A wall on the border is not what we need

By Donna Poisl

Building a wall on our southern border is what many people want to do to solve the illegal immigration problem. There are so many reasons that make this a bad idea, I hardly know where to begin.

First, it would cost at least $2.2 billion. There are smarter, more efficient things to do with that money that would improve our country more than a wall would, especially since it would destroy parts of the deserts.

Second, it would take years to build, and during that time, many more people (perhaps millions) will be crossing into the country illegally.

Third, who would build the wall? Our unemployment rate is now below five percent and that is with almost 10 million undocumented workers. Will it take more undocumented workers to build the wall? Or if legal workers build the wall, will more illegal workers be needed to replace them in the factories and other jobs they left?

Fourth, what about the millions of undocumented people already here? And the longer we talk about the problem, the more people cross the border illegally. Now that amnesty is looking like a real possibililty, many more are taking the chance of surviving a hike through the desert to be living here if and when it happens.

Our elected representatives are looking for a solution and compromise, but they may keep tossing it back and forth until after the fall elections. Every day without a decision only makes the situation worse.

If we were to change and loosen our immigration laws immediately, people in other countries would be much more inclined to wait a year or two and come in legally. Now, they have to wait many years and often never work their way to the top of the list, so they give up and pay huge fees to be smuggled in. Instead of paying the smugglers and not knowing if they will be cheated or successful, they could pay a similar or smaller amount to immigration authorities and know they would be safe.

Low skilled workers in this country are hurt most by the competition from these undocumented workers. The illegal workers will work for less money than Americans and are being exploited and mistreated. If all these workers had work visas, wages and prices may go up but the competition would be more fair and the exploitation would stop. More of our low skilled citizens could get those jobs if they want them.

Many of the undocumented workers here now are actually well educated in their own countries and could be in much better jobs here. We are short of teachers and nurses and several other professions and some of the people working in landscaping and restaurants might be qualified to do those jobs. If they could come out of the shadows and apply for better positions it might solve more than one problem.

All the people who are here now should be allowed to stay, at least temporarily, by registering with the government. Criminal background checks would be done and the ones who do not pass that test would be deported. If they are law abiding, they would get work visas and be on a track to citizenship if they want. Back taxes, if any are owing, would have to be paid.

If some people are allowed to stay and others are told to leave now and others are told to register and leave later, it won’t work. The only ones who would register are the ones who could stay. There will still be an underground, illegal, exploited work force, albeit smaller than now.

Part of that $2.2 billion should be spent to register and investigate all these people, then some should be used to pay for more English classes for them. Once these immigrants learn enough English to function in this English speaking country they will be able to get better jobs, start businesses of their own, get more education, participate in their children’s schools and better themselves in all ways. Many of them will be able to get better paying jobs simply because they would be bilingual.

The immigrants here now don’t have many ESL classes to choose from in many areas of the country. They usually work so many hours that they aren’t able to go to the few classes that are available. If some money were given to companies to help them set up ESL classes at the work places, many more people could study on their lunch hours or breaks.

Some high schools in Charlotte, NC are partnering their Spanish language students with young Hispanic students who are learning English and all are benefiting. High school or college students learning a language could tutor adults who speak that language and are learning English. Some government money could be spent to set up more of these programs.

The most important thing for immigrants to do is learn the language of the country they are living in. Most citizens here are not objecting so much to the people actually being here, but they are objecting to the fact that they are not trying to be Americans. They have to try to assimilate. The first step is to learn English and the laws. It is easy for Spanish speaking immigrants here to get by with very little knowledge of English. But if they want to be accepted by Americans and have better jobs and have their children get better educations, they have to learn English.

There are many things that could be done with the $2.2 billion that would be better than putting up a wall. Updating our immigration system and teaching immigrants how to become Americans would be a great start.