Saturday, September 26, 2009

Blog #20 - The Great Wall of America?

In this unit, we will be studying our immigration history, but specifically, we'll look at the time period of 1880s - 1924 when a huge influx of Eastern and Southern European immigrants arrived on our shores looking for work, land, the American Dream and freedom.

One question that swirls around the recent immigration debate is whether or not a 700-mile wall should be built along the 1,952-mile border w/ Mexico. The House approved $2.2 billion for the wall back in December 2005 to "build a double set of steel walls with floodlights, surveillance cameras and motion detectors along one-third of the U.S.-Mexican border." 1 The Senate approved the bill shortly afterwards.

On Thursday, October 26, 2006, President Bush signed this bill into law. "Unfortunately the United States has not been in complete control of its borders for decades and therefore illegal immigration has been on the rise," Bush said at a signing ceremony. He called the fence bill "an important step in our nation's efforts to secure our borders." 3 (What's interesting to note about the Yahoo article that I found back in 2006 is that it can't even figure out how long the southern border of the U.S. is. One part of the article says it's a "nearly 2,000-mile border" while another part of the article refers to the "fence project covering one-third of the 2,100-mile border." Last time I checked, we haven't changed our southern border with Mexico since the Gadsden Purchase in 1853.)

Since the signing of that bill, the Senate killed President Bush's amnesty bill for illegal aliens in June 2007 which would have gotten an estimated 12 million illegal aliens into the tax system. Apparently, the "American people won today. They care enough to get mad and fight enough for it," said Republican Senator Jim DeMint, though I'm not exactly sure why he'd be mad that MORE people are paying taxes 4. In retrospect, two years later, the country could definitely use that tax money as our federal deficits continue to soar. And I'd ask the senator what the country actually won.

So, what do you think? Does America need this wall? Why or why not? Read the articles on illegal immigration and decide before answering. Check on the links below to read some opinions.

Your answer should be 150 words or more.
Due Tuesday, Sept. 29

1. Article from the San Fransico Chronicle: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/02/26/BORDERFENCE.TMP

5. Different views on illegal immigration: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4989248.stm

6. An immigrant's story - why she's fighting to stay in America - http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7346003.stm

7. Divided views as US fence goes up - http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7212827.stm

64 comments:

Anonymous said...

I think that America should have something to keep the illegal aliens out. Even though I think this, I also think that we shouldn’t be spending money on things that aren’t our biggest concerns at the moment. Also, we need a better plan to deal with the immigrants who are already in America. Bush’s plan didn’t work because that would be giving the immigrants exactly what they want and would encourage more immigrants to try to come to America because they would probably think that we might let them become American citizens too. A positive thing about his plan was that the immigrants would have to start paying taxes and the government would make a lot more money. We should have a wall because it is a good way to keep immigrants out and it discourages them from trying to come into America. We shouldn’t spend the money to get the wall right now though.

Alex Valente
5th Hour

Anonymous said...

I think that America should get this wall. But before they do it, they should weigh out the pros and cons of having it. Although it is a lot of money to build it, it might save money in the long run because it will stop the illegal immigrants that are hurting our economy. Also, I think that something HAS to happen to stop illegal immigration. While the government could just hire more people to guard the boarder, that would end up costing more money over time because they would get an hourly pay. This wall would decrease illegal immigration, which could decrease poverty (because immigrants make up a large percent of the poverty rate), and that would decrease our economic struggle. Eventually, whether it is a wall or something else, there will be something to block off the immigrants, and in my opinion, the wall is the best way.

Sydnee Cohen
5th hour
9-27-09

Anonymous said...

Scott Crosthwaite
5th hour

I think America should have this wall so illegal aliens cannot come in because if we keep letting them in then more and more immigrants will want to come and live the American dream. I think we should have this wall but not spend so much money, because if we do them the economy will not be good. But a good thing letting more and more immigrants in is when they pay taxes the government will get more and more money and use that money to build the wall. Also they don’t HAVE to spend all the money for the wall they can just boost the security of the wall instead of spending 2.2 billion dollars. As you said in the blog “ In retrospect two years later the country could definitely use that tax money as our federal deficits continue to soar.” So that is why we should have the wall.

Anonymous said...

Kevin Ross-5th hour

I honestly think that should build this wall or something else like to keep illegal immigrants out of America. I think there are way too many illegal immigrants coming into this country right now. It is as huge problem, because they are taking things away from the citizens that they need. One example would be jobs, in the suffering economy right, that is the first thing people need. Maybe in this economy we don’t need to spend the huge amounts of money on another wall that may or may not work, but we do need to find a way more effective way of keeping illegal immigrants out of the United States. We also need to figure out how to get the millions of illegal immigrants out or to become a citizen through the correct procedures. If they want to be citizens then they need to do it the right way; that could be the biggest problem.

Anonymous said...

Malarie French
3rd hour
I think that America needs this wall to keep the illegal immigrants and potential terrorists out, but I don’t think that we should be spending that type of money on a wall. There are way more things that we should be worrying about. I think we should focus on the economy right now rather than the immigration condition. The wall would help the force to concentrate more on other areas of immigration though. But I also feel that a wall wouldn’t always keep people out. Many people will somehow find a way to get over a wall. Even though there would be cameras and etcetera, it wouldn’t stop people from trying. I understand that the influence of a “physical barrier system” may make immigrants reconsider, but I feel strongly that it won’t solve much immigration problems. If immigrants know where there isn’t any patrol, they’d try getting over there most likely.

Anonymous said...

I believe that America should build the wall in order to keep the illegal immigrants out of America. There are many reasons why and why we shouldn't build the wall. One of the main reasons we should build the wall is so that it will help the cause of illegal immigrants not being able to receive the benefits of paying taxes such as school, welfare, and medicare. Paying for the wall will also have a financial benefit because we will have to pay less workers to secure the border. The wall will also discourage the passing of the border and the smuggling of drugs across the border. One of the major downturns of the wall is, of course, the cost of nearly 2.2 billion dollars. The wall will also discourage beneficial trade between the US and Mexico. There are also other downturns to the construction of the wall, but I believe that the benefits outweigh the downturns. This is why I believe the wall should be constructed.
Griffin Harms
1st Hour

Anonymous said...

