A secure border and legal immigrants: Beneficial for America

It is an agreed political fact that a country is defined its border among other factors such that there is no country without a border and our current President Donald Trump in his campaign to be the President of the United States, made this his campaign strategy in his effort to justify the need to build the wall between Mexico and America. And with this comes the enormous task of the country to protect its border, to that we remember the words of the 40th President of America Ronald Reagan who said that ‘a nation that cannot control its borders is not a nation.’

There is a feeling among the American population that over the years it appears our country has become more populated by the illegal immigrants and smuggled goods, something that has become a security concern. This is an issue directly related to the issue of border security. Every American is asking a simple question: How safe are our borders? The Government on the other side tells us the citizens that they are putting in measures possible to ensure that America and its people are safe through different border control strategies.  That said, it is important to note that border control necessarily implies financial support by the government of the day and since no government has its own money, it has to rely on the taxes paid by the American people. At the end of the tunnel, it is the American taxpayer who has to pay for his own security.

An issue that I am going to address is the need to have a strong and secure border system that will help lower the number of illegal immigrants and contraband into the United States which in turn affects our overall economic performance as a country, but at the same time facilitate free and legal movement of people, goods and services. It is therefore my position that if we want a secure and prosperous America, then we must be ready as a country to spend on such a venture.

America’s immigrant history

When one talks of border security or border control, the immediate discussion is on the immigrants and their legal status in the country. And it is at this point that opinions are divided among the Americans; with some seeing a tighter border control with measures such as wall building and arresting of the illegal immigrants as unfair action on the part of the government.  However, I do think contrary to this. As a country we are aware of our immigrant history in that “immigration is central to America’s identity. Since the United States founding, immigrants have empowered our country through their talent, hard work while through culture enrichment. New arrivals not only added energy and innovation to American society, they were also important and even essential to our strong, dynamic economy.” (Business Roundtable, 2017)

Further, a report by the National Economic Council, the Domestic Policy Council, the President’s Council of Economic Advisers and the Office of Management and Budget during the Presidency of Obama noted that ”America has always been immigrants’ nation, and throughout the nation’s history, immigrants around the world have kept our labor work vibrant, our businesses on the cutting edge, and necessitated the building of a substantial economic engine in the globe.” (Office of the President, 2013, p. 1)

The broader approach to border security.

I do think as well that the narrow approach to border security and its implication on the American taxpayers by concentrating on the prevention of illegal immigrants and contraband goods from entering our country only, is not doing justice to the great nation of America. There is the issue of legally allowed trade which is beneficial to the nation. At this point, I want to echo the words of Todd Rosenblum who wrote ”too often, border security is viewed as preventing the illegal entry of people and goods across state lines. However, border security also is about ensuring the safe, efficient flow of commerce and increasing international trade.” (Rosenblum, 2018)

It is a fact that the growing population of illegal immigrants –which is a border security issue- presents a significant constraint on the Government finances as noted by the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) who in their report stated that ”the illegal aliens negatively impacted the nation’s taxpayers at the local, state, and national levels. Illegal immigration costs Americans billions of dollars each year. Illegal alien are net consumers of taxpayer-funded services and the limited taxes paid by some segments of the illegal alien population are, in no way, significant enough to offset the growing financial burdens imposed on U.S. taxpayers by massive numbers of uninvited guests.”  (Federation for American Immigration Reform [FAIR], 2017).

The Congress Committee on the Judiciary did note in their report serial number 109-135 dated August 2, 2006 that ”most economists agree that illegal immigrants impose a net fiscal cost on American Government and American taxpayers. This is not because they are illegal immigrants per se, nor does it indicate that illegal immigrants contribute nothing to our economy. Rather, illegal immigrants represent a net loss to the U.S. economy because they generally consume more in Government benefits than they pay in taxes.” (The Congress Committee on Judiciary, 2006, p.12). That said, it must also be noted that ”simply spending more money and adding more agents will not secure the border, but it will complicate trade. Nations cannot seek maximum security without shuttering trade, but nations cannot have fully open borders if they want real security. We can build more fences, identify more tracks, and inspect more vehicles, but only if we are prepared to greatly diminish the free flow of commerce.” (Rosenblum, 2018).

