Letter To The Editor: Illegal Immigration

Here's a letter I wrote to my inept college newspaper last week (they chose not to publish it, so I'll post it here):

I'm going to have to disagreed with the opinion article that apeared in the September 28th edition of your paper. The author began the article by asking "what message is the Senate sending when they conceived the idea of building a wall to keep immigrants out?" I would say that the message they wanted to send was pretty clear, "Obey our laws or stay out. We have legal means to immigrate; use them."

The author asked how we were going to pay for the wall. I would remind her that illegal immigration, without a doubt, hurts the economy. The independent Center for Immigration Studies observes that the "cost of immigration ranges from $11 billion to $22 billion per year." Since the author says that the wall "is likely to cost over a billion dollars," it can be clearly seen that, should the wall put even a relatively small dent in illegal immigration, it will more than pay for itself.

The article closes with the question, "...building up fences...you're telling me we couldn't think of a better solution?" Maybe this is why the author is so against the thought of a wall along our southern border; because all she is picturing is a wall. The plan before Congress is not just a wall, but a comprehensive security fence, complete with two-layer reinforced fencing, hundreds of new cameras and sensors, and unmanned aerial vehicles, all on top of the already existing border guards and vehicles. This would surely be more effective than a "fence" with "large ditches" on both sides, as the author mentioned.

The Senate should absolutely build a security wall along our southern border. It would be a good first step in the long overdue process of securing our borders. A comprehensive security wall would significantly cut down on illegal entries into the United States, easing the massive economic burden the country is experiencing from the estimated 11.5 to 12 million illegal immigrants currently in the United States leaching off the system.