I think that we should not put up this waThe US should forget about putting up walls or plan on putting up new walls in the near future. If Mexicans want to come to America and live the American dream, then they are going to find a way to get in. It’s true that building these walls will create jobs, but it’s a short time job. Spending 2.2 billion on a wall sounds so ridicules, and like I said from before if someone wants to get in there going to find another way to get in besides going thru the wall. It wouldn’t be such a great idea to bring more people into our nation and let them take up lots of our jobs, but putting 12 million illegal aliens into the tax system sounds great, and would really help out our government. We should focus more on the immigrants that snuck into the US that aren’t paying taxes and taking part into illegal gangs across the US.

Muhannad Al-Bakkour
5th Hour

Anonymous said...

Crystal Oropeza
3rd hour

I think that we should put up this wall. This could keep our families and country safe from illegal aliens and harmful people. Financially wise I think it’s a lot of money for just a wall, but it could really help us in the future. It’s not only keeping out poverty and potential hazards, its keeping all of us safe and well. On top of that it would make immigrants think twice about even trying to come over, because it would be nearly impossible. Also, we would feel safe because we know there is a barrier to keep us harm-free. We should look at positive and negative effects, and look deeper into building this wall. We could have alternatives to help save money, for example, we could have higher and more security, at all times where people immigrate in. This could definitely keep people out, I believe we should build the wall.

Anonymous said...

I think that the United States of America needs this double set of steel walls with floodlights, surveillance cameras, and motion detectors along one-third of the U.S.-Mexican border because it would prevent many of illegal immigrants from coming over to the United states so less jobs would be stolen from the Americans who were born and raised in the United States of America. If the United States built the wall it would have to hire people to build it which would give some Americans jobs and this wall would take a while to build so the people would get a pay check for a while. If the United States do not build this wall than more and more illegal immigrates will think that it is easy to get in to the United States so more illegal immigrants will sneak in, But if the wall is built than they will be more afraid of the United States and less will try to sneak in. That is the reason why I think that the United States of America should build this wall.

Damien Dorre/ 5th hour/ 9/28/2009

Anonymous said...

No, we should not build a wall on the border of Mexico at this time. With our country in an economic downfall, we should not be investing our money towards getting our economy back to where it should be instead of putting it towards a wall. The money could be used for creating new jobs for the unemployed, research for diseases and even our educational system throughout our country. Even if they put up a wall, immigrants will figure out another way to cross the border into America. Then, more money will have to be spent to stop that way. Also, being at war with other countries, we need to have all the support and relations with others. This wall will make Mexico turn on the US in times of trouble. People who live close to the border might experience their values on their homes decrease because of the ugly wall nearby. This will add to the poor housing conditions as we are experiencing now. Finally, putting up this wall will affect the ecosystem. Many animals would not be able to migrate as their natural instincts tell them to. This could cause more animals to become endangered and even extinct.
Ashton Botsford
1st hour

Anonymous said...

I think that our country should build this wall that extends 2,000 miles or so across the border. They should build this wall because in the past we have had economic troubles with illegal aliens coming to America. Even thought this wall will cost the U.S. a ton of money (2.2 billion dollars) it will come into use in the long run. The U.S. has attempted to build some sort of fence in the past to keep these immigrants out but it was not physically strong enough to keep them out because all they had to do was climb the fence and they were over, but now since we have new technology they can set up flood lights, security cameras, motion detectors, and on top of that double thick walls. I do think that the negative side to this wall is the money it will cost because right now we are not in the condition to build it, but with the government already paying guards, and police to guard the boarder I think this wall will be useful. I think that now with the immigrants that are in America we should enforce the rules on them or make them go back across the border. This is why I think we should build this wall in America.

Alex Allen 5th hour

Anonymous said...

Rudy Schreier 1st hour
I believe that we should build this wall on the Mexican border. But really, it could go either way. To build this wall, it would cost about $2.2 billion. That’s a whole lot of money that in these economic times would be a little ridiculous to spend on a fence. However, this fence would stop millions of illegal immigrants from coming to America, and taking American jobs that we need in these times. But we have another problem. Besides keeping illegal immigrants out of America, we also need to focus on how to get the illegal immigrants out that are already here. This process would take much more time and would probably cost more money, which is why we should build the fence. Even though many immigrants are already in America, we should focus on stopping them before more come. Overall, I think it would be a great choice to build this wall. It would make many Americans feel safer about their future and well-being.

Anonymous said...

Keith Wright 3rd hour

We need to improve our border between Mexico and the United States of America because many illegal immigrants are stealing the jobs that should belong to American citizens. This illegal immigration has affected our lives as kids to. Kids used to make money by mowing lawns and now we have lost that opportunity. This is not just affecting kids but all Americans who are getting fired to be replaced by an illegal immigrant who will work for a lower salary. One of the BBC News articles compares the United States building a fence at its borders to the Berlin Wall; I completely disagree with people thinking that this wall is anything like the Berlin Wall. The point of this fence is to keep out foreign people while the Berlin wall was keeping people trapped inside and disconnected from the world. I think we should build the fence as soon as possible so they don’t get a chance to “...take ‘ere jobs” (south park).

Anonymous said...

Isaac - 1st Hour

1. I think that America should build a wall to keep illegal aliens out, but not at the present moment. Right now, however, America is facing much larger issues. First, America has to develop a way to deal with the illegal immigrants that have already come into our country. We can't just force them to leave, so we have to find a way to make every immigrant a citizen and pay taxes. This would most likely help one of our other big issues: the economy. The more legal citizens paying taxes, the more our government can help us recover from the failing economy. After the economy is fixed, or at least improving, I think our government should develop a better system of keeping illegal immigrants out than just a huge wall. We should encourage legal, safe immigration by setting up a system to makes sure that we are allowing immigrants who can supply America with skilled labor. This would be better than just denying all immigrants the right to move to our country and finding a better life.

Anonymous said...

