It’s Time to Build a Wall and Build it Fast


Illegal immigration is perhaps one of the most contentious topics leading up to the 2018 midterm elections. Our nation has been divided by the immigration debate, but why? A strong border is the first step to establishing the sovereignty of our nation so why are there people, particularly Democrats on the left, advocating for open borders? In PragerU’s latest video featuring Tucker Carlson, he cites four facts. First, according to a new Yale study, there are at least 22 million illegal immigrants in the United States. Second, Democrats plan to give all of them citizenship. Third, a majority of first-time immigrant voters vote Democrat. Lastly, the biggest landslide in American Presidential history was only 17 million votes. This means that the Democrats will have a permanent electoral majority. The influx of illegal immigrants crossing our Southern border not only reflects a poor immigration system but an absolute disregard for United States sovereignty. The inability to control who comes into this country is a sign of weakness and we need to find a solution fast.
Due to illegal immigrants evading lawful border crossings, it is difficult to examine and keep track of who exactly is entering the country. Often we see people who were previously deported, re-enter the country and commit a crime. The tragic story of Kate Steinle has become the forefront of the illegal immigration debate. Steinle was shot and killed when Jose Ines Garcia Zarate found a gun on a San Francisco pier and it accidentally discharged and struck her. This never should have happened because Zarate was deported to Mexico five times prior, and should not have been able to re-enter the US illegally. Before the shooting occurred, immigration authorities requested he be detained for deportation but a San Francisco jail released him. This case is a product of the “sanctuary city” policy that many cities and states have adopted. Sanctuary City policies “limit how much local law enforcement officials can comply with federal immigration authorities”. This essentially means that illegal immigrants can be protected from federal orders of deportation if they are in a sanctuary city. This policy allows criminals to be protected from the law.
In recent months there has been a call for the elimination of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency. ICE is a critical agency that enforces immigration laws and investigates criminals, terrorism, and the illegal movement of people but their primary job is to keep American citizens safe. It is forgotten that ICE has duties other than arresting and removing illegal immigrants. The agency promotes strong border security by investigating cases involving human rights, human trafficking, child exploitation, smuggling of weapons and narcotics, fraud, and other abuses. The scope of transnational organized crime has expanded greatly in recent years and ICE has been working to disband and weaken such groups. In 2016, the agency arrested over 4,606 transnational gang members, seized 1.5 million pounds of narcotics, and identified more than 2,000 victims. Of those identified, 435 were victims of human trafficking, and 820 were victims of child exploitation. The call to eliminate ICE is a ridiculous attempt to open the borders and protect criminals living in the United States.
The most recent news regarding immigration has been the migrant caravan originating in Honduras, that intends on coming to the US. While it is difficult to determine the exact size of the caravan because they are spread out, the UN has estimated there to be more than 7,000 people. The caravan has been growing as it proceeds further north, picking up people from Mexico, and outside of Central America including the Middle East, Africa, and South Asia. People from all over are taking advantage of this massive group of migrants to disguise themselves and get into the United States. Many images that have gone viral show the front of the group carrying the Honduran flag, making it look more like an invasion. These people are fleeing terrible lives in Honduras, so why are they carrying the flag of what they are trying to escape? This caravan has shown no regard towards the entry laws of Mexico, and they have no intent to follow those of the United States.
A problem associated with illegal immigration that is often overlooked is the environmental impact. When immigrants travel to the border they leave enormous amounts of trash behind them. The Arizona Department of Environmental Quality estimates that over 2000 tons of trash is left at the Arizona border each year. All of that trash contributes to the degradation of waterways, harm of wildlife, and soil erosion. According to the United States Census Bureau, the United States population is the third fastest growing behind only China and India. This growth is largely due to the increasing immigrant population, both legal and illegal. The more people that enter this country, the more likely we are to further exceed our carrying capacity. Resources are incredibly limited and they will continue to become more scarce the more people we admit into the country.
As more people illegally enter the United States, costs increase as there are more people that need to be cared for. Education, law enforcement, and medical expenses to cover undocumented immigrants cost tax paying American citizens an exorbitant amount of money. According to the Federation for American Immigration Reform, in 2017 the total combined federal, state, and local expenditures on illegal aliens was 134.9 billion dollars and the total combined taxes paid by illegal aliens was 18.9 billion. This means that there is a 116 million dollar deficit between what illegal aliens cost versus what they are paying. When it comes to federal medical expenditures, the cost is 17 billion dollars. About 4.6 billion dollars in federal taxes for health services and 2.8 billion in state and local taxes go to supporting undocumented immigrants.
So how do we fix this problem? In a PragerU video “Build the Wall” Charles Krauthammer proposes 3 solutions; build a wall, create an E-verify system that makes it nearly impossible for illegal immigrants to work, and a visa tracking system. 40 percent of immigrants are visa overstays. Building a wall is hardly a unique concept to the United States. There are many countries around the world that have found success in building fences and walls to protect their borders from illegal immigration. India constructed a fence along its border with Bangladesh, Spain has erected fences along their territory near the strait of Gibraltar to keep African migrants out of the European Union, and Greece also has fences with barbed wire to deter immigration from the Middle East. An important part of restricting illegal immigration is to maintain the sovereignty of a state. Allowing everyone and anyone to enter with no consequences of breaking the law is detrimental to national security and further, a states legitimacy.
There is no denying that we are a nation of immigrants; that is what makes us inherently American. However, it is vital that the United States maintain its sovereignty by securing our borders and being selective of who we allow to enter. It is not the responsibility of the United States to deal with the outcomes of another countries poor leadership. We do not owe the world a home. There are American citizens that are living in the streets and struggling every day to survive. Why should we accept thousands of more people into our country when we can’t even properly take care of our own citizens? A wall at the southern border would greatly reduce the impact that illegal immigration is having on our country. People cannot expect to live under and be protected by the laws of the United States when they are broken at the very first interaction they have with the country. How can we expect people who don’t enter legally and follow the rules, to follow the rest of the laws we have in place to keep order? There is nothing wrong with wanting to put your own country first. It is time that the United States start taking care of itself, protecting its own citizens, and stop being the babysitter for the rest of the world.











