Illegal Immigration: A Problem for Texas
A few months back, I wrote an essay regarding the sad state of illegal immigration here in the US. I never got around to putting it on the blog. Recent events reminded me of the essay, so here it is.
Illegal Immigration: A Problem for Texas
The border between the state of Texas and the nation of Mexico comprises approximately half the border between the United States of America and Mexico. As a result of this, Texas sees a large number of immigrants crossing the border illegally. This continual influx of illegal immigrants constitutes a serious drain on the Texas economy, mainly in the form of social services but there are costs that extend well beyond the financial impact.
Texas, like the rest of the U.S., is a state of immigrants. Every person in the state is either an immigrant or the descendent of immigrants. There are a large number of reasons behind immigrating to the U.S. Some immigrants left their homelands to escape persecution based on religious or political beliefs. Some have immigrated to the United States to pursue a better life for themselves and their family; many who have done so have been very successful in their pursuit of the American Dream. Still others have left their homelands simply for a change of pace, seeking something different that possibly could not be found in the lands from which they originate.
In addition to being a nation of immigrants, The U.S. is a nation of laws; laws that all citizens and would-be citizens are expected to obey. Some of those laws pertain to immigration and how to become a full-fledged U.S. citizen. There are even laws that govern being a foreign national living in the U.S., without being a citizen. The key point in this is that all of these persons are here in accordance with existing law. This fact is not true for illegal immigrants.
In the year 2003, approximately 1.06 million immigrants entered the U.S. legally (2003 Yearbook of Immigration Statistics 2004, p. 5-9). During that same year, more than 186,000 illegal immigrants were deported from the U.S. (2003 Yearbook of Immigration Statistics, 2004, p. 147). The actual number of illegal immigrants in Texas is unknown, but the Federation for American Immigration Reform cites Immigration and Naturalization Service estimates stating there were approximately 1.04 million illegal immigrants in the state of Texas as of the year 2000 (2004, para. 1).
Because illegal immigrants violate U.S. immigration laws, they are not eligible for employment within the US. While some are able to find employers who are willing to pay them “under the table,” whether in the form of day jobs or by businesses that are willing to violate employment laws in order to save money, many illegal immigrants are unable to adequately provide for themselves and their families. Oftentimes, many immigrants are unable to find a steady source of income. Many are forced to live in poverty as a consequence.
Another drawback of illegal immigration is the fact that many illegal immigrants turn to criminal activities. Some of them were criminals in their homeland and have continued with their criminal behavior here in the U.S. The majority of this criminal activity is gang-related. For example, in late April of 2005, eleven members of a gang called MS-13 were arrested in Houston, Texas (Hewitt, 2005). These arrests were made in response to a spree of gang-related crimes, including robbery, assault, and nine counts of murder. One of the murder victims was Aiden Naquin, a nineteen-month-old toddler. Of the eleven people arrested, only one was a U.S. citizen. The remaining ten were illegal immigrants from El Salvador and Mexico.
There are other consequences of the open border that allows immigrants to enter the U.S. illegally. One of these consequences is illicit drug trade. Every year, millions of dollars worth of illicit drugs enter the U.S. through the U.S./Mexico border. Most drug smugglers enter through the borders in Texas and California.
Another consequence of the open border is the possibility of international terrorism. After the September 11. 2001, terrorist attacks against the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in Washington, there has been serious concern that terrorist organizations such as Al Qaeda could attempt to smuggle weapons of mass destruction into the U.S. along the same routes used by drug smugglers.
Illegal immigration also carries a substantial price tag in the form of healthcare, welfare, and other social services. One tactic used by illegal immigrant is called “anchor babies” (Federation for American Immigration Reform, 2004, para. 1). According to the United States Constitution, all persons born on U.S. soil are granted automatic citizenship. Some female illegal immigrants attempt to have their children on U.S. soil so that the child would be an American citizen. The Immigration and Nationalization Service does not condone deporting guardians of American citizens, even if that guardian is in the U.S. illegally. Healthcare, welfare, education, and other social services provided to illegal immigrants costs the state of Texas an estimated $4.7 billion per year (FAIR, 2005). Another factor that must be considered when accounting for the costs accrued by illegal immigrants is that, since they cannot work legally in the U.S., the majority of illegal immigrants do not pay taxes on wages earned.
With all the problems that arise from illegal immigration, there needs to be some reforms to the way immigration is handled. Despite the statistics, the U.S. Government continues to fail to perform its Constitutionally mandated duty to protect its citizens. Therefore, it falls to the citizens to take action. There are several methods that citizens have available for their use.
The first of these methods is correspondence with the legislature. Every citizen has the right to address issues with his or her elected officials, be they on the local, state, or national levels. Should the elected officials still refuse to take measures to resolve the issue at hand, it is then incumbent upon the citizenry to address the issue at the ballot box and vote these ineffective officials out of office. By doing this, voting citizens can remind their representative they can be held accountable for their inaction.
Sometimes, though, political pressure may not be enough. The power of market pressure cannot be underestimated. Identifying businesses that violate immigration and employment laws by hiring illegal immigrants can be a vital step in curbing illegal immigration. Once these businesses are identified, they can be told by consumers to halt their illegal activity. Should these warnings fail, consumers should impose a consumer sanction against these noncompliant businesses until they comply with immigration laws.
Citizen Awareness Programs can also be effective. In April of 2005, a group of concerned citizens called the Minuteman Project instituted a citizen patrol along the Arizona/Mexico border. The Minuteman Project was a resounding success, resulting in the apprehension of 118 illegal immigrants in only their first week of operation. The message sent by this success is clear: a vigilant patrol along the border can have a significant impact on the number of people entering the U.S. illegally.
Illegal immigration is proving to be very costly to the U.S. and the State of Texas in terms of both lives and of money. With citizen involvement, the flow of illegal immigrants into the state of Texas can be stemmed. Such action can save the state billions of dollars. More importantly, hundreds of lives, both citizen and non-citizen alike, can be saved by enforcing immigration laws. All that is required to accomplish this is the will of the citizens to hold lawmakers and businesses accountable for their practices.
References
Hewitt, Paige (2005, April 16), Reputed gang member charged in toddler’s shooting death [Electronic version]. Houston Chronicle
U.S. Department of Homeland Security. (2004) Yearbook of immigration statistics, 2003, (pp. 5-9, 147), U.S. Government Printing Office: Washington D.C.
Federation for American Immigration Reform. (2004). Immigration impact – Texas Retrieved from http://www.fairus.org/Research/Research.cfm?ID=1511&c=9
Federation for American Immigration Reform. (2004). Extended immigration data for Texas. Retrieved from http://www.fairus.org/Research/Research.cfm?ID=1427&c=9
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