Kaleigh Passarelli
U.S. History 1st hour

I think that America does not need this wall. People are coming over to America because we have a better economy. What we need to do is something in the middle because if we allow too many immigrants over, then it will hurt our economy. But if we don’t allow some immigrants over than they will be suffering. What we need to do is help Mexico’s economy so it will be better. People here are paid better than people with the same job in Mexico are. If we help Mexico to get its economy better, even if it’s not a whole lot, just a little, a bunch of our immigration problems will be solved. When you reach a point in your economy that your citizens are leaving and going to the neighboring country, by sneaking, swimming, hiding in cars and trucks, and some have to leave their children behind sending money home, until they can bring them over, your country is in big trouble. When that happens you have to fix your economy, because otherwise it will just keep getting worse. People leave their country all the time, but when they just keep leaving, and people really aren’t coming to your country except if they are deported back, than your economy needs to be fixed. If the U.S. and Mexico work together, than we can make it so there will be a lot less illegal immigrants.

Anonymous said...

Ryan Willliams
3rd hour

I believe the wall should be built to keep potentially dangerous terrorist out, but I also believe that immigration laws should be less strict to encourage legal immigration. I say this because, I have no problem with Mexican immigrants entering the country, there just trying to better their lives and chase the American dream like the Italian, Irish, and German immigrants before them. With the construction of the wall not only will harmful people will be kept out. but the Mexican immigrants will be forced to immigrant legally and potentially become US citizens and be able to receive helpful things like social security or financial aid if they decide to go to college. The only problem I have with the wall is the cost and its effectiveness. At this time with so many financial troubles in the US I do feel like 2.2 billion dollars could be spent in a better way than building a wall. I believe that the US people would be outraged in a way because the government is spending this much money on a wall while people are being laid off and losing the homes and other things. I also don’t know how well the wall will work, the immigrants coming over are very determined to get in the US and star a new life, so two steel walls wouldn’t really stop them. And if Mexican immigrants can get past the walls so can terrorist, so this wall might not improve our security at all. But in the end if the wall can be built, ad isn’t so costly and is protective then I’m 100% for it.

Anonymous said...

I think we need to build this wall because the immgrants are taking away jobs for people who already live in the US. Also they dont speak english and if they get a job you wouldnt understand them.But to have this wall up would cost way to much now we are in debt we should try to figure out how to get out of debt before we spend all that money to put up that wall.We also got to think about the immigrants that are already here we have to get them out which we would be more money that we do not have.

Quinton Furman
3rd hour

Anonymous said...

Margeaux Phillips 1st Hour

This wall could be very economically disastrous and beneficial to the United States. The United States doesn’t really have the expenses to pay for such an extravagant wall at the moment due to our economic state, but this problem needs to be stopped. Though this wall is rather costly, we need to focus on the problem at hand, the incoming illegal immigrants. Sometimes we need to sacrifice a little for the overall outcome. Yes there are many illegal aliens in the country as of now, and yes we need to find a way to get them out which will most likely cost quite a bit, but do we want more? I think we should spend the money on preventing them from getting in, rather than trying to get them out. The wall will stop the illegitimate immigration to the best of its ability. The wall could be beneficial to the economy because illegal immigrants are taking jobs from American citizens when we need them most. Without the illegal immigrants taking these jobs, there will be more opportunity for Americans to find jobs. By and large, I personally believe that this wall will be more beneficial than disastrous. Though at first it might be hard to cope with the huge expenditure, in the end we will be thankful that we did it.

Anonymous said...

I do believe that America should build this 700-mile wall along the U.S. border with Mexico. This wall will be expensive, but in the long run, it could help boost our economy. Right now, illegal immigrants are taking over the jobs that Americans need. Our economic status is rough, and these illegal immigrants are worsening it. Also, these immigrants are starting to over populate our country. The illegal immigrant population of the U.S. is estimated to be about 11 million with 57% of those coming from Mexico. Although this wall has many benefits, it also has many down falls. The main down fall is the 2.2 million dollars that need to be spent to build the wall. Our economy is already rough, and doing this will only make it worse. Also, jobs will be lost because less security will be needed to watch over the boarder because the motion sensors detectors and surveillance cameras. There are down falls to this idea, but I believe the benefits out weigh them.

Jake Balicki
3rd Hour

Anonymous said...

Jennifer Levin
1st hour

I believe that America should put up this wall; for it will prevent people from illegally entering the country, which can cause serious financial problems. The country is already dealing with an economic crisis, and building this wall could help to prevent the problem from getting worse. The wall is going to cost money to build, but its long term effects will be beneficial (and it could prevent the country from losing more money). Many people are losing their jobs right now, and building the wall will stop illegal immigrants from coming into the U.S. and taking the jobs that are left. Constructing this wall will send a strong message discouraging people who are thinking of illegally crossing the border. The wall can also prevent potential terrorists from entering the United States. Therefore, building this wall will not only have a financial benefit on the country, but it will help to ensure Americans’ safety as well.

Anonymous said...

After reading the articles I do think the United States needs a wall. If we don’t we will be overpopulated and even more people wont have jobs, we need to take care of our own people before illegal people. As of right now, we should use the money for more important needs because the economy is bad, so when the economy becomes better then we should think about getting a wall. I’m sure some people will still get through but the number will be slim. It seems like a waste of money but if it helps get jobs back and help our economy at all then it sounds like a good idea. Some People think that by the time we build it not as many people will be coming over, but there will always be aliens trying to come over because the US is the place to be for freedom, so we should get the wall no matter how long it takes us to build it.

Melissa Pace 1st hour

Anonymous said...

I think that the wall would be a good idea, because border patrols have caught people from other countries such as Syria and Iran trying to get in the U.S. through the Mexican border. I think that the bigger issue is trying to secure the country from terrorists. Adding this wall to the Mexican border will provide more security to our country, but there are costs. The walls can affect the migration patterns of coyotes, deer, javelin, and mountain lions. It also can damage the desert ecosystem. Some people are saying that building the wall will increase the problem. They are saying that people will continue to find ways to get in and the new roads built for patrols will provide easier transportation of drugs, immigrants, and the like. The cost is frighteningly huge at a little over $4 billion. Ouch. Where is all this money coming from? Well, all I can say is that I’m glad this decision doesn’t rest on my shoulders!
-Amanda Carrick 5th hour

Anonymous said...

