CHRIS THOMPSON

EL PASO IMMIGRATION AND REGULATION

Rws 1301

CHRIS THOMPSON

EL PASO IMMIGRATION AND REGULATION

Abstract
In the 80s the Border Patrol made an overly aggressive attempt to eradicate illegal
immigrants from El Paso and other areas. In 1992, El Paso made a case and put a short leash on
the Border Patrol. In result, immigration laws are back into question 24 years later. Aside from
the illegals, the economy of El Paso would not be anything if it was not funded by federal
problems that dislike immigration in the first place. What will be expressing in the following
portion are the events, problems, and solution proposals to the Community problem of
immigration and regulation. Disagreements and not seeing eye-to-eye have hurt this city,
economic and reputation wise. Seeing both sides of the argument and facts should help develop
ones own personal opinion and proposal.

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EL PASO IMMIGRATION AND REGULATION

Introduction
El Paso, Texas is the safest large city in the United States. With that being said, the given
topic could be dismissed and put to the side. That is where the problem begins to kick in. Over
the years, El Pasos safety rating has caused many people to overlook the citys problems. Not
many people are aware that El Paso is one of the poorest large cities in America with an
unemployment rate of 4.9% (U.S. Census). While on the topic of size, it should be noted that El
Paso has a population of 827,718 as of 2013. That number may vary in size if the problem of El
Paso is added. El Paso is a part of a larger metro area that includes Las Cruces and Juarez. Many
people come from Juarez and other parts of Mexico to visit Las Cruces and El Paso. After all,
they are border towns, meaning family could be from all around the region. Back to the problem;
when people from Mexico would come, they would mainly come on passports or visas. They
would overstay their visits and live within the metro area, undocumented. Unofficial residency is
the base problem that branches off into many other issues.

Problem
As stated earlier, El Paso is very poor for its size. Most of the funding El Paso receives is
from the military base, Fort Bliss. The federal pay can only do so much for the city, especially
when the city is growing. Many companies and businesses are turned off by the city as the
education in El Paso is rather poor. Most people living in the area only have a high school
diploma. Without a college education, the jobs offered could not be taken. Not many people
could meet the standards. The lack of education could be blamed by the public schools. Many
people from Juarez would forge an address from the area and go to school. From there, the
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teachers would have to put time aside for the kids to learn the curriculum in English. That
process would slow the curriculum down for everyone, making the education given in the El
Paso area worse when compared to other schools around the nation. The reading and English test
scores are the main problem. Many of the kids in the public schools know Spanish as a first
language and communicate that way. Indistinct conversations in El Paso are mainly heard in
Spanish. El Paso is a border town, giving the heavy usage of Spanish a reason. The culture of the
area will not be taken away, but it should not be in control. At the end of the day, El Paso is still
an American city in the American state of Texas. English should be a primary emphasis in the
schools, regardless of who is in the classes, including students from Juarez.
Big businesses are not only turned off by the lower education level of El Paso, but the
international affairs as well. Just a few years ago, Juarez was one of the most dangerous cities in
the world. The cartel violence was at its peak and many people were getting arrested for
involvement with the cartels; American and Mexican alike. It was very misleading and
unappealing for El Paso to be the safest city. Across the border, the crime rate was through the
roof. What this has to do with the immigration is how major cities aside from El Paso have this
issue. San Diego is a heavily occupied major city that is very safe for its size as it is bigger than
El Paso. However, the Mexicali border was affected by the same crime issues related to the
Cartel. The across-border violence is an unspoken issue that needs to be addressed. While San
Diego is in the picture, that city is doing rather well economically. There are many notes El Paso
can take on how San Diego handles their immigration laws and city maintenance. Another reason
the violence plays a big role is how this issue may have given Mexicans a reason to illegally
cross.
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Statistics
According to the US Census, El Paso has seen a major growth in its population. At a rate
of 25%, it appears that the growth will not let up any time soon. A source believes that the rate
will climb to 69% in the next 25 years. These are numbers taken in by official citizens. If the rate
remains the same, around 1 million illegal inhabitants will reside in the El Paso area. With so
many people living in an area, the crime rate is bound to inflate, numbers wise. Numbers dont
mean much as El Paso has had a steady growth since 2000 and the crime rate remained below the
Nations average. With people coming into El Paso, jobs need to open up. As stated before,
businesses tend to stay out of El Paso. With that being said, the growth rate of inhabitants will
outweigh the economic rate.

