Drawing Lines and Crossing Them: A Look at the Complexities of the US-Mexico Border

The United States and Mexico’s relationship have been at the center of a strained political debate about immigration and national security. Immigrants illegal and legal coming from Mexico have been the cause of great concern for many Americans. Immigration is a hot point and a solution to what seems to some as an overflow of newcomers needs to come to. Mexico and the United States have a long and complicated history. As we border each other, it is in our best interest to examine and treat the issue delicately. There has been the discussion of building a wall along the Mexican US border that runs 1951 miles. I am opposed to this idea and believe that we can find a remedy to this issue by other means as the institution of a wall and all of its implications will be detrimental to our relationship with our very close neighbors.

The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, signed in 1848, officially ended the war between Mexico and the United States. Even though it happened over 168 years ago, its legacy persists, because the treaty redefined the border and the border region. Under the terms of the treaty, Mexicans who suddenly found themselves living in the United States choose either Mexican citizenship, in which case they would have to relocate south of the new border, or to stay where they were and become citizens of the United States. About 80 percent—a total of seventy-five thousand Mexican people—remained in the United States (Passel, 2011). Since then, continuing economic and political difficulties in Mexico, combined with economic opportunities in the United States, have encouraged the flow of migration from Mexico to the United States in large numbers. Today, Mexican Americans are the fastest growing ethnic group in the United States and the estimated Mexican American population in 2000 was 20.6 million people, the largest Mexican population outside of Mexico (Center for Immigration Studies, 2010). Most Mexican Americans entered the United States legally and have become full U.S. citizens, however, the number of illegal immigrants arriving from Mexico has been an alarming and concerning issue in the United States and especially the state of Arizona. Arizona is in a unique geopolitical location in the United States because it shares a 370-mile border with Mexico. Much of the border is open and

The United States has been a host to a wide diaspora of people. Immigrants have had to transition from their familiar land to a new-fashioned foreign land that they must consider home. They bring with them the essence of their initial homeland such as customs, traditions and beliefs that inadvertently change the dynamics of culture within the United States. As a result the United States is an extremely culturally diverse nation. The continual changes or accretions that Americans encounter have always been a controversial topic depending on the experiences of individuals and communities that have immigrant populations. This essay will critically explore

Simply put, America is the land of opportunity. In the past, immigrants have left most of their family, memories, and familiarities with their homeland in search of a better life in America, where jobs were easy to find and the economy was booming. These immigrants formed almost the entire American population, a demographic anomaly in which people from nationalities separated by land and sea; these people come from countries separated by expansive distances can live within the same neighborhood. Both Anna Quindlen with her essay “A Quilt of a Country” and John F. Kennedy with his essay “The Immigrant Contribution” have documented the story of these immigrants and

There are a couple of ways to cross the border into Mexico, flying which I have never done before because, my dad is too easy on the pocketbook for airplane tickets and, driving which, was our main way of transportation. You see my family is a big family, composing of four boys, and of course our parents, so, being in a car with them for twenty-four hours wasn’t the highlight of the day. Once you reach the border there are thousands of people coming to and coming back from Mexico and as you would expect the border gets jam packed with people attempting to get

In the United States, the cliché of a nation of immigrants is often invoked. Indeed, very few Americans can trace their ancestry to what is now the United States, and the origins of its immigrants have changed many times in American history. Despite the identity of an immigrant nation, changes in the origins of immigrants have often been met with resistance. What began with white, western European settlers fleeing religious persecution morphed into a multicultural nation as immigrants from countries across the globe came to the U.S. in increasing numbers. Like the colonial immigrants before them, these new immigrants sailed to the Americas to gain freedom, flee poverty and

But the increase of undocumented Immigrants has given border crossing a negative view as we seen some anti-immigration legislation that has targeted undocumented immigrants throughout the United States. But we have also seen many reforms taking place in both the United States government and in Texas government. All of these reforms are brought up by many organizations throughout the United States in order to reduce the number of deaths of immigrants and are focused on the American immigration reform. Not only are we aware of reforms but also protest have been a contributing factor. One of the mayor protest happened on May 1, 2006 “Un Dial Sin Immigrants” were thousands of immigrants refused to go to school and work an effort to demonstrate the economic importance the immigrants bring to the country. In El Paso the Rio Grande separates the United States with Mexico while many children are allowed to attend school on the side of Texas is a great benefit. The Texas-Mexico Border has its negative and positive aspects coming all the way from when it used to belong to

