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Ben Chacko
English 1302
Professor Moore
17 October 2018
Border crisis

Immigration has been a controversial issue in America when it comes to preventing

illegal immigrants from entering the southern border. Hundreds of thousands of immigrants

seeking asylum at the port of entries fleeing from danger. The reasons range from persecution to

gang violence. In the end, the government deports nearly all or most of them to their country of

origin. The government is in panic mode where both Democrat and Republicans are battling to

come up with the right solution. One party favors a wall that will prevent anyone from entering

the country, which is advocated by the president himself. On the other hand, Democrats seek to

find a realistic solution that will cause people from Central American nations to be unwilling to

seek refuge. The government should help central American governments by deploying troops to

fight the cartel or other gang affiliated groups, help destructed countries get back on their feet,

and even implement sanctions if that government is not doing its job of leading its country from

such oppression because finding the source of the violence is what will resolve the overall issue.

The solution to the border issue has been a debate for years. There have been thousands

of apprehensions made on illegal migrants who are trying to seek asylum in the United States

from their country. Many politicians on both parties are contemplating how to stop migrants

from Central American countries from traveling to the border. Instead both parties should

consider the reasons that many are fleeing their native land. These asylum seekers are escaping

danger such as persecution, gang violence, drug cartel organizations overruling governments,

and many other reasons. One way of resolving this issue is by helping Mexican and central
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American governments combat violent drug-trafficking cartels such as Juarez and Guadalajara

cartel with troops on the ground. The US can help the Mexican government fight the cartels just

like they have helped the Colombians back in the 1990s. The Colombian cartels at the time were

extremely feared and powerful, assassinating high-level politicians, state police officers,

journalists, presidential candidates, and even presidential candidates (Bonner, 2010). A similar

situation is happening in Mexico. High-profile cartel members are infiltrating and influencing

politicians to a point where they control a portion of the national government. With the number

of new cartels emerging, it seems tougher than before to contain the influence they are having on

innocent civilians. It is not impossible to combat the number of growing cartel organizations, but

it will take time and effort, which should give Mexico and the neighboring countries some

leverage in the fight. If the Mexican government allows, the United States should also consider

using drones and other military level weapons used in the Middle East if necessary. In order to

crack down on corrupt politicians and the Federales, the US and Mexican governments should

figure out on what basis are the cartels influencing them to collaborate.

Another approach to this issue is to assist or provide aid to central American governments

destructed by war with its own people. Nations like Honduras, Nicaragua, Guatemala, and El

Salvador have all had a civil war in recent decades over the government’s favor of drug cartel

organizations that have infested the Latin American region. About ten years ago, three

Salvadoran congressmen were killed at a Guatemalan farm. Initially, it was believed to be

politically motivated. After further evidence, it was revealed that four Guatemalan police officers

murdered the congressmen when they confessed to authorities that they assumed the

congressmen were Colombian drug dealers with cash. A few days after they were put behind

bars at a maximum-security prison, a group of commandos broke in and killed them (Marcy,
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2014). This shows that the civil war that took place in those countries revolved around them

distribution of drugs like cocaine. If the United States, including other global powers help these

war-ridden countries in a way jumpstart their government and economy, then the fight for

freedom from these notorious drug cartels should foreshadow an optimistic path to the future. A

similar process happened in Afghanistan when the United States went to war against Al-Qaeda

when they attacked us on 9/11. We helped the government fight the terrorist organization that

were carrying out terror throughout the world in the years after September 11. The United States

was able to restore the country to a democracy where the people elected their president through

the fair election. They were able to help recover the infrastructure and health care system back to

a stable form.