This approach I am taking is simple: Yes, to secure borders that allow this great nation of America to economically prosper hence improving on the quality of life of the American people. However, the policies and strategies put in place to ensure a secure border, must be done with the view of widening the taxpayer numbers by getting on board the immigrants to be within the tax bracket. We cannot as a country live as Island hence the need to learn the spirit of living together in a harmonious way with our neighbors and our immigrants.

I do hold the view that, what we need to put in place as a country is a border system that is secure and ensures that all those in America are here legally so that they can legally contribute to the wellbeing of the nation. So, there is need to have some kind of paradigmatic change on the immigrants and the whole issue of border security.

In the long run, legalizing the immigrants will be beneficial to the American taxpayers and that demands we have a system which expands our economy in attracting the world’s most talented and hardest – working personnel. This is a reality noted by the Office of the President in the, the Domestic Policy Council, National Economic Council, the President’s Council of Economic Advisers and the Office of Management and Budget  report when they quoted the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) in reference to commonsense immigration reform saying ”the reform will lead to greater economic growth because it will add more high-demand workers to the labor force, increase capital investment and overall productivity, and lead to greater numbers of entrepreneurs starting companies in the U.S.” (Office of the President, 2013, p. 4). This is a fact affirmed by Douglas Holtz-Eakin former CBO Director and Chief Economist for President George W. Bush’s Council of Economic Advisers when he says ”Immigration reform can raise population growth, labor force growth, and thus growth in Gross Domestic Product (GDP). In addition, immigrants have displayed entrepreneurial rates above that of the native-born population. New entrepreneurial vigor embodied in new capital and consumer goods can raise the standard of living.” (Holtz-Eakin, 2013.)

Conclusion

It is indeed a fact that there will be no progress in America if it is insecure. So, the point is not on whether to deport or not the illegal immigrants, nor is it an issue of permitting immigrants in our midst as a country. The issue is all about putting in a place a system that will allow individuals who would like to reside and work in the U.S. the possibility of doing so without hindrance hence contributing to the economic growth of the nation. The economic benefits of the immigrants to America are countless for they easily complement the native-born workers in driving the economic growth thereby maintaining America’s global competitiveness.

The current immigration system needs indeed a fundamental change with the view of making it much better. Our borders should not keep us out of reach from our neighbors, to the contrary they should act as point of contact hence promoting trade and human interaction in a manner that is beneficial to all. To accomplish these objectives, we must as country through our policy makers and citizen participation, strengthen our border security while at the same time create an accommodative and conducive legal framework for the hard-working immigrants who strive to contribute to our economy to want and desire to live in America.

Reference

Business roundtable. (2017) Economic effects of Immigration policies: A 50 State analysis.

   Retrieved from www.brt.org/economic-effects-immigration

Federation for American Immigration Reform [FAIR]. (2017). The fiscal burden of Illegal

                Immigration on United States taxpayers. Retrieved from

www.fairus.org/issue/publications-resources/fiscal-burden-illegal-immigration-united-    states-taxpayers

Holtz-Eakin, Douglas. (2013). Immigration Reform, Economic Growth and the Fiscal Challenge.

Retrieved from

www.americanactionforum.org/sites/default/files/Immigration%20and%20the%20Economy%20and%20Budget.pdf.

Office of the President. (2013). The economic benefits of fixing our broken immigration system.

               Retrieved from www.obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/sites/default/files/docs/report.pdf  

Rosenblum, Todd. (2018). The truth about border security. Retrieved from

   www.edition.cnn.com/2015/01/28/opinion/rosenblum-immigration-reform/index.html

The Congress Committee on the Judiciary. (2006). How does illegal immigration impact American

taxpayers and will the Reid-Kennedy amnesty worsen the blow? Retrieved from  www.commdocs.house.gov/committees/judiciary/hju29329.000/hju29329_0f.htm