No Good Deed Goes Unpunished
There is a lot of hand wringing going on about the border these days. The problem on the border isn't one problem but a lot of problems on the border, that is a long border and almost impossible to defend, if defend is the correct term which it probably isn't.
A significant factor in the growth of population in this country is net positive immigration in spite of record numbers of deportations of undocumented immigrants. Some sources say that about 400,000 are deported on a yearly basis. Drugs are brought into the country across the border, there are a great number of economic refugees looking for better jobs which don't exist in their country, and now there are an estimated 50,000 unaccompanied minors crossing the border due to unrest and dangerous conditions in their country.
I remember quite well the immigration situation in Miami in April of 1980 when the Mariel Boat Lift took place and about 125,000 from Cuba arrived between April and the end of October. President Carter did himself no favors politically with the way the situation was handled. His initial support of the boat lift changed but the local communities that took these refugees experienced problems in housing, health care and other public services even when they were able to eventually absorb additional workers into the workforce.
The current method of detaining the undocumented doesn't work very well either. Some groups almost get a pass, while others wait, and wait, and wait some more. It's hard to get legal representation if you get moved from one detention center to another and even family members can lose track of relatives in the system.
Last year according to the Immigration and Naturalization Service there were almost 780,000 became Naturalized Citizens and this is a big increase from the 1980's when an average of about 210,000 were naturalized on a yearly basis.
President Obama is reportedly asking for $2 Billion to address the situation at the Southern Border. Taking care of 50,000 folks isn't cheap but a lot of the money will go to the affected communities while longer term decisions should be made.
Gang violence in Honduras eventually spilling over to the Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California borders shouldn't be a huge surprise. A few years ago the Mexican Government stepped up its enforcement on their "drug problem". I bet a lot of families that live in the wrong place in Chicago, or Liberty City in Miami would move too if they could afford it.
This is a problem area that needs some serious policy decisions. It's happened before, it's happening now and without a workable policy our current immigration policy will cause more problems than it solves.
A significant factor in the growth of population in this country is net positive immigration in spite of record numbers of deportations of undocumented immigrants. Some sources say that about 400,000 are deported on a yearly basis. Drugs are brought into the country across the border, there are a great number of economic refugees looking for better jobs which don't exist in their country, and now there are an estimated 50,000 unaccompanied minors crossing the border due to unrest and dangerous conditions in their country.
I remember quite well the immigration situation in Miami in April of 1980 when the Mariel Boat Lift took place and about 125,000 from Cuba arrived between April and the end of October. President Carter did himself no favors politically with the way the situation was handled. His initial support of the boat lift changed but the local communities that took these refugees experienced problems in housing, health care and other public services even when they were able to eventually absorb additional workers into the workforce.
The current method of detaining the undocumented doesn't work very well either. Some groups almost get a pass, while others wait, and wait, and wait some more. It's hard to get legal representation if you get moved from one detention center to another and even family members can lose track of relatives in the system.
Last year according to the Immigration and Naturalization Service there were almost 780,000 became Naturalized Citizens and this is a big increase from the 1980's when an average of about 210,000 were naturalized on a yearly basis.
President Obama is reportedly asking for $2 Billion to address the situation at the Southern Border. Taking care of 50,000 folks isn't cheap but a lot of the money will go to the affected communities while longer term decisions should be made.
Gang violence in Honduras eventually spilling over to the Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California borders shouldn't be a huge surprise. A few years ago the Mexican Government stepped up its enforcement on their "drug problem". I bet a lot of families that live in the wrong place in Chicago, or Liberty City in Miami would move too if they could afford it.
This is a problem area that needs some serious policy decisions. It's happened before, it's happening now and without a workable policy our current immigration policy will cause more problems than it solves.
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