Another approach to this immigration issue is to impose sanctions on countries who do

not work their end of the bargain responsibly. Sanctions usually cause the foreign government to

pick up the pace on their promises. The US government should consider sanctions on central

American countries that do not bother fixing their border issues. This way the government knows

they have other countries making sure they do as promise. But sometimes it tensions the relation

between two governments. For example, the US has implemented sanctions against Russia and

Venezuela which would help increase American financial influences abroad. The US has

imposed sanctions on Russia for allegedly interfering in the 2016 Presidential election (Crabb,

2018). Also, recently, the Trump administration enforced sanctions on both Mexico and Canada

on their trade relations with tariffs. This caused widespread anger in the commerce business

when Canada also imposed a higher tariff on the US as retaliation. It is not suggested to engage

in a form of tariff war that will not result of any progress made. But to enforce sanctions that are

productive, meaningful with long term benefits for both countries.

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The choice on how to approach this issue lies solely with the Trump administration and

how maturely they attempt to solve this crisis. It is widely known since the start of his campaign

that President Trump has promised to build a wall to prevent any illegal immigrants from

crossing the border. This plan has widely been the best solution from his supporters. The

construction of a border wall has many negative effects. The main problem with a border wall is

that it will not stop all illegal immigrants from coming in. Most actually come through legally

when they first received their visas. When their time of stay in the United States expires, they

continue to stay in the country- which is makes them illegal. Many who’s time expires come by a

plane. When it comes to the wall itself, there are several problems that exist. One of which is the

environment. The southern border of the US extends to almost 2000 miles from California to

Texas. The border sits on several different terrains including the Rio Grande, grasslands, and

mountain areas. Many climate experts have found that it can lead to climate change for the

worse. Another problem the border wall brings is the expenses. The proposed wall costs an

estimated $170 billion dollars to build and about $120 million dollars a year to maintain yearly

function. Trump has repeatedly stated that Mexico will pay for the wall, but Mexico also

repeatedly denied that claim as well. He has also resorted to options such as remittance money

sent by illegal Mexican workers in the United States. Recently, he stated that he would be willing

to shut down the government if congress does not approve of funding the wall. There is a report

by the Washington Post that the Trump administration is trying to reduce the cost of the border

wall by cutting the cost for surveillance technology and freeze the pay for federal officers

associated with the border for the 2019 fiscal year (Miroff, 2017). Many also know that the

American taxpayers must pay more in taxes to fund the wall. The wall will cause more problems

than resolutions because people will always find ways to cross the border no matter what the
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obstacle may be. It will not be possible to prevent all illegal immigrants from coming into the

border because many are aware of the asylum laws. In order to convince the Trump

administration of any alternative approaches to this issue, we must first convince his supporters

with a strong alternative. They would likely support strong sanctions placed on other countries.

But if the effect of the sanction does not cause the country to work harder, then the goal to be

reached is pointless.

In conclusion, the American government should help central American countries such as

Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador, and other countries by deploying troops to fight cartel

organizations, help war ridden countries back to stable nations, and even implement sanctions on

countries that do not do their part in eradicating drug organizations that threatens their national

security. It is important that we Americans try to convince the American government, especially

President Trump that a border wall will not solve the issue regarding illegal immigrants. But

before we convince the president, we must first convince his loyal supporters. If is anyone that

will convince the president to do anything, it is them.

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Work Cited

Bonner, Robert C. “The New Cocaine Cowboys.” Foreign Affairs, vol. 89, no. 4, July 2010, p.

35. EBSCOhost,

search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=f6h&AN=51485363&site=ehost-live.

Marcy, William L. “The End of Civil War, the Rise of Narcotrafficking and the Implementation

of the Merida Initiative in Central America.” International Social Science Review, vol. 89, no. 1,

Sept. 2014, pp. 1–36. EBSCOhost,

search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=112779660&site=ehost-live.

Crabb, John. “Targeted Sanctions Help US Maintain Financial Influence Abroad.” International

Financial Law Review, Mar. 2018, p. 1. EBSCOhost,

search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bft&AN=128463384&site=ehost-live.

Nick Miroff. “To Pay Border Wall Bill, Trump Would Trim Surveillance Costs, Freeze Pay.”

Washington Post, The, 2017 Summer 12AD. EBSCOhost,

search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bwh&AN=wapo.9f111840-e046-11e7-89e8-

edec16379010&site=ehost-live.