Geopolitics of Illegal Migration in the U.S. Case Study

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GEOPOLITICS OF ILLEGAL MIGRATION IN THE U.S.

Illegal Immigration

Slowing or stopping the flow of immigrants across the U.S. Mexico border has remained a hot political issue for several decades. The events of 9/11 only added fuel to the fire and politicians have repeatedly promised to plug the leaky border. Although the budget and manpower of the Border Patrol has been tripled since 9/11, leaders in congress felt more needed to be done. In 2006 the Secure Fence Act was passed into law, which authorized funding to build 700 miles of fencing along the most troublesome stretches of the Mexico/U.S. border (Ellis, 2011). By the end of 2008 only 120 miles had been completed. In 2006 the Secure Border Initiative awarded a billion dollar contract to Boeing to build a virtual fence along the border and by the end of last year only 53 miles had been completed. The past January the Department of Homeland Security scrapped the plans for a virtual fence because the budget had been exceeded and there were concerns about technical feasibility. Given all the rhetoric surrounding the issue of illegal migration, and the emotional and monetary investment many have made in its outcome, it is hard to figure out exactly why illegal immigration is such a big threat to Americans and their way of life.

The Economics of Illegal Immigration

The argument that almost always comes up is how illegal immigrants are stealing jobs away from Americans.

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Counter arguments in the popular press typically point out that Americans won't pick beans or apples for a few dollars a day and therefore food prices would skyrocket otherwise. The economics of illegal immigrants, as studied by academic economists, paint a different picture. Illegal immigrants have provided a cheap and abundant labor force for American businesses, which otherwise would have had to close or move south of the border to stay in business (Porter, 2006). Other businesses were able to expand due to the availability of cheap labor, thus creating job opportunities for American skilled laborers and managers. Wages, even at the low end of the spectrum, are not affected significantly, which undermines the common argument that workers earning minimum wage are competing with illegal immigrants for jobs. The economic rationale for stopping the flow of illegal immigrants is therefore flimsy at best.

In the Service of Politicians

Why is there such a vocal outcry for criminalizing illegal immigration? Resistance to immigration is as ingrained in American culture as its Puritan roots. For example, the 1924 Immigration Act defined the racial qualifications necessary for U.S. citizenship and anyone not of northwest European descent was effectively not welcome (Spickard, 2007, pp. 246-247). The racial biases encoded in this Act still influence immigration policy today and will continue to do so as long as the political power base in….....

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