Essay on Border Enforcement

In the recent years, immigration has been the primary source of population growth and cultural diversities in much of U.S. history. Although many immigrants assimilate faster in the U.S. than the developed European countries, immigration policy has raised numerous debates and controversies in America. The current administration’s immigration policy is primarily based on reversing most of the previous administration policies. This move ignited several arguments in terms of its impacts on the country.

Most economists support the current immigration policies because it has a positive impact on the U.S economy in terms of availability of labor due to an increase in population. Increased labor contributes to the economic boost through taxes. However, it limits job opportunities and wages for the citizens. Further, limitations of the employment-based visas and employer sponsorships costs prevent most businesses from hiring the needed skilled workers (Kurt, 2021). That is; recruiting the best talent is impossible thus, undermining the competitive nature of most U.S. companies with other countries.

Additionally, Biden’s immigration policies threaten the border security policies, unlike Trump’s policies. The immigration of undocumented people provides grounds for drugs and human trafficking. It puts both the immigrants and the American lives at risk. On the contrary, they support humanitarian policies that aim at saving lives, minimizing suffering, and maintaining human suffering (Kurt, 2021). Most parents are not separated from their children and locked away; hence, they enter the country as a family. Also, the crowding of immigrants in the detention centers is minimized, and most importantly, the immigrants get a chance to improve their living standards.

The current administration’s approach to Mexico and Canada is based on reduced brinkmanship and more collaboration. Upon Biden’s election as president, he halted the construction of the Mexican border wall and ended the travel restrictions from fourteen countries (Breier, 2021). However, securing Mexico/U.S. borders and Canada/U.S. borders has several challenging factors such as Covid-19 response and recovery, safety and security, development of new approaches of immigration, climate change issues, and devolving labor mechanisms.

Initially, immigration policies allowed the refugees settlement especially from places like Vietnam or Cuba. Their settlement boosted the U.S. geopolitical points, particularly in the cold war strategies. People deemed undesired were excluded (Pope, 2020). Thus, the individualized vetting of people was weak. Terrorism threats led to the adoption of an effective security system in the effort of countering threats.

Concerning the current immigration policies, I believe that the U.S. government is providing an opportunity for the less privileged people to live better lives, particularly people from low-income countries. Most immigrants move to the U.S. to get a better life, job, or education. With these policies, therefore most people get an opportunity to improve their lives. With its positive impacts, however, illegal immigration is not enough. It creates risks of deportation, and the immigrants feel they do not belong to the county yet because they are undocumented. Further, most of them are less skilled, thus, are limited to low-skilled jobs. Also, such immigrants are most likely to face discrimination, especially in schools or workplaces.

The Fourth Amendment rule in the U.S. Constitution provides the non-violation of people’s rights. That is, people are secure in their homes and with no unreasonable searches and seizures that compromise their privacy. Warrants and probable cause are required in cases where a search is necessary. The end goal is to protect people’s right to privacy. Border stops and searches are allowed in the Fourth Amendment rule. Border authorities can freely conduct searches on individuals entering or leaving the country, baggage, and other materials imported to and exported out of the country (Kim, 2010). The Fourth Amendment rule does not require any reasons for stops and searches at the border or warrants. However, they should be reasonable to guarantee privacy to the people.

References

Breier, K. (2021). Getting U.S. Policy toward Mexico and Canada Right. Csis.org. https://www.csis.org/analysis/getting-us-policy-toward-mexico-and-canada-right. Retrieved 9 July 2021.

Kim, Y. (2010). Protecting the US Perimeter: Border Searches Under the Fourth Amendment. Congressional Research Service. DIANE Publishing: 1-10.

Kurt, D. (2021). Assessing the Pros & Cons of Immigration Reform. Investopedia. https://www.investopedia.com/articles/investing/043015/pros-cons-immigration-reform.asp. Retrieved 9 July 2021.

Pope, A. (2020). Immigration and US national security: The state of play since 9/11. Migration Policy Institute: 1-37.