Do Good Fences make Good Neighbors when defining National Borders - Essay Example

Do Good Fences make Good Neighbors when defining National Borders? Due to meticulous and thorough manner in which the world has been divided into developed and developing countries, immigration never loses its importance as a legal and political issue. While several of these immigrants migrate legally from developing to developing to developed countries, in search of more opportunities, others choose to do so illegally, thus raising the issue of illegal immigration. These illegal immigrants have been observed using the documented research on this matter (Espenshade, pp. 195-216), and appear to have several different reasons for their illegal activity. While every country has to face this problem in some magnitude, the USA-Mexico border reportedly faces the largest instance of this problem. As for any country that has such a large problem of undocumented and unlawful immigration, the USA battles the negative effects of this phenomenon on regular basis. The efforts of the US to diminish these illegal activities have greatly burdened the government budget for several years, without a successful solution, since there are still thousands of immigrants entering the country illegally every year. One idea that the experts presented was to contrast a computerized fence along the US-Mexico border, in order to be able to monitor the immigration. However, this suggestion received criticism from several experts, and was not able to gain the required approval. The fence that these experts suggested was to be “a 2,000-mile fence along the US-Mexico border and this has been the proposal of Duncan Hunter, the Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee” (Werner, 2005). To assess the effectiveness of the fence, it is important that one try to visualize it. As experts have claimed in their reports, these fences will be made of “barbed wire, powerful wire fences, high-technological sensors, and a path for border patrol vehicles, CCTV cameras, and movement detectors,” combined together (Massey, 2005). By 2010, the US government had been able to build around 640 out of the planned 2000-miles of the fence, and is still in the process of constructing the rest. The idea of the high-tech wall, however, is not as simple and effective as it sounds for diminishing illegal activity. Several different aspects influence the immigration dynamics at the US-Mexico border. This fence has overall proven to be very effective in curbing unlawful immigration since its construction. This especially refers to San Diego, where the construction of the fence was initiated, resulting in a 14-mile fence in the California area (Werner, 2005). This effectiveness if proven by the reports, which claim that the illegal immigration count decreased from “202,000 in the year 1992 to only nine thousand in the year 2004” (Massey, 2005), thus proving that the fence was successful in its immigration control. While the objective of the fence became fulfilled, it created some additional and unforeseen problems. This especially includes the agitation it caused amongst people residing on either sides of the border as these families enjoy social and cultural interconnection with each other (Tuman, 88-97). The fence adversely affected these meaningful and significant ties, playing the same role that the Berlin Wall did in Germany, as experts claim. Just as the Berlin Wall had a severely negative impact on the thinking of German people, in terms of social, cultural as well as emotional aspects (Gallegos, 1729-1778), the fence also had considerable negative impact on perceptions. It degraded the image of the US, and as the Mexican President said, “It is deplorable to go ahead with this decision of the wall at the border...The wall will not solve any problem. Humanity made a huge mistake by building the Berlin Wall and I believe that today, the United States is committing a grave error in building the wall on our border” (ProCon.org, 2009). This quote from the Mexican President clearly highlights the problem that the fence has resulted in, between countries, which are otherwise deeply connected through social, political, and cultural roots for centuries (Huffman & Torok, pp. 246-260). Thus, one can say that while the fence was beneficial regarding its original purpose, it has resulted in several problems in other aspects. One criticism is that the fence makes the US inaccessible to the Mexican workers who would originally migrate to the country and contribute massively to the economy of the country with their cheap and readily available labor. Experts also criticize the enforcement-only policies regarding US immigration, since past evidence shows that such security measures are either completely ineffective, or even adversely effective, leading to cause harm than good. This includes a recent instance of the increased budget and responsibilities of Border Patrol of USA, despite of which the number of illegal immigrants entering the country every year has doubled in the last 20 years. This signals the need for a deeper analysis of whether the US-Mexico border fence will be as effective as predicted, or whether it will raise additional problems such as cartels and other matters. For example, Rick Perry, the Republican Governor of Texas stated, “We need those individuals to continue to grow our economy. If you show up illegally, without your card or you're here as a criminal element, I'm for throwing the book at those folks, but the issue of people who want to legally, thoughtfully and appropriately come to America to work and help us build our economy. We should quickly come up with a program and an identification card to do that. We know how to deal with border security, and you don't do it by building a fence” (ProCon.org, 2009). This statement opposed the construction of the fence. Yet, experts may counter this perspective by claiming that while Mexicans do make a significant contribution to the US economy, they are usually willing to accept pay rates that are low enough to create resentment amongst some of the US citizens, who cannot afford to compete with such low rates. This negative emotion starts with resentment and often develops into a more deep-seated hatred, which draws on their cultural and social differences as well. Thus, it is imperative to note that the 2000-mile fence will come with a significant increase in the problems already existing on the US-Mexico front. It may create resentment amongst these citizens, and may lead to an unhealthy division amongst these previously harmonized communities. Only the future can confirm whether the positive effects will outweigh the negative effects. Furthermore, it may also discourage other countries who may change their stance on immigration to the US, due to its seemingly exclusive immigration policies. Thus, the US would lose a significant contribution to the economy for which the immigrants were responsible. Finally, one should also note that while the cost of this fence was around four to eight billion dollars, the state of California has been spending around ten billion dollars in efforts to counter the illegal immigration problems. This calculation highlights a positive aspect of this fence, showing that the expense will be much less than the cost that the state was already bearing due to the unlawful immigration. Thus, this may lead to an overall advantage due to the construction of the wall, and may provide an effective and feasible solution to the problem of illegal immigration. Works Cited Espenshade, Thomas J. “Unauthorized Immigration to the United States.” Annual Review of Sociology. Volume 21, 1995: pp. 195-216. Gallegos, Gabriela A. “Redefining the National Interest in U.S.-Mexico Immigration and Trade Policy.” California Law Review. Volume 92, Issue 6, 2004: pp. 1729-1778. Huffman, W. E. and Torok, S. J. “U.S.-Mexican Trade in Winter Vegetables and Illegal Immigration.” American Journal of Agricultural Economics. Volume 68, Issue 2, 1986: pp. 246-260. Massey, Douglas S. “Beyond the Border Buildup: Towards a New Approach to Mexico-U.S. Migration.” Immigration Policy IN FOCUS. Volume 4, Issue 7, 2005. Retrieved on October 11, 2011: www.ailf.org/ipc/policy_reports_2005_beyondborder.htm ProCon.org. Is a fence along the US Mexico Border a good solution to illegal immigration, 2009. Retrieved on October 11, 2011: http://immigration.procon.org/view.answers.php?questionID=000778 Tuman, John P., and Neeley, Grant W. “Explaining Attitudes toward Binational Cooperation among Texas Municipal Managers in the U.S.-Mexico Border Area.” Public Performance & Management Review. Volume 27, Issue 1, 2003: pp. 88-97. Werner, Erica. “Hunter to propose fencing U.S.-Mexico border.” Associated Press, 2005. Retrieved on October 11, 2011: www.signonsandiego.com/news/state/20051102-1526-ca-borderfence.html Read More