The Issue of Illegal Immigration: How Secure Are the US Borders?

In the course of history, immigration has been one of the most burning issues in the United States of America. According to Hanson (2007), illegal immigration involves people who enter a foreign country without the required permission from the government. Thus, illegal immigrants violate the laws of the country they enter. Each year, more and more immigrants are reported to cross the boundaries of the USA. As a result, the US government has made a decision to unite its power and protect the US borders from the illegal immigrants.

The problem of illegal immigration in the USA has been especially acute during the last decade. The number of illegal immigrants has increased due to the broken immigration system and weak security along the borders. Immigration levels depend on the state of border security system. Enhanced border protection could reduce the levels of illegal immigration into the USA.

Causes of Illegal Immigration

• Smuggling as one of the causes of illegal entry into the country.
• Visa overstay (in other words, immigrants do not leave the USA after their visa is expired. Such people include country visitors, tourists, part-time workers, students, etc., who want to have better living conditions than in their home country and thus prefer to stay in the USA).
• Violation of the border crossing card.

Passel (2011) indicates that the US government has increased the number of patrol agents along the borders from 3,000 to 21,000. Technological advances have played one of the key roles in strengthening the border security. In particular, pilotless drones, surveillance and sensor cameras, and other techniques have been used with an aim to fight with illegal immigration.

Moreover, it has become harder to get permission to cross the US borders. For example, when getting a visa, the applicants have to pass the interview as well. What is more, they have to provide national documents (a birth certificate, passport, etc.) and true information about their background.

Still, there are proponents of immigrations, and they claim that people should be free to enter any country. Nonetheless, it is obvious that such people are not well aware of all the difficulties of border security. A nation MUST have borders, otherwise it is not a nation. If a nation does not have borders, it is vulnerable and insecure. Borders make it possible to have all the nation’s resources, facilities, and people under control.