All other issues aside dealing with immigration, is being in control of our borders important or not?  Can we be secure knowing that hundreds or maybe even thousand of people cross our borders illegally everyday.  If security is an issue, what is the best way to stop illegals from crossing, and can be quickly implemented.
213404
I always believed Canada not to be a threat, then came Canadian Bacon, and eventually 9/11. They started out from Portland, Maine (my home state).\n\nThe mexican border (in my opinion) should be this:\n\n-A 20 foot tall, 10 foot wide cement (fortified with steel inside) barracade, with at least 5-10 feet buried underground the entire length of the US/Mexican border, with no entrances/exits within 25 miles of each other, and each of these border crossings are guarded heavily of no fewer than 25 armed soldiers/policemen/guards. More at bigger crossings\n\n-On each side of the "MEXICAN WALL" is a 20 foot high chain-link fence with barbed wire on the top. At least 5 feet is buried underground with barbed wire also on the ground. Each of these fences would be equipped with highly sensitive 'motion-detection' sensors, and inbetween the 25 mile border crossings (every 5 miles) would be a guard outpost of no fewer than 3 armed and ready guards, and a vehicle.\n\n-These guardhouses would be equipped with a large holding cell as well as 2 smaller cells, living quarters, and a field hospital.\n\nAnd thats what should be done.
231038
Most people don't know what goes on at the border with Mexico. Minutemen nor fences are going to deter coyotes from trafficking people. The corruption is overwhelming,it has been a profitable business for Mexican Customs officials and even some of our own that participate in blowing the whistle where to cross. You are right, our government is attacking this problem all backwards, and just spending tax money fruitlessly. If these people can't find work, for sure they will return home. But as long as we give them a piece of the cake, or even some crumbs, they will still be coming in droves.
442152
I believe we as Americans are the most fortunate people in the world, but that doesn't mean we can solve the world's problems.  We have never turned people away.  The problem is that the people crossing the border illegally are not JUST hungry, decent, hardworking humans.  There are terrorists, drug dealers, rapists, and murders also coming through.  We have to abide by our laws and so should anyone else who wants to be an American.  That is also part of the problem.  Some want to come here and take advantage of our great nation, but don't want to be a part of it.  They still raise their Mother Country's flag instead of ours, they speak their native language instead of ours.  They do not want to pay taxes like all Americans should.  What is the difference if we have lazy Americans or if we have illegals using our system and our tax dollars?  If you want to be in America, then you need to do it the legal way and become an American.  Only then are you entitled to our freedoms and rights.
62836
Being that the Mexican border is connected to our country it makes it very easy for people from Mexico to sneek here illegaly. They same could be said for Canada, however, because Canada is not such a poor country the people don't feel the need to escape their situations as much as the people in Mexico. So a majority of the immigrants in this country that have came here illegaly have been from mexico. It has been a hot political topic for so long now and in the eye of the media that when we hear "illegal immigrant" we automatically think south of the border. On the east coast however, there is more of a mixture of people from other countrys that are here illegally.
206878
How to solve the border crises, HMMMMM Closing the borders would help. Putting up that wall they talk about.\n\nI am not a lazy american I will do what ever it takes to care for my family. I have dug trenches, I have done the labor that many immigrants do, I even ran a citrus grove and picked fruit right along with the immigrants.\n\nI have no problem with people comming to america. What I have aproblem with is those people who come over here and have their children and let us foot the bill. I get tired of paying for an illegals hospital bill, I am tired of my car insurance rate going up because an illegal is driving with out a liscence or insurance.\n\nLets close the borders, build that there wall at least 12 feet, and get those that are here illegally out of our country.
356034
they should close the border regardless. it's our side of the line, we can do wtf we want with it, and anyone who has a problem with securing our border can go to the other side of the border and live there and do all the drugs they want and do donkey shows and drink tequila. i could be mistaken, but i thought the whole point of securing the border was to keep terrorists from coming up through mexico.
651101
If we don't have strict or a National Security policy in which we protect our borders ....then that leaves us vulnerable to any person immigrating into our Country with the wrong intentions or reasons for they are coming into our Country. The easier it is to get into our Country ....via our borders to the north and the south ....then the easier it is to commit terrorist acts in or on the USA.
299012
We have to secure both of our borders and do a better job with human intelligence in both Canada and Mexico. It isn't enough to improve our control of access -- some will invariably get through. We also have to know who is trying and for what purpose. For that, we need more effective human intelligence.
