Farm Patrol- Edward

When we look at problems that we are currently facing such as illegal immigrants we need to recognize that there are particular motives involved with this process. Specifically if we look at the U. S, Mexican border we see a large percentage of this problem. About 60% of all Illegal Immigrants coming into the United States are from mexico (1). Now this problem can affect countries like the United States quite significantly because the U.S government needs to spend large amounts on border security and the illegals come at a cost when in the United States because they do not pay things like taxes. In 2008 it is estimated that 11.1 million people living in the U.S are illegals, it is an extremely vast number. Now illegal immigration does not just fill up the less attractive jobs for society but it also increases the crime rate of a country, for example a street gang in Los Angeles has 50,000 members and 80 percent of the members are illegal immigrants from Central and South America. This gang is very dangerous and commits things like assault auto theft, extortion, homicide and the selling of various drugs. The problem with illegal immigration is that it is very difficult to stop.

There are two sides to every story and this is no exception, illegal immigration has its reasons. When we look at Celia for example she was living in a very impoverished town with extremely little money (Farmer 14). She seeked out the help of a coyote, and individual that help to get people over the border. Her and some people that she knew went with the Coyote however the coyote soon fled, they were all captured and turned into eejets except for Celia who was a good cook. There are many reasons for illegal immigrants to want to come to different countries and not all of them are bad. For instance some might be escaping from poverty, others might want to start a better more stable life or some people might want   to live in a country with fair justice systems and non-corrupt police and government. I believe that Celia turned to a Coyote for this very reason, she risked her life to gain a new one. Celia was in such a bad situation that she had nothing to lose, the benefits would have been extreme for Celia had she successfully made it to the United States however she was caught by the farm patrol. Celia was extremely lucky that her life was spared and I feel that living in the Alacran estate is still better then living in an extremely impoverished village in Mexico.

http://www.cnn.com/2012/03/02/opinion/garcia-illegal-immigrants/index.html Articles like this one here recognize the importance that some illegal immigrants or normal immigrants play in society, Whether its social or economic benefits these benefits still can happen. In my opinion of a person immigrates to a country illegally because of a factor in their live we should help that person become an actual immigrant in order to better their life. I believe that based on Celia's story and real life problems we need to design solutions that not just cover up the problem of illegal immigration but solutions that deal with it.

Book quotes are from specific chapters!



(1) http://www.illegalimmigrationstatistics.org/

(2) Preston, Julia (2008-07-31). "NYtimes.com"

(3) "National Gang Intelligence Center - National Gang Threat Assessment 2009 Justice.gov. 


Other sources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illegal_immigration#Causes