For the most part, I do think that this wall would be something that we (the Unites States) should have. Before I give my reasons, I want to give the one reason I am opposed to this wall. During these economic times, I think that 2.2 billion dollars is a lot of money that could very well be used for more necessary spending.
My first reason for supporting this wall is the fact that, in my opinion, there is an overwhelming amount of illegal immigrants living in the Unites States. According to a bbc article on the viewpoints of illegal immigration, there are roughly 12 to 15 million illegal immigrants in the U.S. today. If this wall is not built, then we could be experiencing some overpopulation in the U.S. in the future. In addition, these illegal immigrants are taking jobs, housing, and more from Unites states citizens. Overall I think that there is no benefit of these illegal immigrants being here, and allowing more to come would only be less beneficial. This is why I think the wall should be put up.
Brad Benghiat 1st Hour

Anonymous said...

While America needs a better way to deal with illegal immigration, it does not need a $2.2 billion wall that will not even cover the entire border when we have more pressing issues at the moment. Plus, the wall would damage political relationships, the environment, and the economy. What we need to do is crack down harder on employers who hire illegal immigrates because that would not only solve the problem of currently having illegal immigrants, but would also scare others from hiring illegal immigrants. This would cause less immigrants to come to America looking for work and even if they did they would find no work and would have to apply for citizenship. The wall would just cause many people to get angry at America and for illegal immigrants to find a new way to go around the border. I actually think that the wall would cause more problems then solutions, and should be avoided.
Jacob Hasenau, 5th hour.

Anonymous said...

Natalie Hords
1st hour
9/28/09

Personally, i think it's sick to put up a physical wall between America and Mexico to keep out illegal immigrants trying to enter the united states. I feel as though Mexico will take great offense to this and well end up with more problems then we can handle. In the past, American ways were formed from these immigrants and people from all over the world. Today, although we are struggling, we could sure use some new ideas and people to help our economy grow. If we have more people willing to work for lower wage, then items could be sold at lower prices, allowing the less fortunate to have possessions they would normally not be able to acquire. when the less fortunate start spending, it creates a small flow of new cash because they were most likely afraid to buy things before at their high prices. also, if the wall is not put up, there can be more jobs available for boarder patrol. in the end, the money circulates from the people making the money as boarder patrol, to the businesses they buy their possessions from, back into the economy. another point we can look at is if we start taxing immigrants, we can make more money! this wall is not going to solve any illegal immigration problems. there are ways to get around it and I'm sure if someone's determined to get into America illegally, they'll find another rout to take to get in.

ian frederik 3rd hour said...

I think that there should be just a 35ft fence… not a wall. But it has Rasor wire on the top, or it’s electrified. Then if an illegal immigrant tries to get over it they get a zap or they get cut. As you can tell, I am not for allowing illegal immigrants an easy passage. But if they do manage to cross it, then they would have at least earned it. But the government should allow illegal immigrants work visas that allow travel. But they could not get high paying jobs. This would entitle them making no more than $15 an hour unless they apply for a higher working permit. This would help by making the immigrants pay taxes and help make a bigger and better wall. We could also have immigrants fight in Iraq for 2 years and if they survived, they would become full citizens. Those are some ideas about the Mexico American border.

Anonymous said...

No, why waste money on the wall when the illegal immigrants still can get across the border. If they want get across the border badly enough they will. We would be wasting too much money when it could go towards something better like medical funds and research. If the government is truly serious of controlling immigration and undocumented workers they just need to enforce existing laws. But the political will to do this is not there. Some of the politician’s fear being labeled anti-immigrant, while other politicians fear losing donations from businesses who benefit from cheap labor. Economically the will to do something is lacking because all the payroll and income taxes collected by the government will never be re-paid to those who work under phony social security numbers.
The United States has always been an immigrant nation. For years there have always been laws to establish a legal way to work in the United States as a foreign citizen and if desired eventually become a naturalized citizen. When most of our ancestors arrived at Ellis Island the first thing they saw was the Statue of Liberty, the symbol of our free and open society. I believe putting a wall up would be a slap in the face to lady Liberty “Anonymous”

Anonymous said...

Ezra Woodard
Hour 3
I believe that America should not build a wall. The plan to create a 700-mile double wall will take away too much money, an estimated $2.2 billion dollars. That money could be spent much better, such as creating more jobs in the U.S.A. and Mexico. If we created more good jobs in Mexico then there would be less people that needed to take jobs here. When they take jobs here, some send their tax free profit back home, therefore transferring money out of our economy. Although, terrorists can come through the border, along with illegal immigrants, so we should double up on border patrol, or start building a single wall (1400 miles) in increments. Where high security was placed around the wall illegal immigration rate went down; yet, it went up where there was low security. Therefore, instead of a paved road, in between the double wall, new security should be placed. America does need a wall, but a efficient and effective wall.

Anonymous said...

Alvin Pitris 3rd hour
I don’t think America needs this wall. America absolutely does not need 20 spend over 2.2 billion dollars building an unnecessary wall. As of 2000 Mexicans account for almost 28% of immigrants. 62.7% of Mexican immigrants live in the west of the United States. We don’t need to spend all of that money for stopping only the Mexican immigrants from coming to the U.S. The Mexicans don’t do anything wrong in our county. They work on no taxes, which are illegal, but they are not causing any harm to anyone, and when a Mexican immigrant causes trouble, they are deported back to Mexico. If we wanted to get rid of the immigrants, we could go to states like California which has 2,209,000 estimated total immigrants and find the immigrants and deport them back. That would be a lot cheaper than building a 2.2 billion dollar wall that wouldn’t even stop all the immigrants and would take God knows how long to build. Even once it is built who says it will stop them from coming. If Mexicans really wanted to come to the U.S they would find a way to get in. There is no point of building this wall because these Mexicans don’t even account for all immigrants, and it’s not worth the money, and most of them who want to be in America aren’t causing any harm to anyone.

Anonymous said...

