Illegal Immigration Crisis in America and My Solution

Illegal Immigration Crisis in America and My Solution
by
Craig Michael Crawford


I was driving down the street yesterday and saw protesters on the side of the road, angry about illegal immigration, and it's devastating effects on our once great country. Being a lifelong patriot I noticed what they were there for, acknowledged them, gave a couple honks, went to the grocery store and didn't think much about it after that.

Illegal Immigration affects every American whether we chose to take a side on it or not. Our elected leader President Obama recognizes the need for “comprehensive reform”. I think we could all agree comprehensive reform would be an accurate term to describe what is necessary to fix our current immigration laws and solidify our border securities. What type of reform is the question and the answer to why nothing ever gets done?

Later the next day I was thinking about my own issues, joblessness, financial hardships, family problems, the standard usual everyday American family problems. Unfortunately I have been affected like many other American families by the devastating economy crippling our entire nation. It is especially bad in California where there seems to be little hope for our States economy as a whole. I would be happy to spend a year or two working for the government building a wall, I work hard, don't complain too much, I probably know a few other guys who might help.........

I thought to myself how easy it should be for a nation of people who all agree we need “complete reform” concerning the security of our borders, to implement a plan to secure these borders. Shouldn't we stop the inflow first, protect our security, then squabble in congress and the house about the proper path to legal citizenship. That is what everyone wants right?; legal, law-abiding, tax paying, hard working, honest American citizens. Wouldn't Democrats and Republicans both spend legal immigrant tax dollars just as ineffectively as they spend ours. Mass deportation is neither logical or ethical.

Most importantly we must have a secure border where there are no questions about whether or not there is a line in the sand, or if there is a possibility of making it across illegally. All illegal immigration into this country will be stopped. Until this happens we will never be able to get an accurate estimation of the entire situation. I bet there is no way to calculate the amount of money the government has spent trying to figure out how many illegal immigrants are in this country. But by my calculations 100% was wasted because it changes every day.

We have plenty of technology to make this become a reality. They say good fences make good neighbors, and thats what I believe America could be: a good neighbor. In the grand scope of governmental budgets it wouldn't cost that much to completely secure our border. The problem then lies in our government. When the government no longer is supporting the needs of the people they represent it is each individuals responsibility to change the way the government operates. Thats when I realized what those people were standing outside for.............
 
President Obama said “We do not deputize the American people to do the job that the federal government is supposed to do. So as president, I will make sure that the federal government does what it’s supposed to do, which is to do a better job of closing our borders, have much tougher enforcement standards when it comes to employers, and create a pathway of citizenship for the 12 million people who are already here.”
Source: 2007 Democratic radio debate on NPR Dec 4, 2007

He hasn't done this and probably wont do this. Now it's our turn to tell him he hasn't, maybe he'll listen and do something about it.....

So now my thoughts are completely geared toward how can we as Americans persuade the government to take action to secure our borders and our economic future. Protests don't seem to have the effect that they once had in our country. I believe the best way to show the government that you believe they are not doing their job, is to relieve them of their duties until they can figure it out. If every American who stands on a street corner protesting or writes a blog complaining about illegal immigrants would come down to a border town and stand some watch, or farm some land supposedly only capable of being farmed by illegal immigrants we as Americans could stand together and start a Border communities watch.

This Border communities watch program should be privately funded and focused on building not only a strong patriotic presence all across the southern border of our country, but infrastructure to support the development of properties along the southern borders of the entire country. Development on this scale will create numerous job opportunities for hundreds of thousands if not millions of currently unemployed/underemployed tax-paying Americans all across the country.

By privatizing the development we will ensure governmental budget approval problems and bipartisan lobbying won't slow the development or make it cost exponentially more than is necessary. If the group of investors was large enough, we could build lines of small productive American farms all across the entire southern border. Hopefully with the development dollars already spent on the infrastructure necessary to support almost 2000 miles of roads, farms, and homes with hard working Americans farming land close to their home and our border, Mexican business development investors will have the opportunity to utilize the technology and the shared infrastructure to rebuild their own economically devastated country through their own hard work.

My goal would be for the Mexican government would be able to accept the fact that we can no longer continue to support their failing economy as well as ours. Also I hope with the right encouragement they will also realize the importance of a strong secure border for the economic future of Mexico. We will however continue to act as ambassadors and neighbors and assist in the development of strong national policies concerning free trade and commerce with Mexico as long as they become self sufficient and most importantly law abiding as a result.

This should breed a new generation of Mexican statesmen, innovative entrepreneurial persons willing to act honestly with genuine desires to make Mexico a great country and a vehicle for change in the world. To rebuild their own nation and become global leaders in a new “green” world economy. Then we would have no need to fight about immigration. Quality jobs will always be available for persons of any nationality who work hard and believe in the idea that hard work and honesty will always pay off in the end.

