Illegal Immigration: The Effects Of Immigration On America

4935 Words20 Pages
The Effects of Immigration on America By: John Smith Professor John McDowell CJUS 230 29 April 2013 Abstract Immigrants formed the United States several hundred years ago. These immigrants crossed the Atlantic to distance themselves from the king of England and to begin a new life. This new life would eventually consist of a new form of government—a foundation for a great nation. As America grew, so did its immigrants. The overflow of migration to the United States has burdened the country. Currently the United States’ government does not do enough to enforce illegal immigration. The lack of funding and enforcing of laws is weakening the borders every day. The effects of illegal immigration are real: America is proof.…show more content…
“According to the United States Government Accountability Office, nearly a quarter of all arrests of illegal aliens in American prisons were for drug use” (Savage, 2010). This problem, that has resulted in the death of over six thousand people, can be summed up by a statement the United States Department of Justice released: “Drug gangs are the biggest organized crime threat to the United States” (Savage, 2010). In Tucson, Arizona there was four hundred tons of marijuana seized and one hundred eighty thousand illegals apprehended in 2010 alone (Pavlich, 2012). Also in 2010, the Pinal County Sheriff stated that parts of Arizona were under drug cartels’ control (Pavlich, 2012). Katie Pavlich says it like this: The drug cartels consider southern Arizona a base of operations. They have a vast intelligence network of informers. Spotters sit atop hills and mountains with cell phones and radios, identifying where sheriffs’ vehicles and Border Patrol squads are located…In Mexico, cartel members have no problem using roadside IEDs (improvised explosive device), murdering women, killing children, beheading people, and dissolving their victims’ bodies in caustic soda (Pavlich,…show more content…
Only this operation, “Operation Fast and Furious,” was distinctively different in two ways: “no attempt would be made to recover the guns as they crossed the Mexican border and the Mexican government had been kept in the dark about Fast and Furious” (Pavlich, 2012). Special agents like ATF agent John Dodson’s accounts tell us some of the particulars in what they, the agents, were supposed to do in this operation. The agents were handed a list of about forty-five known “straw men” and were to monitor and provide surveillance on them (Pavlich, 2012). The agents were not to interfere in any way as these “straw purchasers” would buy hundreds of high-powered rifles (Pavlich, 2012). “These guns would then be allowed to “walk” over the border into Mexico, straight to the hands of ruthless criminals” (Pavlich, 2012). There rules of engagement (ROEs) were like this: they could follow suspect’s cars, but not pull them over, they could watch these purchases on video, they could encourage gun shop employees to make the sales to them, they could use wiretaps on cell phones, but they could never monitor or tap into the “straw purchasers” main form of communication, text messaging (Pavlich, 2012). Special Agent Larry Alt (one of the agents like Dodson on this case) said, “Prior to my coming to Phoenix, Arizona…I never witnessed a situation where there wasn’t at least an attempt to interdict or take the firearm at

More about Illegal Immigration: The Effects Of Immigration On America

Open Document