The controversy of our nation's being flooded with immigrants, despite many wordy arguments, in actuality breaks into two relevant issues. On the one hand is the self-evident truth that people have the right to protect their borders. On the other is the rather strange concept that in some cases it must be illegal to need a job.
Of course any country will oppose a hostile foreign attack with all available military force. Right away the notion of America's being "invaded" can be discarded as unsound. Immigrants tend to come here quietly, illegals secretly. A violent incursion would not serve their purposes at all. We do patrol our borders militarily, probably because we have a lot of military resources, and military organization seems to be efficient, especially if we believe we are being invaded. But in this case the invasion theory once again disproves itself, since there is no possibility of our using brute armed force against all comers. Sure, there are some advocates for just this sort of extreme violence to repel illegal immigrants. And some other countries do use such methods, but these countries are also known for using the same methods against their own residents who try to get out, just one of the many reasons there are not a lot of people trying to get in.
Many people do want to get into our country. Most of those who try are from Mexico, a country sharing a very long border with ours. What makes them pick up stakes and move north to a country with strange customs, a strange language, and a good bit of hostility toward them? Is it to sabotage our system, to stage a revolt to return large parts of America to Mexico? Maybe, but among the millions who come here, they are quite adept at keeping it a secret. The only ones who seem to know about this devious plan are Anglos who do not make a point of discussing politics with Mexican immigrants. Another reason for this huge exodus, one that seems more obvious than annexation, is that they are unemployed, long term, in Mexico, and they find work here. In many cases, the work they find is at far lower wages and far worse conditions than Americans (including Mexican-Americans, whose loyalty to the United States is beyond question), will accept. Yet we still need people to do these jobs.
Better pay and conditions would be one way to get Americans to do the work of immigrants, but in the case of construction and factory work, the current economic downturn has made this question moot in the near future. Lack of jobs in these occupations is much more efficient than fences at stemming the tide, there being very little work now for anybody, north or south of the border. Agriculture is a different matter. Farms still need labour, and most Americans will not do this work for the pay and conditions American farmers are prepared to offer. The food supply, even with chemicals, irrigation, and machines, is still wholly dependent on nature, a fact that needs to be understood by anybody who must eat. A complete social overhaul of America's agricultural system might be desirable, but it would take a while, and the next harvest cannot wait. Crops are planted in spring, nurtured in summer, harvested in fall. For our survival, somebody has to do this.
We need workers, they need work. If the number of legal immigrants is less than we need, common sense indicates this is a situation that could be easily remedied. Worrying about a hostile takeover of our lands only gets in the way of common sense. There is an irrational fear involved here, a fear that allows us to ignore the common traits average Americans and average Mexicans share. By starting at this point, rather than focusing on superficial differences, we the people could stabilize the situation more successfully than we are doing now. If we want them to stay there, we could help them do that. A Marshall Plan for Mexico would be cheaper and more effective than fences and military patrols. The United States could arguably also use its own Marshall Plan nowadays, but economic improvements here will naturally bring more jobseekers from there. Any way we look at it, the fates of both countries seem to be pretty closely tied, and co-operation is more effective than picking fights.