415066
Your thesis needs to be arguable,  such as Better border defenses will curb illegal immigration,  or Better border defenses will not curb illegal immigration or The government needs to inact better immigration laws to help those people who legally want to immigrate to the US or The US needs to use whatever means necessary to control immigration.  That way you can add in legislation, border defenses etc.
662849
The borders are actually very secure.  The real problem there is smugglers, whether of drugs, other goods, or people.  They are very creative, and always have been.  Here in the northwest corner of Washington we are fortunate in that all the border agencies, the DEA, local police and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police have an unheard-of level of cooperation.\n\nFor instance, Canadian authorities were watching certain suspicious characters and learned that they were digging a tunnel under the border (a short distance from a border crossing!) and placed a simple phone call to our side.  They were allowed to complete the tunnel; we bugged it with electronic devices, and once the DEA had identifed the smugglers' contacts, swooped down and arrested them all.  In another incident, Border Patrol cameras spotted three men exiting a van and walking across the border.  They called the RCMP and the Mounties caught the three men, who were carrying diamonds, $100,000 cash and some 41 handguns.  We picked up the van and its driver.\n\nAnd the one terrorist who tried the border here thought a sleepy ferry crossing was just the ticket.  He fooled nobody and was arrested after a short chase.  (This was that Ressam character.)  He is still in prison.\n\nBefore 9/11 the United States had been working toward borders that were open to most of the world.  We were even letting people from certain countries like the U.K. come in with basic identification, not even visas.  And of course the borders with Canada and Mexico had been unpatrolled by the military for decades (bases on the border were from older eras, particularly those on the Canadian border).  In the Northeast there are many communities which straddle the border and people think nothing of going from one side to the other.  Customs officials are not too concerned about small purchases by ordinary people, and NAFTA was sweeping away a lot of customs duties among the U.S., Canada and Mexico.\n\nThe only real difficulty with open borders here is the immigration problem with Mexico.  The root of the problem is poverty and it is a regional problem (Mexico faces the same immigration difficulties on her southern border), requiring a regional solution.  However, the Republican Party is traditionally loath to tackle poverty directly - they really are the party of the arrogant rich - and the Democrats rarely have workable solutions (the Marshall Plan is a major exception, and please note that George C. Marshall was not really a  politician).\n\nAs for legal immigrants, I think they deserve some breaks, especially since a new amnesty program for illegals has been mooted.\n\nI haven't said much about terrorists here.  That is because they aren't exploiting the open borders.  The borders may be open, but they are watched and guarded.  No, terrorists are exploiting what isn't carefully watched, and that is "the rules."  Every single one of the 9/11 terrorists, and the previous attackers of the World Trade Center too, had a vaild passport.  All had obtained visas or green cards: where they got away with it was in avoiding the follow-up procedures.  They, and half of all illegal immigrants besides, simply overstayed their visas and ignored the reporting requirements (I remember the government used to pay for TV messages advising aliens that they had to send in their address information every January 1).  And they were allowed to get away with it!  On the border, the government is doing its job.  Once inside the border, the government isn't.\n\nMost of the border security measures being proposed will have the effect of closing the open borders and stifling both trade and tourism, especially casual visits that generate a heck of a lot of money on both sides of either border.  They will not have any effect on terrorists and little on smugglers and illegal immigrants.  Increased vigilance helps, and improving cargo inspection methods will help too.  But we need to be addressing th
398536
Immigration is not an issue but ILLEGAL immigration certainly is... I agree with what you say but what you failed to say is these illegal aliens are more dangerous to middle-class Americans that al qaeda could ever be...the difference is blowing up a few thousand or killing the future of a whole country & it's citizens!
