Introduction
“We are going to build the wall. We have no choice” (Payan, 2016). It was during a political rally in California that Donald Trump, then a presidential candidate promised to crack down illegal immigration in the US. Enthralled by the Republican’s presidential aspirant’s speech, his supporters chanted in response, “Build that wall! Build that wall!” Payan (2016) observes that seventeen months into presidency, Donald Trump still maintains that the only way to keep America safe and protect its prosperity is by constructing a wall on the U.S-Mexico border. Mr. Trump’s stance on the issue is a clear indicator of the impact of illegal immigration to the American government. In business classes, it is taught that the first step in solving a problem is determining its root causes. However, in the case of undocumented immigrants, the U.S government seems to pay little attention to the first step. This paper explores legal detours and the long Mexican-U.S border strip as reasons for the influx of illegal immigrants in the United States.
Legal Detours
Orrenius and Coronado (2017) state that the debates on former US president Barack Obama and his successor’s executive action on immigration clearly reveal the disconnectedness in people’s understanding of the relationship between legal and illegal immigration, American laws are the genesis of the problems. Most of the statutes have dead ends because they sit atop outdated creaky legal framework which have failed to adjust to the pace of the economic requirements of the country. There are four major ways in which America’s current immigration policies escalate illegal immigration menace. To begin with, majority of people often choose to follow the path which they lack. It is almost impossible for foreigners who have lived in the country illegally to gain or regain status in America. Just like Denver immigration attorney, Joy Athanasiou observes, nothing exists like mere filling out of forms (Payan, 2016). In fact, there is no annual-visa category, full-time visa and the option for low skilled. As a result, majority of employers can only hire the low skilled workers on temporary basis, however, under very strict rules. Since there is an overwhelming population of illegal immigrant employees whose status do not qualify at all, the positions which experience real shortages lack legal avenues. Thus, the culprits seek the illegal routes, most of the times lured by very lucrative opportunities in which they can supposedly earn a week’s wage in a day.
According to Orrenius and Coronado (2017), the American immigration system is family based. The fact that family members, spouses, minor children, parents, adult children and siblings are given preference makes the system dependent on familial relationship, even though the sponsor may be a green card holder or a lawful permanent resident. There are instances in which the demand exceeds the supply. For instance, Washington D.C attorney Prerna Lal states that the number of visas available to the unmarried adult daughters and sons of permanent holders of green card from Philippines stands at 1,838. The pending applications is at 50,298 and the entire backlog exceeds four million (Heimburger, 2017). The archaic immigration system in which backlogs are created coupled with the pro-familial immigration policies create huge piles of files which are impossible to overcome. There are possibilities of applicant children growing to adulthood and entering new line working and earning as they wait for their visa numbers to come up. Unfortunately, some even die waiting while others dubiously find their ways into the U.S anyway.
Payan (2016) observes that the imposed quotas on the number of foreign workers companies in the US should have is another loophole in the country’s immigration laws. The domestic workers with the required skills should be granted the chance in hiring. However, the quota system lacks the nimbleness whereas the caps are unconnected to the actual need of the employers. Unfortunately, this is the only procedure for the folks in need of permanent employment based residency. Only 10,000 visas for the unskilled workers are available across the world. Resultantly, the unskilled category as opposed to the skilled experiences visa demands which outstrip the supply, therefore setting decade long backlogs (Heimburger, 2017). Since it is in this category that there exist jobs which most Americans never wish to do, there is often spillover into illegal immigration. It is clear that if the law is enforced as it stands, there is a possibility of Americans importing most of its food supply.
Orrenius and Coronado (2017) state that the imposed punishment which backfires is also a great fault in the American immigration laws. For instance, in 1996, penalties were put in place to deny illegal immigrants admission and residency. The punishment imposed bars on gaining the legal status. The idea was to discourage historic immigration of worker into the US. It was discovered that majority of workers never went back home to see their family members but brought them to America. As a result, there has been a steady rise of mixed status families. If a US citizen for instance marries an illegal immigrant, the foreigner is forced to return home to undergo processing. There are situations in which the immigrant is denied legal entry, thus the family remains torn between living apart or together in the spouse’s often poor country of origin. Majority of families never wish to take the chance of separation, therefore, maintaining the mixed status families (Heimburger, 2017). The director of advocacy for the American Immigration, Greg Chen, states that these are people who could have legal status but fail because of the current law.
The Porous Mexican-U.S Border
According to Gravelle (2018), the passable Mexican-U.S border is another cause for the influx of illegal immigrants in America. The border strip is extremely wide, extending to about 2,000 miles. As a result, there have been endless cases of illegal immigrants, drug peddlers and criminals from Central America entering the U.S via the Mexican-U.S border. The overall number of illegal immigrants caught trying to cross the border is on the rise. For instance, in April 2018, the number of crossing attempts was 37% higher than what was recorded in the previous month of March. A total of 50, 304 people were apprehended, the largest apprehensions being from the Rio Grande sector in Texas according to the records from Customs and Border Protection Agency (Gravelle, 2018). It is for this reason that President Donald Trump feels that the most appropriate way of controlling the notorious illegal immigration through the Mexican-US border is by constructing a concrete wall. His pledge to construct the border wall dates back to Trump’s announcement of his candidacy at Trump Tower, New York in June, 2015 (Payan, 2016). Early this year, President Trump’s administration provided an estimate of $18bn contrary to his initial approximation of $10bn (Gravelle, 2018). Even though, the project has received a lot of criticism, it may be a golden step in curbing the threat of illegal immigration in the U.S.
Conclusion
Cross border illegal immigration into the U.S has risen despite crackdown by former president Barack Obama and the current sitting president, Mr. Donald Trump. There have been endless debates and speculations on the causes of undocumented immigrants into the U.S. Even so, the ineffective immigration laws coupled with the existence of the porous Mexican-U.S border have been cited as the major reasons for the hazard. With over 12.5 million illegal immigrants, the United States indeed has a reason control the situation.
References
Gravelle, T. B. (2018). Politics, time, space, and attitudes toward US-Mexico border security. Political Geography.
Heimburger, R. W. (2017). God and the Illegal Alien: United States Immigration Law and Theology of Politics. Cambridge University Press.
Orrenius, P. M., " Coronado, R. (2017). The effect of illegal immigration and border enforcement on crime rates along the U.S-Mexico border.
Payan, T. (2016). The Three U.S-Mexico Border Wars: Drugs, Immigration, and Homeland Security: Drugs, Immigration, and Homeland Security. ABC-CLIO.
