The United States should build and maintain a border fence

Counterplan—"Easy citizenship, no wall" My opponent has suggested building an expensive 700 mile wall to "solve" border problems; however, I will propose a counterplan that is both more beneficial and less risky. HR-15 has shown that the US Congress is willing to strongly consider new pathways to citizenship for undocumented immigrants and an easier access to citizenship for immigrants [6]. My counterplan would have congress pass a bill that would enact the following: (1) Offer citizenship and immunity from deportation to all non-criminal undocumented residents of the US, and (2) Change the major requirements of citizenship to include only a criminal background check and documentation of citizenship from another nation (as needed).Contentions: 1. Documented and undocumented immigrants benefit the US economy. Pro’s source of the cost to immigrants is a Fox News report of a study from an organization called “FAIR.” Both organizations are famously anti-immigrant. In fact, the Southern Poverty Law Center, a well-regarded organization specializing in identifying extremist groups labeled FAIR as an anti-immigrant hate group. [1]. Critics point out just after FAIR’s release that the study contains “critical errors,” including the fact that they don’t include the benefits of increased education in the workforce [2]. Adjusting for these errors, a 2008 report found that the then-current undocumented immigrants were responsible for a net of 8.1 million jobs and 1.8 trillion dollars into the government’s annual revenue [3]. Fighting immigration would have short-term and long term negative effect on the US economy, especially in states around the border [3]. Studies show that undocumented immigration increases the overall household incomes of US natives [4, p19]. In contrast, the wages of native-born citizens lowered as undocumented immigration slowed [4, p20]. Undocumented immigrants pay more in taxes than they receive in government service expenses [4, p21; 5]. This is because they pay property taxes on their homes and sales taxes on their purchases. Additionally, many contribute to social security through their employers by presenting them with fake social security codes, and thus give $7 billion dollars annually to social security they can never collect [7]. Whereas stifling immigration of any kind would be detrimental to the economy, projections estimate that providing even a slightly-easier pathway to citizenship could provide an additional $500 billion in revenue over time [8]. 2. The Mexican government might make trade sanctions against the US. The Mexican government stated that the redirection of water resulting from the fence would violate a US-Mexico treaty [18]. Mexico may take serious action against the US as a result, including trade restrictions.Trade sanctions could be disastrous. Last year the US exported over $220 billion of products to Mexico and imported over $280 billion products [19]. 3. Cost of fence I will concede Pro's estimate of $16 B to construct and $1.1 B/y to maintain [see his point 2].However, I'd have to ask that Pro be more specific in explaining how the DHS will divert their funding to this program. Here's a link to the DHS budgets for 2014 and 2015 [22]. 4. Alternative use of money Billion(s) of dollars would be better spent improving the living conditions of American Indian Nations and veterans. I will elaborate on alternatives in R3. 5. The border fence runs through the territory of three Indian Nations (O'odham, Cocopah and Kickapoo) [17]. This fence would degrade their territories despite their protests. 6. The border fence devalues property surrounding boarder that is usually owned by poor minorities who are unable to afford a legal battle to secure appropriate monetary compensation. [20] 7. A border fence policy only adds to the stigma of “illegal” and subsequent racist attitudes toward “illegals” [11, 12]. Undocumented immigrants are afraid to report hate attacks due to their fear of deportation [11, 12]. My counterplan of Easy Citizenship would give immigrants access to protection from hate crimes, whereas my opponent’s plan would only aggravate anti-immigrant attitudes. 8. A more effective border fence would cause undocumented immigrants to take more dangerous routes. Border patrol recently found 1000+ bodies in a dangerous desert near the border. The number of deaths through this desert tripled since the initial fence construction and is growing [10, 14], and would grow even faster under Pro’s plan. In contrast, Easy Citizenship would virtually eliminate migrant-boarder deaths by making legal entry convenient. 9. The US sex trafficking industry depends on a difficult citizenship process. Sex traffickers persuade non-native workers into entering the US illegally or with a visa with a promise of a job. The victims cannot enter the US legally, and thus rely on the trafficker for an illegitimate position [21]. Whereas my opponent’s plan fails to protect other borders and airports from sex trafficking, my counterplan will nearly eliminate all sex trafficking in the US by eliminating the victims’ need to rely on the trafficker for entry, and thus frustrate the dealers' recruitment. 10. The border fence would harm the environment and possibly drive species to extinction. The fence hinders the mating, migration, and habitat of nearly all walking, slithering, and some flying animals who live nearby [15, 16]. Additionally, the border fence could eliminate three endangered species. It is vital that these species have connected populations, but the border fence divides their populations, limiting their breeding. Additionally, the lights from the fence and noise from the roads and guards interrupt their ability to breed, making it highly likely that they will soon go extinct if the border fence in my opponent’s plan came to fruition [15, 16]. 11. A more effective border fence indirectly incentivizes drug cartels A fence would reduce the supply of illicit drugs but not affect the demand, and thus increase the value of drugs. Drug running will have much higher returns, but the fence blocks casual dealers. These dealers would therefore be forced to rely on gangs and crime lords to successfully cross the border. 12. Fighting undocumented immigration perpetuates undocumented crime. Because they are hunted by the law, undocumented immigrants are sometimes forced to work outside the law to survive. Building a wall does nothing to fix this system. However, Easy Citizenship would reduce undocumented immigrant convicts and crimes long term, dramatically lowering prison and legal expenses. 13. A border fence won't improve security. Terrorists and weapons dealers are not limited to these specific 700 miles of the US-Mexico border. They would simply find other route like the other 1,489 miles not fenced, 5,525 miles on the Canadian border, 95,000 miles of coastline, or airlines [13]. This border fence would not protect against terrorism or gun smugglers. Additionally, organized drug smugglers will be further incentivized due to the border fence (see 11). Border Patrol does not inspect food-items for freshness—border fences will not improve food safety. By dramatically reducing the number of undocumented entries, the border patrol will be able to more effectively attend to real security concerns. [1] http://tinyurl.com... [2] http://tinyurl.com... [3] http://tinyurl.com... [4] http://tinyurl.com... [5] http://tinyurl.com... [6] http://tinyurl.com... [7] http://tinyurl.com... [8] http://tinyurl.com... [9] http://tinyurl.com... [10] http://tinyurl.com... 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