The United States of America has the largest foreign-born population in the world. With nearly thirteen percent of the total population being foreign-born, one may find it hard to imagine an immigrant-free country (U.S. Bureau of the Census). Immigration has been an integral part of the United States’ overall success and the country’s economy since it was established and without it, would have never been founded at all. Although there are some negative issues associated with immigration and many native-born Americans believe to be more of a problem than a solution, overall it actually has a positive effect. Immigrants in America, among other things, fill jobs where native-born Americans may not want to work or cannot work, they contribute

Illegal immigration about our nation southern border did not become an issue that was highlighted until it became a political issue in the 1980’s. Before the 1980’s the southern border was pretty much open for people to cross. Because it wasn’t on the radar of either country it was quietly endured at the time by both sides of the border. However, the 1986 Congressional debate over how to deal with illegal immigration culminated in the passage of the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986(IRCA), which introduced employer sanctions for the first time, as well as a limited legalization program (Andreas 2009). The IRCA however was not really enforced however the legalization did open the door for many illegal immigrate to return to their homeland to get work visas and green card.

Since the early 1990’s, the immigrant population in America has doubled to over 40 million. The population could be higher factoring in illegal immigrants with the number estimated to be over 11 million. Majority of these immigrants both legal and illegal are mainly from Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean. Uncontrolled immigration has been blamed on loss of jobs, higher crime rates and housing problems in the US. While these immigrants play a unique role in the economy, the executive and the legislature have found it necessary to control the inflow of these immigrants for various reasons. A number of laws and immigration policies have been enacted to create order in this issue. How these laws are perceived by immigrants and the general American population has varied and has been a major topic for debate.

The border between Texas and Mexico encompasses 1241 miles from El Paso to the Rio Grande Valley. Border security is an issue that must be currently addressed by Texas legislature, as Texas is one of the states along the U.S Mexico border that experience tremendous amounts of illegal immigrants and criminals whose intentions are to provoke havoc through drugs and weapons smuggling onto the U.S.

The United States shares a nearly 2,000-mile long border with the United Mexican States, or commonly known simply as Mexico. Along this border, lies many natural barriers such as the Rio Grande River that separates American states like Texas and New Mexico from their Mexican counterparts Chihuahua and Coahuila. Other areas on this border do not have rivers that separate the two countries, but rugged terrain where temperatures can regularly reach the mid to upper nineties. While border patrol surveys the land in an attempt to halt people from entering the United States through illegal measures, they are not always successful as these individuals sometimes enter the US without detection with help of paid guides. Unfortunately due to the unfamiliarity with the land, and the lack of supplies, many have perished in the quest for a better life.

Along with its economic classes, American is known for its freedom, its liberty, and the melting pot of ethnicity. This ethnic diversity comes form the immigrant population in the country. However this perfect country is a major falsehood. These untrue ideals of harmony, freedom, success, and equality are deceptive and do not show the struggles that immigrants face when coming to this class dominated country. The immigrants of today do not come from just Europe, but overwhelmingly from Asia and Latin America. “They are driving a demographic shift so rapid that within the lifetimes of today 's teenagers, no one ethnic group – including whites of European descent – will comprise a majority of the nation 's population’ (Colombo, Cullen, Lisle). These immigrants challenge the social myth that everyone has an equal chance in life. They

Throughout history of the United States and Mexican border there has been multiple depths of changes and immigration. From the area trading country ownership to population changes to having a fence line created on it. Seen in Figure1, the U.S.-

The defectiveness of border security has been an issue in the United States for decades. When the United States decided to place a small limit to the amount of border crossings, people decided to take it upon themselves to cross over illegally without considering consequences. The Mexican- United States border and the Northern Canadian – United States border have much in common. The Northern border is controlled only so far by patrol before a fence of trees takes the place, making it difficult to get through as they zigzag. Because so many illegal immigrants began to start their lives in America, the United States placed a high fence that ran 200 miles across the states desert territory on the south end. This cause the people over in the Mexican