Closing the Border between the United States and Mexico - Research Paper Example

One of the major law and order problems, which take place at this border, is that of illegal immigration. This problem raised many issues, such as public hostility towards the immigrants and decrease in property values. According to the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) data available, the US Border Patrol catches thousands of illegal immigrants every year. Furthermore, it is important to note that this number only indicates the immigrants who failed while trying to enter illegally (Huffman and Torok, 1986).

Undoubtedly, a much larger number of people have attempted it altogether, counting the failed attempts as well as the successful attempts. These illegal aliens are the cause of several economic and social problems in the US. One major problem is traceable to the reason why the Mexicans choose to immigrate to the US. Some of them do so in hopes of better job prospects and better living conditions. The ones, who choose to do so illegally, do so due to shortage of time or patience that is required for a legal immigration.

Either way, they arrive in the US to face a lot of competition in the job market, as here the supply for their labor exceeds demand. Still, they manage to acquire jobs meant for low-skilled, manual workers. This creates resentment for the US citizens who are also only qualified for such jobs. They also resent these immigrants due to cultural and ethnic differences. All these factors combine to form a rather negative opinion about immigrants from Mexico. The fact that a large proportion are illegal immigrants, and thus not justified to be living in the US to begin with, further fuels the hostility, thus leading to violence and hate crimes (Espenshade, 1995).

This is a major reason why the US government should consider closing down the US-Mexico border. Another problem, which arises due to this illegal migration, is the decrease in property value. The