Fencing out Foreigners November 16th, 2013 Peterson American Studies

Up until 2008, the United States of America had gained more than 11,600,000 illegal immigrants. With so many illegal immigrants using social services and not paying taxes, something must be done. There are two very different opinions to this problem. Some people say that we should just kick all illegal immigrants out because they are here illegally and they are taking jobs away from legal U.S. citizens. Then there are some who think that illegal immigrants should be given amnesty. My opinion is to stop the immigrants before they come over. I believe the best and most effective way to stop immigration would be to seal up the border, by building a fence between America and Mexico. If you think about how many miles the boarder covers, a fence is a big undertaking and a very large expense. It’s not practical to watch every foot of the fence 24 hours a day. However, monitoring equipment could be provided along with the fence to detect when someone attempts to scale it. Also, the shear height of it may act as a warning, given what would be required to scale it.
There are examples of walls being successfully used to secure a border between countries. The nonprofit organization Let It Ring said, “A secure, state-of-the-art border fence must be one element of any comprehensive effort to address the illegal immigration problem. Similar fences in Israel have reduced terrorist attacks by up to 95%” (procon.org). This quote is saying how building a fence in other countries has made a huge impact regarding safety. Building a fence along the border would help stop illegal immigration very fast and it would be easier to identify people coming over.
When immigrants come over to America, usually all they want is to help their family and have a better life. Some families even have children while they are over here. Because their children were born her, they are American citizens. John McCain who is very knowledgeable on the subject of immigration said, “I have yet to hear a single proponent of this point of view offer one realistic proposal for locating, apprehending, and returning to their countries of origin over 11 million people.” (procon.org). If police were extradite the family, then their children would have to stay and they may never see their