The US-Mexico Border Fence is a Good Idea

To counter my opponents' points:a) "Although in several cases it would be easy enough to just move species out of the area, the fence still gets in the way of migration routes that have been in use for hundreds and hundreds of years. Moving the animals would only further disrupt the habitats and migration of the various species." Although you are correct in this sense, I have stated before and I will state again: The local environment is a sacrifice of necessity in the interest of the United States of America, and moving species out of the area will help offset some of the negative environmental impacts of the fence. Sometimes small sacrifices are necessary in the pursuit of a bigger objective, and this situation is one such example.b) "The fence only truly has any effect on people crossing the border illegally on land. There are many other ways to get across the border. For example, many illegal Mexican immigrants cross the Rio Grande into Texas. Another common way immigrants cross the border is by legally obtaining work visas, allowing them to temporarily live in the United States in order to work. However, when these visas expire, they simply remain in the United States instead of leaving. A fence would fail entirely at preventing this from happening, and it seems a waste of American taxpayer's money to pay to upgrade a "tool," as you say, which only solves one part of a problem, and only partially." The difficulty of securing the border should not prevent the US from trying with a fence. Just because the fence will be difficult to build, will encounter problems, and will not be 100% effective, does not mean that it should not be built. Of course problems will exist, but the important thing is that it will add a level of additional security to American borders, which is of essential importance to American sovereignty. In regards to your point about immigrants overstaying their visa expiry dates, I believe that it is irrelevant to the topic at hand. It is true that the border fence does nothing to stop this problem, but my question for you is: What will? Sure, you can have police and immigration departments to widespread searching and verifying of the existing immigrant population, but that would cost billions of dollars and provoke major protests, and might not even catch all of the illegal immigrants. There is simply no practical solution to this problem. The goal of the border fence is to stop illegal border crossings, which is a one aspect in solving the overall problem of stopping illegal immigration. A tool's job is to solve one part of a problem. A toolbox is used to solve the entire problem. Some other methods used to complement the border fence include technological tools such as camera systems, satellite, radar, and sensors. You can also impose criminal penalties which may include fines and/or prison time for any employer who knowingly or recklessly employs an illegal alien. This reduces an illegal immigrants' chances of employment and increases the likeliness of getting caught. The fence does not completely stop illegal immigration, true, but nothing can truly be 100% effective. It does, however, reduce illegal immigration rates through a combination of making regions easier to patrol and harder to enter, as well as deterring a certain amount of illegal immigrants. As a result, this fence is not a "waste of taxpayer money", as you say. The relative cost of the border fence is actually quite low. Although $2 billion seems like a lot of money, it pales in comparison to the $5.3 billion that the US spends in Iraq every month [1], and the fence is part of a solid solution to a major domestic problem.c) "The reason that most people immigrate illegally into the United States from Mexico has nothing to do with bad character, a bad record, or a poor work ethic. Actually quite the opposite, especially in the case of the work ethics of illegal immigrants. Many of them are willing to be paid less for jobs than others, and do jobs considered undesirable by others. The main reason for illegal immigration is that legal immigration is a long, expensive process, that many simply cannot afford to go through. Illegal immigration is their only chance, short of marrying an American citizen." Just because something is difficult to achieve legally doesn't mean that you should take illegal action to accomplish it. Let's say that someone injured me in an accident where the fault is in his hands. A lawsuit is a long, expensive process. Then is it justified for me to go and harm or extort money from the person who injured me in the accident? Of course not! Illegal immigrants are, no matter how noble or justified their intentions are, criminals. Although I personally don't think that they should be treated as such, they are breaking the law and ignoring the right of a sovereign nation to control cross-border flows. In addition, it is unfair to legal immigrants waiting in line to immigrate to the US to observe illegal immigrants crossing freely.Although we are on opposing sides, I would have to agree with your point that immigration is a long, expensive process that many cannot afford to go through. However, there is a possibility for immigration reform, another tool in the toolbox, which will help immigrants find a better way to immigrate legally to the United States. But I have to state that this point does not make much sense. How does the fact that the long and expensive process of immigration provokes illegal immigration support your main opinion that "The US-Mexico border fence is not a good idea"? Doesn't increased illegal immigration even more justifies the construction of a border fence?d) "I'm not sure if this was a typo or not, but you say the number of apprehensions have decreased by 72%. So what you are saying is, the number of illegal immigrants is going up, but fewer and fewer are being caught."Your statistics state that the amount of illegal immigrants have increased from 1992 to 2011. But you have neglected to notice that construction on the border fence was only completed in 2010. And according to a Department of Homeland Security report, from 2008 to 2010 the amount of illegal immigrants residing in the United States have decreased by 800,000 people, or 7%. Therefore, your argument is incorrect; there has been both a decline in apprehensions and illegal immigrant population.e) "Illegal immigrants do not only come from Mexico. They come from Canada, Cuba, Africa, Asia, and all over the world. It is a known fact that many illegal Cuban immigrants live in Miami, and more than 70% of the citizens of Miami are of Hispanic descent. [1] So why is there no fence along the Gulf coast? Or the Canadian border? Why are there no billion dollar fence systems in place along the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans? Why is Mexico so important that we need only build fences to stop Mexicans from coming into America?"Mexico is important because 62% percent of illegal immigrants, arrive in the US via the Mexican border. Mexico shares a land border with the United States, therefore it is easier to cross than via sea or air (ports and airports have tighter security regulations). The only other land border with the US is Canada, and because of the fact that the standard of living between the two nations are generally the same, it is estimated that there are only a total of 50,000 to 65,000 of illegal immigrants living in the US that came from Canada. Your idea to construct fence systems across oceans and the Gulf coast are illogical, and therefore irrelevant.Sources:- http://www.rasmussenreports.com...- http://www.dhs.gov...- http://www.wikipedia.org...[1] http://usatoday30.usatoday.com...