F A Q


Q: Can the US find a permanent solution to the illegal immigration situation?     
As long as the US remains prosperous and relatively free, I can't imagine foreigners would not consider moving into US... legally or not. Seems to me, the US (as well as other wealthy nations that attract immigrants) has to grant some kind of amnesty every few years, and kick the "immigration status" can further down the road.

Q: How about closing the door? Can the US just stop accepting immigrants altogether?     
I would suggest, how about implementing that "close the door" idea retroactively? Maybe the cutoff point could be the Quaker period, say, about the voyage of the Mayflower, circa 1600's? Perhaps we could agree to let the native americans of the period decide who gets in and who does not... Or maybe circa 1776, just before the Declaration Of Independence, just 13 colonies in the door... You get the point. Some scholars have suggested that except for the native americans, everybody else in this country is an illegal immigrant.

Q: When people find employment with false Social Security cards, and work for years having normal payroll deductions, will they collect upon retirement?      
It's one thing to pay Uncle Sam, and another to collect from Uncle Sam. I would assume the undocumented who pay SS, are generously contributing to the national SS fund, without hope of collecting anytime. They likely are very glad to contribute too, until they can fix their legal status. This is another strong incentive to go legal.

Q: What is the relationship between Operation Gatekeeper and NAFTA?     
Both were initiatives launched around 1994, affecting the relationship between the US and Mexico. Some analysts see them as two sides of the same coin; that is, Gatekeeper may be intended to remedy potential side effects from implementing NAFTA. Perhaps Gatekeeper gave political cover to NAFTA's proponents against their opposition. Or perhaps NAFTA opponents could agree to accepting it, understanding Gatekeeper would handle any undesirable increase of human traffic. 

Q: How do drug cartels get affected by increased law enforcement on the border areas?    
 These gangs are disciplined and have enormous resources invested. They seem to be on the ground perfectly positioned to benefit from the activity across the border. They already have many people trained and in place ready to conduct drug smuggling operations -lookouts, enforcers, drivers-  so apparently the business of smuggling humans can produce a nice additional profit without much additional investment.The search and rescue humanitarian groups on the ground, report being tolerated at most. It is a no man's land out there for migrants and for relief volunteers.

Q: Is the reduced traffic across the border a sign of successful enforcement?     
The migration numbers do indeed seem to be decreasing, according to numerous sources. Whether that can be considered success, can be disputed. The proportion of deaths seems to be increasing, according to sources on the ground. Is this an indication of a successful enforcement policy? Maybe undocumented people are staying in the US and not risking re-entry, separating them from their families left behind. Maybe is not so attractive migrating to the US during the present economic crisis. Maybe the traffic has moved to routes that are harder to track, perhaps underground?

Q: Why doesn't our country consider Anti-Immigant groups as Nativists? Doesn't that term sound less emotionally charged, more scholarly, less offensive?     
Nativists tend to think of themselves as descendants of the original (non-Indian) settlers, so historically they have been anti-Germans, anti-Irish, Anti-Catholics, anti-Italian, anti-Asians, anti-Russian,  anti-Polish, anti-Hungaria, etc... Some Native American Indians have indeed considered their position Nativism, and they do not even consider as Natives those early Americans descended from the Thirteen Colonies settlers.

Q: Can a fence or wall across the border work to stop or deter traffic?     
It could be argued that if a wall were built 100 feet tall, people would adapt quickly and prepare a 101 feet tall stair. The U.S. -Mexico border reportedly is 3185 km long (1951 miles), and extends through four U.S.A. states and six Mexican states, it's unlikely that area that extensive can be sealed.



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