Building a double set of steel walls with floodlights, surveillance cameras and motion detectors along one-third of the U.S.-Mexican border will be very useful to stop the crossing of illegal immigrants in the U.S. According to the article “US Illegal Immigration”, there are roughly 12 to 15 million illegal aliens in the US, and hundreds of thousands sneak across our borders each year. Illegal immigrants are hurting our society in many different ways. Most of who are not even coming for the right reasons anymore. For example, the intended purpose of immigrants coming to America for the first time is to work a minimum wage job and live the American dream. However, the illegal aliens nowadays are not sneaking across the border to do that. Illegal immigration also has a negative effect on the US's economic security. Anyone can see that a huge group of unskilled labor workers puts downward pressure on the wages of native-born Americans. While these low paid hard workers are costing the American taxpayer in terms of social services, illegal aliens are rarely paying taxes, sending their kids to school for free, receiving welfare benefits, and getting free medical treatment. It is simply unfair. In conclusion, I believe this wall will be a great improvement of this issue we are having. When people realize that it is harder to cross the border illegally, less will attempt to. Hence, when people realize it is harder to stay illegally, more will leave.

Norell

Anonymous said...

Erin Robnett-1st hour

I believe that we should put up the wall. Although it won’t fully guarantee that no more people will come to America illegally, this wall will significantly decrease the amount of illegal immigrants (and potential terrorists) coming to America. Although this wall is extremely expensive, it will prevent the country from losing money and it will be very beneficial in the future and we will be happy that it was built. Also, it will create jobs for the amount of time that it is being built. This brings up the point that illegal immigrants are taking jobs of American citizens or people who came to America legally, and who actually deserve jobs. With less of the illegal immigrants, there will be more jobs available. In conclusion, building the wall to keep out illegal immigrants and potential terrorists is a very good idea and will make America a better and safer place.

Anonymous said...

I think America doesn’t need this wall. This wall is going to be 700 miles long and the Mexico border is around 2,100 miles long. What good would that do to stop illegal immigrants? If this wall was to be built, America could potentially lose from $2 billion to $10 billion. If a wall is manmade with steel it can be taken apart especially given the fact it only covers 1/3 of the border.
This wall would be very costly because we would lose billions of dollars while we are in the economic recession. That money could be used elsewhere to help Americans. In the article “Border security or boondoggle” it states that this wall will prevent illegal immigrants and terrorists. If an immigrant or terrorist had a great desire to cross the border they could find alternative entry points by foot, air or sea to get through the border.

Source: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/02/26/BORDERFENCE.TMP

Keon Collier
3rd hour

Anonymous said...

Tim wimbush

I think that the answer for needing the wall is no. Because even thoe it does keep out immigrants, it also has a negative effect on our country. Like U.S., businesses need a supply of low wageworkers that are willing to do jobs that many Americans choose not to do because the physical exertion and risk of injury is too great and the pay is too low for many of us who can easily find other work. The best way to strengthen U.S. security is helping our neighbors in Mexico, and not to be against them. And I don’t think we should let all the past and present situations influence our decisions like terrorism, and the drug cartels. Because not only are we hurting ourselves but also the wildlife around that area and preventing species from traveling to their needs to survive. And also the wall would cost an amazing amount of money to make which some of would come out of taxes that we pay for.

Alex said...

I think that the United States of America does need to build this wall. It could help keep illegal aliens from harming our country and families. I think that illegal aliens are taking things away from our people, like jobs. With the economy the way it is right now we may not need to spend all this money on a wall that has a chance of not working. This wall may help in the long run because it will stop the illegal aliens from hurting our economy. The government could just hire more people to watch the border but that would cost a lot of money over time. The wall would decrease illegal immigration, and will help the poverty rate go down. Immigrants make a large percent of the poverty rate. The United States needs to find a correct way to get the illegal aliens out or help them become American citizens. This is why we need the wall built.

Alex Victor
9-28-09
Hour 5

Anonymous said...

Blaine Bishop-1st hour

I beleive that building this wall is not a priority, but that in future years that it would be a sound thing to invest in. Personally I think that part of that 2.2 billion dollars should be spent on hiring temporary gaurds, while the remaining money should go towards getting our country out of debt and maybe even to a few businesses. If the government were to help out companies then those companies would have a less need to hire cheaper workers, thus discouraging illegal immigrants to seek work here in America. Though eventually, once our country is out of debt, I do beleive that we should invest in this wall because although most people sneaking are merely seeking jobs and a better life, you never know who else is and what their intentions are.

Anonymous said...

Rebecca Cook--5th Hour

I believe that America should have the wall. Although it will cost a lot of money, it is for a good purpose. Too many illegal immigrants are coming into America and it needs to be stopped before it becomes too much. In time, the immigrants could overpopulate the country and take from us what they do not deserve. They are taking up housing, jobs, money, and more. Although the wall has its risks, such as too much money being spent, wildlife being interrupted, etc., it is for the greater good. If the wall is built, it will also present more jobs for those who can guard and build it. Without the wall, more and more immigrants will continue to sneak in and will just create more poverty. Overall, the wall has more pros then cons to great a better America.

Lizzy said...

America doesn’t need this wall built between US and Mexico. We are currently trying to rebuild and fix our economy. This 2.2 billion dollar wall will not benefit the economy. All of that money that could be going to US citizens and into US economy to help get us back on track. Instead, the US government is going to waste billions of all dollars on a wall. Illegal immigrants will continue to come as long as there are better and more labor opportunities in the US. Instead of building a giant wall to block out our neighbors, we should help them create job opportunities. It will be less costly for us, stop illegal immigrants from Mexico and give more jobs to American citizens. The wall, if it stops anyone, will only stop a small amount of people. Most people come on visas, which are legal, then overstay without renewing their visas. The government should seek other ways of stopping illegal immigrants then building a pointless, expensive wall across the Mexican-US border.

Lizzy
1st hour

Anonymous said...