480900
I don't think we have reached the point of no return but I do think we are dangerously close to getting to that point.  I don't pretend to be a  political expert by any stretch, just an average person so I may be wrong, but it seems to me that we are way too anxious to go all over the world to fight battles for who ever cries for help while leaving our own borders wide open.  We have terrorism going on in our own country everyday with freaks like the guy who went into the Amish school and shot 10 little girls killing 5 of them.  I don't know what the average daily number of homicides is in this country but I know that in our state capitol, the number this year is staggering.  Drive by shootings, murder - suicide and random acts of violence are nothing but homeland terrorism.  That, coupled with the horridous influx of illegal immigrants has made this a scary place to live.  I think we need to stop trying to save the world and work on saving our nation.  I completely support our troops and the work they do every day all around the world and am actually the mother of a military person but I still think we need to use our military here at home to close our borders, protect us from incoming threats and concentrate on Homeland Security.  How can we save the world if we can't save ourselves?  (you said you wanted detailed answers! :)
254842
The government needs to make damn sure that they don't make the same mistakes they did last time they gave amnesty as obviously the problem only grew worse by now.  I don't agree with amnesty, myself, but I believe the borders need to be locked down very tightly to stem the flow of illegal immigrants and go from there.  Lock the doors and then deal with what is already in the country, but make sure no more come in without going through the correct immigration procedures.  \n\nAs for this forum, I would say that there is some pretty strong racism from both sides of the issue - the illegal immigrants can be as bad in this aspect and worse at times than the other side. I feel that the ones who are often screaming "racism" are often the worst racists, themselves, but they are too emotionally charged and/or ignorant to recognize that.
675529
Not 100%, but it will help.  Any effort is better than no effort. You could volunteer to help the Minutemen patrol and  report to border control.  Just the extra people to keep a watchful eye out is a good thing.  The fence will help slow the intruders down to give the border patrol a little more time to get to the scene. And, no, any money spent to secure our border is not a waste of resources.
276012
Immigration needs to be controlled, I agree.  But to do that, I think, we need to create a system in which illegal immigrants that are already here and that contribute to this society to integrate into our system through legalization.  I think that deportation or criminalization of 11+ million people would have a negative impact in our economy and society.  \n\nThere are many reasons as to why the protests are taking place. Currently there are about 625 immigrations laws that the senate is debating. Some of these laws are cruel and inhumane. Some take on very good points, and some are just ridiculous. \n\nOne of the main issues is that some senators wanted to pass a law that would make all illegals and anyone who helped/hired illegals criminals. With 11 million illegals that would make a good chunk of the population criminals (legal or illegal, citizen or not citizens). \n\nIt is not so much an uproar against law enforcement, but an uproar against injustice and inhumanity. They are not demanding to violate the law or much less. They want a chance to become legal immigrants with the right of being able to go to a hospital when sick and without being scared that they will be forced to leave their families unprotected. \n\nThese people are not illegal because they want to, they are illegal because the goverment has made it extremely tough to become legal. These people are paying taxes as everyone else, trying to be good citizens as everyone else, and working for a better future for their families, just as everyone else. If an anmisty was to be approved, it wouldn't be a free ride either. The person would have to prove that they are an asset to this country, and have to have their taxes filed, a clean criminal record, have everything in order and pay the big fines that the goverment would implement. They are not seeking immediate citizenship, but a chance to eventually become citizens. They are not fee-loading as some people might think because they do pay taxes. And they are doing jobs that Americans find degrading.\n\nDougDoug_ I hope you get to read this too.  Illegal immigrants are not choosing to ignore our right to control immigration, what is happening is that the government has already made it extremely tough to become a legal immigrant that they have no choice but to stay here illegally.  This is one of the main reasons why these people are walking into the streets and asking for a chance to become legal.  They do not want to be illegal or stay illegal, and to become legal immigrants they would have to show that they are a contribution to the US, pay taxes and prove that they are not trouble makers.  They would have to pay fines for being illegally in the US plus all the cost that inquires to apply for a green card (legal residency).  \n\nAlso, let it be clear that they are not asking for immediate citizenship, but instead a path towards citizenship.  You have to be a resident for 5 years in order to apply for citizenship.\n\nIt doesn’t make it right that they are here illegally, but that’s what they want to fix.  And  they are willing to pay the consequences of staying here illegally (read above).
263270
No. It's the present!\n\nThat article was written poorly!  After reading it three times, I still haven't figured out if it's the American police or Mexican police!   Anyways, it doesn't matter regarding your question.  It sounds like one criminal group is fighting another for an illegal smuggling route.  What does the immigration law have to do with that? \n\nBreaking the law is just that!  We are finally trying to enforce some of our immigration laws. Our Southern border is our weakest link in our national security. It's about time we're doing something about it!
607919
Personally, I think that the border patrol should just let up - I mean - after all - that border belonged to politicians before the border patrol even came along and STOLE it from them.\n\nPLEASE DAR! Politicians are JUST HUMANS....\n\n(okay, even I can't keep a straight face with that last comment, do you think I'll get struck by lightning for even suggesting politicians are human?)\nI thought it was a funny story too.