Attempts
Over the years, the Texas government has made attempts to slow/stop the illegal
immigration rates. The problem with this attempt is that is considered inhumane by many living
within the areas affected by it. Whether it be due to family, friends, or labor workers, the local
areas have a hard time abiding by the laws given. With the community not participating in
changing the ways of immigration, not much progress has been made. In the mid-1980s, the
Border Patrol launched an operation now labeled as Prevention through Deterrence. This bill
passing for the Border Patrol allowed more flexibility in the handling of customs (Dunn). This
handling of customs allowed more frequent random checks for American citizenship or
eligibility. The effort was working as they were cracking down on illegals. The results were

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good, but the extra slack on enforcement enabled abuse of powers. The school of Bowie High
filed a lawsuit in 1992 in retaliation of the Border Patrol enforcing the law too harshly. As a
school in El Paso and having the people of that area support the lawsuit, it had the Border Patrol
and federal enforcement on their toes. Complaints of officers asking most Hispanics for their
papers were used against the Border Patrol. Points were also made about the Border Patrol
harassing the neighborhoods near the border. They were also seen driving in the downtown areas
asking the locals where to find the illegals. The city wanted their right to privacy and the Border
Patrol has to back off. In result, Operation Blockade came into play. It was a revision of the
rules the Border Patrol went by, keeping them from harassing the locals. The court ruling was a
victory for the community, but the illegal immigration became a problem again.
The illegals in El Paso from that point on did not face as many problems from that point
on for as long as they stayed out of trouble. Operation Blockade did the harsh enforcement
solving wrong, but the border got harder to cross. Partly because of the events of 9/11. America
wanted to crack down on international affairs altogether. Only problem was that the crackdown
was not going well at all south of the American border. The cartel crime began to surge and
people from across the border would be abducted, brought to Mexico and usually killed from
there. Even though the violence was not in El Paso, it was still within the area. The violence
would leak over at times, putting people on edge and giving El Paso a negative light.
Immigration was skyrocketing at that time but so was illegal immigration. What can be done?
That is simply a rhetorical question for now.

Solutions?
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El Paso is a good city. For its low class economy and immigration problem, it manages to
make its own way with many major problems. With that being said, work can be done. Without
it, El Paso could potentially falter. U.S. Representative Robert Beto ORourke, a native El
Pasoan has acknowledged these problems. In the article, he stated that The Border Patrol does
not need to make a presence than what it already has. It would not make sense to give a military
feel to a peaceful border. The only problem is that the Mexican side of the El Pasoan border is
rather dangerous. The military emphasis (ORourke) makes no sense as El Paso is already
financially supported by a military base. The Border Patrol should be allowed to do their jobs,
but with the right people. Tough but fair laws should be implemented to the old way of doing
things. If one is an American citizen, there should be no problem presenting a US license or
papers if not.

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EL PASO IMMIGRATION AND REGULATION

References
Dunn, T. J. (2009). Blockading the Border and Human Rights: The El Paso
Operation That Remade Immigration Enforcement. Austin: University of
Texas Press. Retrieved March 20, 2016, from Project MUSE database.
Emerick, N. A., Curry, T. R., Collins, T. W., & Fernando Rodriguez, S. (2014).
Homicide and Social Disorganization on the Border: Implications for
Latino and Immigrant Populations. Social Science Quarterly (WileyBlackwell), 95(2), 360-379. doi:10.1111/ssqu.12051
Hamilton-Brehm, A. M. (2013). The Contribution of Linguistic Atlas Evidence to
Dialect Formation Research in the United States: The Example of El
Paso, Texas. Southern Journal of Linguistics, 37(2), 110-133.
LeMay, Michael (2015). Illegal Immigration: A Reference Handbook, 2nd
Edition. Retrieved from http://www.eblib.com
O'Rourke. (2014). the View of Immigration Reform from the U.S.-Mexico
Border. Public Administration Review, 74(3), 302. doi:10.1111/puar.12209