I think that there definitely needs to be some way to prevent illegal immigrants from entering the United States, but I don’t think building a 2.2 billion dollar wall is the way to do it. Although having this wall might decrease the amount of illegal immigrants, it will not stop illegal immigration completely. I think this mainly because in the past and probably in the future many aliens get into the U.S. through visas, then stay past expiration date illegally. Building a wall wouldn’t change the amount of people who take advantage of visas, or if anything, more people would use expired visas because it might be an easier way to enter the United States. Another reason to not build the wall is because of the cost. In these tough economic times I think the government and the tax payers can both find much better ways to spend those billions of dollars. A “Great Wall of America” might not be the best solution to stop illegal immigration, but maybe in the future a better plan will be made that incorporates the two problems above.

Elyse Dumas - 5th hour

Anonymous said...

Ari Franklin
5th hour

I think that something definitely needs to be done to keep illegal immigrants out of America but I’m not sure that a wall is the best way. According to http://www.usdebtclock.org/ the U.S is more than 11 trillion dollars in debt. If we were to build a wall that had all the proper precautions in it we would be looking at millions or billions more dollars. This doesn’t seem like a very smart thing to do in these times. I think that we have been having bad ideas for the illegal aliens including bushes idea which would have had 12 million illegal aliens paying taxes. I think that this is a bad idea because it would make more of them come to get citizenship and take more jobs away from the people that need those most. This idea could also be good because we would be making way more money so I think that we should set a limit on the amount so it doesn’t encourage illegal immigrants to come. Then after we make more money a wall will be a good idea.

Anonymous said...

Willie Beattie


I think that America does need this wall. I think this because illegal immigrants have been a big problem in this country. With a 2.2 billion dollar wall, there would be major cut backs in the amount of illegal aliens coming into the US. We need this wall because although it costs a lot, it can cut down in costs for the long run. For example, the hundreds of miles of the wall will reduce the amount of boarder patrol officials than they needed before the wall. Illegal aliens cause a lot of problems, like take jobs that could be done by a US citizen that pays taxes and is a legal citizen. That’s another problem with illegal immigrant, they don’t pay taxes, but most of them have jobs so they are costing our country money also. That is why I think that America needs this wall on our Mexican boarder.

Anonymous said...

Matthew Brodley
5th Hour

I think that we should put up a wall. We know that its not going to completely guarantee no more people coming into America illegally, but it will significantly bring down the number of illegal immigrants coming in to America (and the possible bad people (terrorist’s). lets say we don’t build a wall, then America will become way over populated and even more people will be out of jobs and things just wont be pretty. I believe we should take care of our own American people first before we even think about taking care of illegal aliens. With the money we will spend on this wall, we could use to help improve our economy. I don’t believe we should build this wall now, but in the next few years or so we should think about it because I believe we should deal with more important things first rather thing our illegal immigrant issue.

Harshita Pinnamaneni said...

Although a bordering fence would be beneficial (such as in preventing overpopulation, reducing terrorists, and increasing the number of jobs for Americans), it would probably cause even more damage than good in the U.S.'s current state. Right now we have bigger issues facing us, like the faltering economy. We are already in a huge federal deficit; another $2.2 billion would just push us further on the path towards economic depression. The wall also prevents a contribution in tax money from immigrants, something that would be very beneficial. Also the amount of immigrants is probably decreasing with our current economic climate. What would be the point of building the fence when the amount of immigrants would only decrease? Therefore they would probably not take up so many American jobs. Also immigrants getting jobs in the U.S. may not necessarily be a bad thing, it in fact may boost the American economy; if there are more people then there would be an increase in competition in the U.S. therefore resulting in better products, possibly new inventions which could create more jobs and push the U.S. economy ahead. Also as stated in the first article, the wall would not be able to completely prevent illegal immigration, people would find other ways. And considering the world's conditions, allies would probably not be a bad thing right now; by blocking our border we would only do the exact opposite. So until the U.S. economy atleast begins to prosper, I do not think we should have the wall.

Harshita Pinnamaneni
1st Hour

Anonymous said...

Kendal Gumbleotn
1st hour

In my opinion the U.S. does not need this wall on the border of Mexico. Even though the U.S. is having problems with too many illegal immigrants constructing the wall could cause major problems. For instance the creation of the wall could spark a large retaliation of the Mexicans and cause riots. Also it could cause problems for American citizens because in some towns on the border people rely on walking back and forth from country to country because the border goes right through or nest to their town. The creation of the wall will prevent people from doing this and could cause those people problems in their day to day life. Even though the wall would help keep out more illegal immigrants it also prevented the illegal immigrants from being put into the tax system (estimated 12 million) which would have helped our economy greatly. The creation of the wall between the U.S. and Mexico has more problems than solutions and is a bad idea and unnecessary.

Anonymous said...

Dustin Oakwood
3rd Hour

I believe that that America does not need this wall because we need to be able to trust our neighbors and help them if need be. I believe that by separating us from our neighbor country is a bad idea and is just going to make more arguments in the future. The deal with the aliens and taxes is that we need a better system to deal with their immigration. Building a wall to physically keep them out of the country is not going to progress us any further. We should be welcoming them into our country, with a well regulated system. Perhaps instead of pushing them out of their own country we could do a better job at helping them fix their own country; so that they would want to stay in their own country rather then come into ours. This wall is just a physical representation of America’s ugly visage. It shows that we would rather put problems away than deal with them. It shows our own immaturity and lack of understanding.

Anonymous said...

Alice Turner
1st hour

I think that the wall is unneeded. It’s an exceedingly high amount of money put into a project that will only cover one third of the border. While the number of illegals may be increasing, there are other ways that we could go about trying to reduce that number. I also believe that even if the wall was built, it wouldn’t stop immigrants from coming over. They’d find a way to cross over, for many of them they are willing to risk their lives to cross. Often times, the lowest paying jobs in the U.S. offer enough money for the Mexican immigrants to get by. If they don’t get it, it’s likely they’d fail to survive. Most times, there aren’t even enough American workers to fill up the jobs that the illegals work because that kind of money won’t let you get by in America. Plus the money put into a project like that could be very well spent on something else, especially in an economic time period like this.

Anonymous said...

I believe that this wall should be built, because there are too many immigrants coming in that are unregistered and taking away the jobs and recourses that people of America need. The cost of building the wall will result to more economic turmoil now, but in the long run in 10 years the less immigrants will make more jobs (not the most favorable), but there will be more jobs. Making the wall will reduce illegal immigrants, but there will still need to be guards, because walls are made to be climbed over and this wall make a lot of people die for the cause of trying to get a better life.

