure continued growth because of increased productivity.
As previously stated, the positions taken by illegal immigrants primarily demand unskilled labor, and Americans tend to believe such jobs are beneath them. Herein pride is a major problem. Jobs are clearly available despite warnings from the media suggesting that there is vast unemployment. Instead, the jobs that are available tend to be low-income; thus, they are quite often filled by illegal immigrants.
Given the chance to find a low paying job or to remain unemployed, the obvious answer should be to take the lower-paying job in order to subsist until another better position is created. Until the point at which unemployed and low income Americans will put aside their pride and take the jobs that are available, illegal immigrants serve the important purpose of providing a stable foundation for our economy.
Any attempt to reduce illegal immigration-such as a fence-is both inane and unfavorable to the growth of our economy. Rather, a visa program in which illegal immigrants may become legal residents for a short period of time and thereby earn the minimum wage while not committing a blatant crime would seem to benefit the homeland security (though not necessarily the US economy), the Mexican economy, and, of course, the illegal immigrants themselves.
Fortunately, the Sensenbrenner bill stands little chance of passing in the Senate- especially because it is opposed by President Bush. Bush favors his own guest worker program, which would award temporary legal residence in the United States to approximately 60 percent of illegal immigrants.
Such a plan would certainly save Texans from having to direct groups of illegal immigrants to water coolers while they traipse around the desert trying to read upside-down maps.