No where in the world do two bordering countries have such large difference in pay or quality of life. Neither of our countries economies can survive this large gap in wages and quality of life. For better or worse our countries are indeed linked together and our successes will be shared along with our failures.

The reports indicate an average illegal Mexican immigrant will make 12 times the amount per day in America versus the same work day in Mexico, if they get any work at all. Anyone I know who has had no work for an extended period of time would gladly move a couple hundred miles away to make 12 times as much money with a higher quality of life and many more opportunities to do so. Anyone who lives in California knows we support this type of unbalanced economy by allowing it to continue. Every time I pass Center street park here in heart of Victorville, CA (almost 200 miles from the border) I see the effects of our illegal immigration woes. I have never taken my children to the park where I hit my only little league home run as a child. I had some fond memories at that place where the entire high desert now drives by everyday to see at least a hundred of the saddest faces waiting to be picked up and used for cheap illegal labor. I blame the governmental systems not in place to deal with the issue that is in front of every California community. I don't blame the guys waving me down on the corner, they are trying to feed their kids.

But....I can barely feed my own children why should someone who is breaking the laws set forth by the people of these United States be allowed to steal from our government and take food out of my kids mouths? Why do we allow wages to be earned in plain sight by these workers and taxes not be taken from these workers or their employers? I know if I am lucky enough to find a job in todays economy, the IRS will be there first collecting on me(I know they already send me bills for what I haven't been able to pay in the recent past). That is what happens to legal Americans when they mess up , they have to pay their little debt to society to become part of that society again. The American government needs these wages taxed.

I don't think anyone can argue that we all want America to be a place where everyone in the world would like to be. It is not going to become that place again until we as Americans remember that this is a place where all immigrants want to go because we are so successful and the opportunities here are endless. Right now we are far from successful and unfortunately opportunities for honest hard working Americans are scarce at best. We don't have enough opportunities for legal law abiding citizens, let alone 12 million illegal aliens(potential current number...no way to actually tell!). I think Americans forgot that is what America is about, opportunity for success!

We as a country full of leaders have the opportunity to take back our own economy through control of our southern border. In addition to our own safety and security we can change the face of the American economy and provide our neighbors with an opportunity to pull themselves out of their own hole right along with us. It is time we as Americans remember where we come from and show the world why we are always going to be a perpetual world power. When things don't work quite right America will change them. Now is the time for solutions and bold thoughtful actions, not more talk. I am tired of listening!!!

Our elected leader was asked 2 years ago about his vote to build border fencing:
Q: “Do you think your vote on the border fence or the implementation of it was wrong?”
A: “The key is to consult with local communities, whether it’s on the commercial interests or the environmental stakes of creating any kind of barrier. The Bush administration is not real good at listening. I will reverse that policy. There may be areas where it makes sense to have some fencing. Having border patrolled, surveillance, deploying effective technology, that’s going to be the better approach.”
Source: 2008 Democratic debate at University of Texas in Austin Feb 21, 2008

Mr. President we the people do not feel you are real good at listening......

Technology has come a long way since the homesteading days. We now have ways to grow fruits and vegetables almost anywhere in the whole world, plant trees with no irrigation in any climate, capture energy from the sun and the wind and geothermal sources to power all of our countries growing energy needs for many lifetimes to come. We can build miles of roads in a matter of days. With our American modular home production line technology we can build complete energy efficient homes in a factory providing hundreds of Americans with jobs. Then transported and installed in a matter of days, providing thousands more taxable income jobs. And the end result would be extremely high quality energy efficient homes, far surpassing most site built homes. This is a feasible economic solution to a number of problems which face our nation as well as our neighbors and a sound investment into the future of the global economy.

It's time for Americans to start putting their money where there mouths are. If you feel we need secure borders and tougher immigration, come on down and stand watch. Houses will come with small farms growing what will grow best in your local area to subsidize the costs of your house and land. Watch standers will be expected to improve their property, help farm their land, keep watch over our borders and report any suspicious activity in the vicinity of any of their assigned areas until the time when the government decides to listen to the American public and build a wall secure enough to protect America from foreign threats, now and for future generations to come. Our elected leader has indeed voted for a bill that would create a wall along the southern border. He did this knowing it would never pass, but would show him as a tough supporter of immigration reform. This is the kind of activity which is useless in our current form of government. Every party is always posturing for appearances knowing full well no real actions will be taken. Until we as America show all the bureaucrats in the government the will of the people can be as strong as any political force, we will continue to waste all of American's time and money trying to revive a collapsed outdated economy we have created here America. Most importantly our success here will undoubtedly be shared by the entire world.
 
Investors in this idea would see long term gains in both real estate development and agriculture, as well as sweeping changes in the entire way our two countries economies operate. I know if I was able to move my kids into a brand new home here in southern California, I would be glad to learn how to farm my land from experts in the industry, raise patriotic American children and call up the local border patrol office if I saw someone illegally crossing the border. We would each be individually responsible for the safety of our children and our grandchildren for years to come. It could become the largest community watch program in the world.