Jared monchnik
5th hr
9-29-09

Anonymous said...

America needs this wall along the border to keep out immigrants. Even though this wall and the technologies that go along with it will cost a lot of money, it is very necessary in terms of National Security and prevention of illegal aliens. The cost of this wall will probably pay for itself because we will have less illegal aliens getting government benefits in certain programs. It will save plenty of money for legal Americans and also cut down on the drug smuggling operations going on between Mexico and the U.S. These cartels have cost the Mexican and United State’s governments billions of dollars a year in resources and manpower. If this wall gets put up and becomes fully operational, it can save us a lot of money and probably prevent a lot of deaths in the drug wars. Although we will never be able to fully stop illegal immigration, steps like these towards prevention can help everyone.

-Andrew Williams

Anonymous said...

David Hoffman
Should a 2,000 mile wall be built on the border between the United States and Mexico? I think we should consider the pluses of building this wall. Our population is overflowing with illegal immigrants. The wall would help keep many of the illegals out and help us control who comes in. They do not pay taxes which harms our economy. There also may be terrorists or criminals that cross into the US as well. However, there are also reasons to not build this wall. It would cost billions of dollars to create this and take years (maybe decades) to complete it. This is a diversion of resources that could be better used somewhere else. The wall is also a symbol. It can be seen as a symbol of oppression. We are a country that was created based on freedom and as a place where people from all over the world could find a life. The wall is the opposite of something like the Statue of Liberty. I am neither for nor against the making of the wall, I just think everything needs to be considered first.

Anonymous said...

alex wong 3rd
Most illegal immigrants are Mexicans so I believe that we do need this wall to keep them out of the country. This wall is going to be larger than a thousand miles covering the entire border and keeping America safe. Illegal immigrants from Mexico enter the country everyday and even though we get illegal immigrants from other places they are mainly from Mexico. Illegal immigrant are everywhere in today society it’s not only in the big cities they spread out across the U.S. if you have ever been to California illegal’s are everywhere especially in L.A and San Francisco which are possibly the two most populated cities in California. If we do not build this wall than illegal immigrants will continue to take our jobs that people who need them and are legal can use to make themselves and their families money. This wall make take time to build but in the end it will save lives, we will not have to see border patrol agents being killed because they are the only defense.

Anonymous said...

In reading this article, I have found out that 2.2 billion people were trying to get into a space that is not allowing them access. Interestingly enough, they have a 700 mile wall to cover 2000-2100 mile border to block out people who are most likely trying to start over there life. Sounds like the Berlin Wall episode to me.
Why wouldn’t we want illegal immigrants who want to become Americans, in to our country, where we are suppose to be the “golden country”. In my opinion we are being powerful in what we are trying to get across.
There was a law until 2007 that allowed the immigrants into our country. Luckily we have abolished this, if we have kept this law still standing, we would have been hypocrites. We “legalized” Americans as the stealers from the Native Americans, we have no right to tell others what they can and can’t do in meaning where they can live, shop, eat, etc. It is not our land to say these things, but we live on it and that’s all we can do.

Adam egrin

Anonymous said...

Blog #20
I think America needs this wall to keep the immigrants out. If we didn’t have this wall more and more immigrants would keep barging in looking for new jobs and pay better. I believe that we shouldn’t be spends as much as 2.2 billion dollars on a wall. But without that wall illegal immigrants will be coming in not stop. I already think we have to many immigrants coming in already looking for jobs. the provides americans to keep either jobs and not have to worry about losing their jobs to illegal aliens.

kara worden 5th hour

Anonymous said...

America does need some sort of solution for the problem with illegal aliens. But I’m not sure if a wall is the best idea. With the current state of the economy in the United States I don’t think we should be spending 2.2 billion dollars on this wall. The wall will bring down the number of immigrants in the country, but it won’t stop all of them. I would have hoped that at least one other solution would have come out of the 52 members of senate that voted against the wall.
We also need to find a way to deal with the over 12 million immigrants that are already in the United States. President Bush’s idea of having the illegal immigrants pay taxes, but not allowing them the right to vote was a good idea, but in the end I think that’s really what the immigrants want. If that bill had been passed, more immigrants would have come to the United States. Also, eventually the immigrants would want the right to vote, thus, causing more problems.

Kristina Ndrejaj
5th hour

Anonymous said...

Austin Rovinski 5th hour-Wickersham 9/29/09

I think that the wall between on our border with Mexico would not be necessary if we had a stricter control on the activities that illegal immigrants could do and if we had a better amnesty program that allowed positively contributing immigrants in as citizens. If we had a better system, then it would encourage the immigrants to seek legal citizenship that would allow them to become members of society and contribute taxes and other benefits. Instead of using the $2.2 million for building a fence, we could use that money to invest in an amnesty program, which would probably create more permanent jobs than building a fence and would in addition to that generate more money from the immigrants that would actually be paying taxes. Plus, a fence would inevitably have to be repaired and would cost even more money; it is a temporary solution that I think will cost more in the long term than other potential solutions.

Anonymous said...

Jimmy McCafferty
5th

I believe America could use this wall because illegal immigration has been a huge problem as of late. Any time you turn on the news whether it is national or local news a recurring topic is the economy and more specifically the effects illegal immigration is having on the United States’ economy. During a time when jobs are scarce jobs cannot be taken by non citizens of the country as it does not benefit us. While the job gets done the government does not receive taxes required to be paid by citizens. At the same time though this wall may fail to do its job and may become just a huge waste of the $2.2 billion that is needed to create it as it will only cover 700 miles of the border. There is already a certain amount of security at the border but as we have seen illegal immigration still continues to be an occurring problem.

Anonymous said...

Matt Baker
3rd Hour
I believe that America does not need to regulate the wall as much as it is already being regulated because America has more important problems to deal with than keeping people out of the country. One thing that America should be more worried about is the current state of its economy because the economic position of the country ultimately affects the government’s cash flow, which increasing it would allow more money to be put into regulating the wall. Another thing to worry about is the Iraq War because we as a country should care more about protecting the general public from terrorist attacks, rather than overpopulation. I think that America’s focus on regulation of the Mexican border has caused us to lose sight of the more important issues that we currently faces as people and as a country that are in need of the governments financial resources.

