Let's say we have $x to fight crime.
We have two choices: We can put a fence on the border that prevents illegal aliens from coming in, or we can increase law enforcement for all criminals, regardless of whether they are illegal or not.
If the goal is to reduce crime, would the latter not be a great deal more effective? And doubly so with terrorism since when terrorists come in the first thing they do is contact their fellows. This is probably why we have not had a successful major attack here since 9/11.
There was a long article - I think it was in the City Journal but I'm not sure - that said immigraiton patterns are actually pretty similar to what they were in years past. People left Italy, for instance, because they were unable to make a living. They came here, and at first they stayed in exclusively Italian communities.
Then the next generation became more of an American generation, which is apparently happening; the story said that children of illegal immigrants are far more interested in English and fitting in than their parents.
Perhaps the biggest difference is that today it's easy and relatively affordable to keep contact with the old country and that makes it possible for loyalties to it to stay firm for longer.
It's probably better for the American economy to have these workers work here and buy stuff here than it would be for them to work in Mexico and buy stuff there. As I said, I worked for a company that might not have existed without illegal immigration and so perhaps I am biased in its favor.
Whose fault is the illegals' refusal to learn our language and adopt to our customs? The real problem is our own government, which cheerfully prints out election ballots in 14 different languages, lets you take your driving test in Spanish and so on. I don't think it should be doing those things, but it does. And of course private industry follows the lead of business and so we have Spanish language radio stations, TV and so on.
I think our laws that subsidize the policy of immigration without assimilation should change. We should not make it easy to vote unless you know enough English to read a ballot printed in English, for example.
And perhaps we need to figure out how to work out a cheaper medical care system too. Frankly, I don't just want that for illegals; I want it for myself, too. I paid (well, my insurance paid) almost $3,000 for a one day hospital visit where nothing was done but diagnostic tests! That is just plain unacceptable.
Bringing basic care to illegals and other people should not bankrupt our hospitals. Their problems seem like testimony to how bloated they are and how poorly they are run more than anything bad about illegals.
D
Let me be generous and suggest that you are, perhaps, attributing too much to anything but the illegals and the Mexican government. First of all, in order for someone to become a naturalized citizen, they must prove that they can fluently speak, read and understand American English. So, there is no reason for ballots printed in any language but American English (I'm agreeing with you on this point). In the 70s, Sen. S.I. Hayakawa from California proposed making English the official language of the United States. He was virtually laughed off the Senate floor and fell into obscurity. We are still paying for the Senate's refusal to address this situation seriously. However, you started out this paragraph by asking whose fault it was that they had failed to learn English? It's theirs, first and foremost. Secondly, it is the fault of the enablers who allow them to get away with never having to learn English by speaking Spanish to them.
But you started your reply out by asking about walls and fences or increasing law enforcement for all criminals. Let me start by asking a rhetorical question - Why do they put walls and fences around prisons? Are they to keep us out, or the prisoners in?
Are you aware that since 9/11, there have been over 3,000 murders of Americans attributed to illegals? That's just murders. It doesn't include rapes, robberies, or other crimes. In the Mariel boatlift from Cuba in the 80s, Castro unloaded his prisons and mental institutions and sent them all here. After exhaustive investigation, many of them could not be cleared and could not be sent back to Cuba and have remained in prison ever since arriving here.
We can discuss back and forth about walls and fences but, as one who has traveled extensively throughout the world and driven between countries, I can tell you that we are about the only country in the world with such a pathetic dividing line between our country and either Mexico or Canada. Yes, david, I want my wall or, at least, a substantially better fence. Good fences make for good neighbors.
The illegals have done thousands upon thousands of dollars of damage to farmers and ranchers across the southern US border through littering, damaging or destroying fences belonging to the ranchers and other means.
As for the money they are spending here, they aren't spending it here - that's how the Mexican government is realizing an annual increase of $20 billion that they don't have to work for - the illegals are sending money they would be spending here, back to Mexico. There are the realities of this situation that make it a problem of enormous proportions. They aren't paying taxes that would help keep tax supported hospitals open, nor are they paying taxes that support the schools and pay for the drain they are placing on our public school system. In many, many school districts, the children of illegals are putting such a heavy burden on the resources, that other kids are being held back in their ability to learn. This is fundamentally unfair to the kids making an effort to learn and the parents of those kids who see their kids being held back because the teacher has to teach ALL of the kids - not just the American ones.
Philosophically, I would love to say this isn't a big deal. But I have lived in the southwest most of my life. With the exception of the last 9 years, I know the southwest better than any other part of this country. I have driven extensively across Texas, New Mexico and Arizona and, to a lesser extent, into southern California. The problems are real. The solution starts with exercising substantially better control over our borders.