Will Securing Our Borders Solve the Problem?
Is start the key word here? Or can we secure our borders and then drop the issue?
To bring some perspective we can take a look at the Immigration Problems in Europe at the article linked to in this post.
This blog discusses long-term implications of the very high level of immigration, both legal and illegal, from Mexico. This is a place for rational, well-thought discussion on some very real issues. Opposing viewpoints are welcome and wanted. This is a very politically sensitive subject, thus I am moderating the blog. I won't edit content of comments, but I will reject any hate-filled, racist postings.
One often-said comment is that
We are indeed a nation that was started by immigrants. One example (of many) was the inflow of the Irish. Irish immigration reached its peak in 1840, when Irish immigrant concentrations reached as high as 15-25% by county. (Source).
People who were already in
To answer this, I would point to two things: 1) the intensity of this ongoing wave of immigrants from Mexico is immensely greater, and 2) the economic landscape of the country has changed since those older days.
The population density of Mexican immigrants is going to be a lot bigger than the 15-25% peak reached by Irish immigrants. Today Hispanics are 35% of
For my second point in the comparison with previous immigration waves I would comment that when the Irish came in big numbers in the 1800s,
Today is a very different situation.
I have also heard it said that the high number of Mexican immigrants in
I'm not so sure about that. I used to live in
Unlike the America of the early 1800s, our country is not uncharted territory.
The answer to that question is partly (not entirely) that the rest of us will partially subsidize their life with welfare programs and state services. Maybe this sounds like the same arguments that were used in older times, but consider a few things.
(Most of these statistics were sourced from a Report by the Dallas FED Bank and the Center for Immigration Studies)
I would also argue that legalizing their employment with a "guest worker program" is not going to miraculously create millions of new jobs, therefore it will not solve the problem. Rather, I believe it will enormously encourage and accelerate the mass migration of impoverished Mexicans into USA, making the problem substantially worse.
I also believe the "vision" of Congress and the President behind this "guest worker program" has a lot more to do with winning over Hispanic voters than it does with the needs of our country. Democrats and Republican are always trying to gain power by targeting demographics in the electorate. This is one more scheme that will be at great expense to our nation.