Anonymous said...

The Great Wall of America is a situation that can go in two favors. It is a 2,100 mile long wall on the south border preventing illegal immigrants from entering the US. Many immigrants think its unfair, and unjustly to do such a thing. Many Americans think it’s the right thing to do. If you ask me, I have two opinions. I think we should have sat down and talked about the situation before taking action. I also think that if the wall goes up, then it would create tension between us and South America. That’s tension we don’t need. Everyone knows the illegal immigrants situation, they come to the US, they’re not citizens, and it’s not legal. I guess what I’m trying to say is, that I’m all for the wall if it doesn’t stir up things with our neighbors. We can prevent a great majority of them from coming in, but not all of them. So that means, with the ones who do get in, what action they will take in order to get their fellow immigrants over the border to.
Jalen - 3rd

Anonymous said...

I believe that the U.S should build a wall to stop Mexicans from entering the United States illegally. If we don’t build a wall than Mexicans will be free to cross over in to the U.S and take American jobs that we need desperately now. I don’t mind if Mexicans become a U.S citizen and get jobs that would be fine because they would be paying taxes. Illegal immigrants get paid and don’t have to pay taxes, which will cost America more money. After how much money has been poured into the war I can’t see why not spend 2.2 billion dollars into something we need. If we don’t build the wall than I feel 10 times more Mexicans will enter illegally then with the wall. In the end I feel that if we build the wall than many jobs will be given to Americans instead of illegal immigrants who don’t deserve it.
Blake Groskind hour 1

Anonymous said...

America needs this wall because it will stop illegal immigrants, terrorists and drugs from getting into America. Illegal immigrants are taking jobs from our U.S citizens that need jobs to support their families. In these tough times it is hard to find a job and even harder when illegal immigrants are coming over and stealing our jobs. Terrorists could come into America without being traced by the Mexican American boarder. Putting up this wall will prevent some terrorists from coming over to America and it will also prevent drugs from coming over to the United States of America. There are many drug problems in the United States and we need to put an end to it. The wall is one step to minimizing the amount of drugs brought over in the United States. The wall can help prevent drugs, terrorists, and illegal immigrants from coming in to the United States

Sarah Knoll
3rd hour

Anonymous said...

From what I have seen and what I heard so far we do need a wall to keep out immigrants from other countries because what I think people are mad when they lose their jobs then a immigrant is hired at a lower wage so of Corse the company will hire the person willing to work for less so the immigrant will have more money eventually because the other person who was fired has no money. When people emigrate from places like Mexico It could be easy without the wall because at any time or day people could be tiring to get in the country not just people who are native to Mexico but terrorist might be tiring to get in the country that way so they might need that wall the protect us from dangers we don’t even know about yet but other immigrates are trying to start a new life here so that is good.
Brian T. - 3rd

Anonymous said...

I believe that the United States should build the wall to keep illegal immigrants from entering our country. Building the wall would prove to the citizens of America that the government is serious about dealing with the illegal immigration problem. But at the same time I believe we have better ways to spend tax payer money other than a $2.2 billion dollar wall. If the bill had passed in 2007 I believe that it would only encourage illegal immigrants to continue to enter our country but also it would add 12 an estimated 12 million people into the tax system. But looking at the state of the economy now it looks as if we could definitely use those 12 million people as the debt of the United States continues to rise. If by some sort of legal process these illegal immigrants are allowed to become U.S citizens the extra tax dollars could be invested into building a wall. However I don’t think they need to spend $2.2 billion on it maybe they could build a smaller wall but with heightened security.

Anonymous said...

Brittney Jernigan
5th Hour

I think that the United States should not build this wall, it is unneeded as of right now. Although illegal immigrants are taking some of our jobs that U.S. citizens need, we could put 2.2 billion dollars to something else that's more important. This wall wouldn't stop illegal immigrants anyway. I think this wall would actually anger Mexicans and terrorists because they can't get to America as easily as they use to. Maybe America should better secure the Mexican border rather than spend 2.2 billion when they could use that money for something that we really need it for.

Anonymous said...

Luke Rappley
1st Hour

I think that America should only spend a couple thousand of dollars on the wall because we are already in millions of dollars of debt. If we only focus on it with a few thousand dollars then we can focus on the war in Iraq, health care and other country needs. The illegal Mexican immigrants who are currently in the US need to be sent back and get legal citizenship. I would have no problem with them coming to America legally, but if they are getting here illegally then they have to leave. These immigrants will give the government much needed tax money. However, since there are no jobs for Americans, if any Mexicans want to come into America and have a job, the US citizens should get the job opportunities first. If we build a huge wall to keep Mexicans out that would send the wrong image to other countries. We already have a bad image and that would make it look like we are not friendly to other countries.

Anonymous said...

Blog 20 Nick P


I think that America does need this wall. Mexican immigrants and terrorists are entering our country and taking our jobs and preventing some hardworking Americans from getting jobs. The terrorists that are entering through the border could plan terrorist attacks and harm U.S citizens. Another reason is that the illegal immigrants are not supposed to be in America. They don’t have any documents or any papers allowing them to be in America. One of my major reasons for believing in the wall is that most illegal immigrants don’t ay taxes on any of the income that they acquire. This is a lot of money that is unaccounted for. Illegal immigrants also take a lot of jobs because they will take work for less money. Also they are responsible for a lot of crime that goes on in cities like El Paso, Texas. Another big problem with the unsecure border is that drug lords are bringing in drugs across the border and making millions of dollars. Theses are my reasons for believing in the wall on the Mexican border.

Anonymous said...

I think that America needs the wall but I also believe that it is insulting to the Mexican that’s why I think that we should make the wall with really high tech stuff so that it needs lots of people to work on it and give those jobs to the Mexicans that are coming to the us for jobs and stuff like that. Also this may take a lot of money but raising taxes is ok for now and in the long run it should pay off and if it don’t we can try to sell it to Mexico
Jake ryan
3rd hour