Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Ben Chacko
English 1302
Professor Moore
17 October 2018
Border crisis
illegal immigrants from entering the southern border. Hundreds of thousands of immigrants
seeking asylum at the port of entries fleeing from danger. The reasons range from persecution to
gang violence. In the end, the government deports nearly all or most of them to their country of
origin. The government is in panic mode where both Democrat and Republicans are battling to
come up with the right solution. One party favors a wall that will prevent anyone from entering
the country, which is advocated by the president himself. On the other hand, Democrats seek to
find a realistic solution that will cause people from Central American nations to be unwilling to
seek refuge. The government should help central American governments by deploying troops to
fight the cartel or other gang affiliated groups, help destructed countries get back on their feet,
and even implement sanctions if that government is not doing its job of leading its country from
such oppression because finding the source of the violence is what will resolve the overall issue.
The solution to the border issue has been a debate for years. There have been thousands
of apprehensions made on illegal migrants who are trying to seek asylum in the United States
from their country. Many politicians on both parties are contemplating how to stop migrants
from Central American countries from traveling to the border. Instead both parties should
consider the reasons that many are fleeing their native land. These asylum seekers are escaping
danger such as persecution, gang violence, drug cartel organizations overruling governments,
and many other reasons. One way of resolving this issue is by helping Mexican and central
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American governments combat violent drug-trafficking cartels such as Juarez and Guadalajara
cartel with troops on the ground. The US can help the Mexican government fight the cartels just
like they have helped the Colombians back in the 1990s. The Colombian cartels at the time were
extremely feared and powerful, assassinating high-level politicians, state police officers,
journalists, presidential candidates, and even presidential candidates (Bonner, 2010). A similar
situation is happening in Mexico. High-profile cartel members are infiltrating and influencing
politicians to a point where they control a portion of the national government. With the number
of new cartels emerging, it seems tougher than before to contain the influence they are having on
innocent civilians. It is not impossible to combat the number of growing cartel organizations, but
it will take time and effort, which should give Mexico and the neighboring countries some
leverage in the fight. If the Mexican government allows, the United States should also consider
using drones and other military level weapons used in the Middle East if necessary. In order to
crack down on corrupt politicians and the Federales, the US and Mexican governments should
figure out on what basis are the cartels influencing them to collaborate.
Another approach to this issue is to assist or provide aid to central American governments
destructed by war with its own people. Nations like Honduras, Nicaragua, Guatemala, and El
Salvador have all had a civil war in recent decades over the government’s favor of drug cartel
organizations that have infested the Latin American region. About ten years ago, three
politically motivated. After further evidence, it was revealed that four Guatemalan police officers
murdered the congressmen when they confessed to authorities that they assumed the
congressmen were Colombian drug dealers with cash. A few days after they were put behind
bars at a maximum-security prison, a group of commandos broke in and killed them (Marcy,
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2014). This shows that the civil war that took place in those countries revolved around them
distribution of drugs like cocaine. If the United States, including other global powers help these
war-ridden countries in a way jumpstart their government and economy, then the fight for
freedom from these notorious drug cartels should foreshadow an optimistic path to the future. A
similar process happened in Afghanistan when the United States went to war against Al-Qaeda
when they attacked us on 9/11. We helped the government fight the terrorist organization that
were carrying out terror throughout the world in the years after September 11. The United States
was able to restore the country to a democracy where the people elected their president through
the fair election. They were able to help recover the infrastructure and health care system back to
a stable form.
not work their end of the bargain responsibly. Sanctions usually cause the foreign government to
pick up the pace on their promises. The US government should consider sanctions on central
American countries that do not bother fixing their border issues. This way the government knows
they have other countries making sure they do as promise. But sometimes it tensions the relation
between two governments. For example, the US has implemented sanctions against Russia and
Venezuela which would help increase American financial influences abroad. The US has
imposed sanctions on Russia for allegedly interfering in the 2016 Presidential election (Crabb,
2018). Also, recently, the Trump administration enforced sanctions on both Mexico and Canada
on their trade relations with tariffs. This caused widespread anger in the commerce business
when Canada also imposed a higher tariff on the US as retaliation. It is not suggested to engage
in a form of tariff war that will not result of any progress made. But to enforce sanctions that are
The choice on how to approach this issue lies solely with the Trump administration and
how maturely they attempt to solve this crisis. It is widely known since the start of his campaign
that President Trump has promised to build a wall to prevent any illegal immigrants from
crossing the border. This plan has widely been the best solution from his supporters. The
construction of a border wall has many negative effects. The main problem with a border wall is
that it will not stop all illegal immigrants from coming in. Most actually come through legally
when they first received their visas. When their time of stay in the United States expires, they
continue to stay in the country- which is makes them illegal. Many who’s time expires come by a
plane. When it comes to the wall itself, there are several problems that exist. One of which is the
environment. The southern border of the US extends to almost 2000 miles from California to
Texas. The border sits on several different terrains including the Rio Grande, grasslands, and
mountain areas. Many climate experts have found that it can lead to climate change for the
worse. Another problem the border wall brings is the expenses. The proposed wall costs an
estimated $170 billion dollars to build and about $120 million dollars a year to maintain yearly
function. Trump has repeatedly stated that Mexico will pay for the wall, but Mexico also
repeatedly denied that claim as well. He has also resorted to options such as remittance money
sent by illegal Mexican workers in the United States. Recently, he stated that he would be willing
to shut down the government if congress does not approve of funding the wall. There is a report
by the Washington Post that the Trump administration is trying to reduce the cost of the border
wall by cutting the cost for surveillance technology and freeze the pay for federal officers
associated with the border for the 2019 fiscal year (Miroff, 2017). Many also know that the
American taxpayers must pay more in taxes to fund the wall. The wall will cause more problems
than resolutions because people will always find ways to cross the border no matter what the
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obstacle may be. It will not be possible to prevent all illegal immigrants from coming into the
border because many are aware of the asylum laws. In order to convince the Trump
administration of any alternative approaches to this issue, we must first convince his supporters
with a strong alternative. They would likely support strong sanctions placed on other countries.
But if the effect of the sanction does not cause the country to work harder, then the goal to be
reached is pointless.
In conclusion, the American government should help central American countries such as
Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador, and other countries by deploying troops to fight cartel
organizations, help war ridden countries back to stable nations, and even implement sanctions on
countries that do not do their part in eradicating drug organizations that threatens their national
security. It is important that we Americans try to convince the American government, especially
President Trump that a border wall will not solve the issue regarding illegal immigrants. But
before we convince the president, we must first convince his loyal supporters. If is anyone that
Work Cited
Bonner, Robert C. “The New Cocaine Cowboys.” Foreign Affairs, vol. 89, no. 4, July 2010, p.
35. EBSCOhost,
search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=f6h&AN=51485363&site=ehost-live.
Marcy, William L. “The End of Civil War, the Rise of Narcotrafficking and the Implementation
of the Merida Initiative in Central America.” International Social Science Review, vol. 89, no. 1,
search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=112779660&site=ehost-live.
Crabb, John. “Targeted Sanctions Help US Maintain Financial Influence Abroad.” International
search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bft&AN=128463384&site=ehost-live.
Nick Miroff. “To Pay Border Wall Bill, Trump Would Trim Surveillance Costs, Freeze Pay.”
search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bwh&AN=wapo.9f111840-e046-11e7-89e8-
edec16379010&site=ehost-live.