The Iron Guard between Two Worlds.

This is going to have to be a back log post. Since it is the only paper I have turned in this year, it should be the only one I have to backlog. I wrote this paper for Mr. Hamelin's English Composition II Class. It was to be a 2-3 page persuasive paper one a somewhat controversial topic. I chose to write about the border fence being built between America and mexico. I decided apon this topic after I read an article in Times magezine. I researched mainly online. There were a few videos.

Here is my paper. My works sited are at the end.

The Iron Guard Between Two Worlds

“We don't need no border walls”. The chants of angry Mexicans and Americans can be heard along the new fence being constructed across the Mexican and American border. On October 26, 2006, Congress approved the construction of a 700 mile fence stretching between the Mexico-America international border. The new fence is currently in the construction phase. This fence will cost a sum total of $49 billion, and will cover approximately 670 miles of the 2000 mile border. Some of the fence will be built in double layer form, with heights of 12-20 feet. In the gaps along the fence the government is using a process called “virtual fence”, which uses motion detectors and cameras to alert border patrol of fence hoppers. The purpose of the fence is to keep the nearly 400,000 illegal Mexican immigrants that cross into America each year from entering American territory. The mass numbers of illegal Mexican immigrants that cross into America everyday should be a huge concern for American citizens, even so, many Americans feel that the fence is the wrong way to go about solving the immigration problems, nevertheless, in the end we need to find a humane way to deal with the problem that works with the foundations of our country.


One future-American-hopeful, may spend three-to-four days, crossing twenty-to-thirty miles of dessert, in hundred degree weather, all the while leaving eight pounds of trash; just to enter an American city, where they can fade into the shadows of the land. Once these illegal immigrants reach the cities, they take many different routs to many of the same destinations: bussed back to Mexico, living a life of secrets and lies, and/or causing American citizens billions of dollars. Since these people are illegal residents, they can not find legal jobs that require fair pay, health benefits, and paying taxes. Much of the money, an estimated 12 billion untaxed dollars each year, is sent back to families to be poured into the Mexican economy. Many of the immigrants decide to have children, because any child born on American soil is an official American citizen. These, sort of, pawn children, are used as anchors to keep their families in America. The American education and health systems are too being hurt by the illegal immigration from Mexico. It is estimated that $28,607,800,000 of taxpayers money is spent every year educating illegal immigrants and children whose parents are illegal immigrants; many of whom will never pay taxes in their lives. Illegal immigrants are the cause for $190 million {25%) of southwest border county hospitals uncompensated emergency cost. The cost of housing illegal immigrants is putting a huge strain on the American economy.


In spite of the overwhelming evidence proving that illegal immigrants are economically destroying the America, many Americans believe that the fence is a horrible “solution”. For starters, the wall not only puts a twenty-foot barrier between The United States and Mexico, the fence also puts a twenty-foot barrier between the United States and some Americans. Since, in some areas, the fence cannot be built directly on the border (building in the natural Rio Grande river may change the natural flow of the river and therefore would change the natural boundaries) the fence is being built some two miles inward the American boundary. This federal government plan calls for cutting many properties in half, putting residents on the “Mexican” side of the fence, and putting a wall in the middle of farms and University golf courses. The University of Texas: Brownsville feels that the wall in sending the wrong message to many of their Mexican students, whom legitimatly cross the border daily to take classes. The school has stood by a mission of uniting both the US and Mexico, and they feel the fence goes against their unity ideals. “UTB is trying to portray an image of bringing everybody together, but we would have this wall between us.” stated UTB student Allison Valles. The residents who are now forced to be on the “other” side of the fence fear for their property values. They believe that nobody is going to want to purchase a house “on the South side of the border wall the United States built”. The fence isn't even working as the quick fix the government wants it to work as. Residents in the areas where the fence has already been put up say that the cross bar effect of the fences construction work perfectly as a ladder when illegal immigrants want to hop the fence. Clearly the fence is not the answer to our problem.


With all this talk of “illegal immigrants”, and the “ones on the other side”, we are almost forcing ourselves to not think humanly. Illegal immigrants crossing into our borders are a “problem”, but maybe we need to work on why they are coming here in the first place. The human will to live would not send hundreds of thousands of people into the dessert to die every year, if there weren't something better in front, and worse behind them. If we were to stop placing blame on others and were to look inward at ourselves, we may find out what we are doing wrong. Some people say that the illegal job placement large American companies, like Wal-Mart and Swift Co., provide are the “money magnet” ushering Mexicans to America. We also need to look at what they are leaving behind. If we took the billions of dollars we pump into a metal fence and used it to aid the country of Mexico, possibly the amount of illegals border hopping would diminish. If their economy had some financial aid, possibly that would be the jump start their country needed. We are all humans, and sometimes, it seems, we need to put ourselves in another's shoes.


So, the illegal immigrants we have right now are hurting America and her citizens, the solution we are trying to use isn't working, and we are to self centered to find a less invasive way to solve our problems. What are we going to do? What can we do. It seems that he only thing we can ask for right now is that American citizens make themselves more aware. The problems we have are being solved by a government that wants a quick fix to band aid our problems. The people of this country need to know what is going on and do their part to be sure the world can live each day as peacefully and humane as possible.



Bibliography

Drehele, David V. (2008, June 19). The Great Wall of America. Time,

Texas Border Coalition. (2008). Our Border, Our Future. Retrieved 27 August 2008. http://www.texasbordercoalition.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=25&Itemid=41

“The Border Fence; The Wall”. Wayne Ewing. Now. PBS. 15 August 2008. http://www.pbs.org/now/shows/432/video-webex.html

USA TODAY. 25 August 2008. http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2008-06-27-texas-university- fence_n.htm?loc=interstitialskip

Wikipedia The Free Encyclopedia. (2005). Illegal Immigration to the United States. Retrieved August 20, 2008, from the World Wide Web:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illegal_immigration_to_the_United_States