Editorial

Increased control of the US- Mexico border has a positive effect on illegal immigrant numbers in the United States. This issue is discussed in a Los Angeles Times article titled “Is the border secure?” written by Richard Marosi, Cindy Carcamo, and Molly Hennessy-Fiske.

Border Patrol Has Control

By Alexis Veloz

12 March 2013

                America is known for welcoming legal migrants from all over the world. In recent years, however, many immigrants have been crossing US borders illegally. This has caused a stir among people born in America as well as the people who have gone through the legal process to become Americans.  The immigration reform President Barack Obama has in the works and the amount of illegal immigrants living in the United States is an ongoing hot topic across the nation.  Taxpayers and the government both agree there needs to be action when it comes to this issue; though, the approaches are completely different.

The government is trying to further secure the United States borders in addition to legalizing the immigrants currently residing in America. The American people, on the other hand, do not feel that the government is taking enough action to be able to solve this long time issue. A third point of view comes from the business owners who are benefiting from illegal immigrants. Some business owners use these immigrants for cheaper labor because they will do jobs that Americans typically would not. This is mainly to earn an income without having documents.

                One focus of the debate is security of the US Border.  The main concern of the government is the US-Mexico border because not only are immigrants crossing the border but because of the prominence of the Mexican drug cartel. The LA Times article, “Is the border secure?” written by Richard Marosi, Cindy Carcamo and Molly Hennessy-Fiske discusses the security of the US-Mexico border. According to this article, there have been improvements made to the border fence and an increase in Border Patrol. This has been hugely successful from 1986 to 2012. There has been over 700 miles of barriers and over 15,000 Border Patrol Agents added to protect the border (Marosi, Carcamo and Hennessy-Fiske). This is not an end-all solution, but it has made major improvements. The incompleteness of the fence provides specific areas with easy access to the United States. These areas are not meant to shut out immigrants; they are areas with a lot of Border Patrol to catch the people attempting the “easy way.” The areas that were once known as popular crossing paths in Southern California and Arizona have become the safest and least passed through areas.

Photo Credit: Don Barletti- LA Times

                In order to protect the US-Mexico border from new immigrants entering the United States, the government has done a great deal to effectively enhance the protection of the border. There are surveillance cameras, huge lights facing the fence, and patrol stations across the border for further protection. There is one instance presented in the LA Times article where a 23 year old migrant who has been deported wanted to test the Border Patrol awareness before attempting to cross over. He threw a cat over the fence and almost immediately Patrol agents swarmed the area thinking it was a person jumping the fence. As of recent years, migrant arrests have been about 350,000 per year. This is the lowest number since 1970, proving border protection has been increased and effective (Marosi, Carcamo and Hennessy-Fiske). Overall, the United States increase in border protection and Border Patrol has allowed them to gain more control over incoming migrants from Mexico.  

Works Cited

Marosi, Richard, Cindy Carcamo and Molly Hennessy-Fiske. "Is the border secure?" 10 March 2013. Los Angeles Times. 11 March 2013 <http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-ff-secure-border-20130310-dto,0,7065262.htmlstory>.