Wednesday, July 13, 2005

Non-Mexicans arrested at U.S. border nearly doubled - Yahoo! News

Let me start off by saying that I do not believe that the US should close its borders to immigrants (or visitors). Everyone in the US immigrated at some point back in their family history (with the exception of the Native Americans, and some African Americans that were forced here). Immigration is what makes the US the diverse and multicultural country that it is, and I am thankful for that. I would not change that we are a "freak of nature" country that manages to have so much difference and still so much peace.

I do however think that we need to get some kind of control on documenting who is coming into the country regardless of means of travel. I understand that the division of the US government that controls our borders and immigration is more than likely underfunded and undermanned, especially on our land borders, but I have also seen evidence that there is a basic lack of rudimentary documentation and organization.

I am not claiming to be any kind of expert and I, by no means, have the answer to this problem, but I hope that I am not the only one that sees that this is not working. It makes no sense to track anyone if you are only going to track selectively. It seems like to me, the Mexicans get sent back to whatever life they might be trying to escape just because their country is close, while everyone else just gets a free pass (with no documentation or accountability) into the US. That does not seem right to me, without even taking into account the "homeland security" issues that might arise.

This system has so many holes in it, that there is almost no way to stop the leaks. It needs a serious overhaul and at some point the government has to decide that it is a priority.

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