The U.S. should build a fence on its southern border in order to reduce illegal immigration.

(Do you mind if I call you that? ) Honestly, I really didn't expect to see someone who wanted a free, open, border. First, let's start with the rebuttals: "My case is very simple: We should have an open border. That is, we should let everyone enjoy the freedom, liberty, and economic prosperity (comparatively) of our great nation. " Is this a reason to have an open border? Plenty of people come from all over the world and enjoy our freedom. The difference is they do it LEGALLY. "Up until fairly recently, anyone could come to America, and our nation prospered. " People still can come to America. "The racism of the early 20th century regulated our borders, and led to our current immigration policy. " This had nothing to do with racism. From 1907 to 1911 the Dillingham Commission studied US immigration. Their studies found that too many immigrants from north and western Europe were coming to America. The Commission had 41 volumes of study on it. . http://site.ebrary.com... Advantage 1 Allow me to analyze what you're saying. "Unemployment rates were so high and the economy so low that 11 million illegals crossing the border illegally is a good thing. The reason is Americans are too high-class and wealthy to take such disgusting slop jobs that dirty, low-life Mexicans would gladly take. That's why illegal immigration is good. " I don't recall our unemployment and economy being in turmoil before illegals decided to show up. They can help the work force like you say if they come over LEGALLY. The difference is they're doing it ILLEGALLY. The supposed effect on the economy would be just as well if they crossed legally. Advantage 2 Your statistic said 28% of the world views us as positive NOT unwelcome. If I sat down to take that poll a border fence would be the last thing on my mind. We are still welcoming to people. It's all a matter of legality. If a terrorist walked into this country illegally would you accept him/her with open arms. Legality certainly makes a difference. Advantage 3 Let's analyze. A Mexican drives to a passport office. The nearest one is 30 minutes. It takes 1 hour for him to register his passport to cross the border. It takes another half hour to drive back. He drives to the border shows his passport and has it verified. After 5 minutes he's a legal citizen of the US! So having a border fence would decrease about 2 hours and 5 minutes of a person's life. Great reason! Can you give me any proof that custom officials don't check the boats at all? Both illegals and boats carry drugs as well as citizens of America. Advantage 4 This is true but in the long run would it help? I can think of plenty of Americans who would take those jobs that Mexicans do. When you think about it it increases unemployment because Mexicans are taking jobs that others want. And how do you explain the current economic slump if they're as essential and helpful as you say they are? Advantage 5 We already have a melting pot. And the more illegals the less melting pot there is because of so much Mexican influence. Broad Case The EU works because ALL members have agreed to it. Does it have anything to do with economy though? And even if it did is it really helping? Ever heard of "stagflation"? How many "illegal Canadians" do we have each year? Their economy is secure. Mexico is not. Illegal immigration causes crime, more welfare, and poverty! Try to refute these. . http://newsbusters.org... www. vdare. com/misc/riley_wsj. htm Please don't use the stupid argument of claiming it's biased, dismiss it, and never refute it. Terrorists will come in! I wouldn't have used this argument. I agree most terrorists come from sea legally. But think of this. If a terrorist lives in Mexico by a visa he could easily cross an unmaintained US border without anyone knowing. What about drugs? I agree but drug dealers come from everywhere including Mexico. An open border would simply make it easier for them. Won't they steal our jobs What evidence? You didn't show me anything pertaining to employment ratios. My case Your entire argument is based on 1 easily refutable point. Since I've refuted it these arguments stand. However, I will make a point on #2. Do you understand the meaning of the word adjacent? It means "parallel to". The DOI is planning to build the fence parallel to private property. And do you have a basis for your stereotype of the Minutemen? Here are some more points. 1. Burden on tax-based resources, costing taxpayers billions of dollars. 2. Difficult prosecution and justice when perpetrators flee the country. 3. Disparity between legal immigrants who follow the rules and those who don't. 4. They risk death when traveling the desert to reach the borders. 5. Those who successfully cross the border inspire those left behind to do the same. 6. Continued growth of the demand for cheap labor and low wages. 7. No government reimbursement to offset states illegal alien maintenance costs. 8. Potential negative effects on working and middle-class citizens. 9. Millions of U. S. dollars remitted to Mexico 10. Mortgage loan fraud 11. Fake document mills 12. Imbalance in authorized immigration quotas 13. Interstate human trafficking 14. Population health risks due to no pre-entry immunizations 15. Increase in road traffic and usage, injurious or fatal accidents 16. Congestion of tax-based public parks and recreation 17. Overcrowding of public schools 18. Continued law-breaking rationalization for those who employ illegals 19. Growing number of uninsured illegal aliens who can't pay for claims 20. Monopolization of Spanish language in various segments of society 21. Lack of true ethnic diversity