Wouldn't take very many of those, before the border traffic completely stopped. 100%.
i think you are mistaken its that bad down there that folks come knowing they might die. i think thats a major failing when americans try to understand folks from other countries mindset from their air conditioned flat screen world
IMO you're partly right.
However, even the window-dressing crackdowns under the Bush administration had noticeable impacts in the illegal immigration rates. As has the economic downturn and housing slump.
If all of them were "willing to risk death" to get here, they'd not let these minor things stop them, but they do.
I can only conclude that this is largely economic immigration of convenience. If it were immigration of survival, like in Africa, and other places experiencing war, genocide, refugees etc. they'd keep on coming. And I think in part the "willing to die to get here" is a product of their own self delusion, and coyotes who don't give them the truth until it's too late.
If a few poultry plant raids in the news can make a noticeable dip of 20% or more, getting serious about the things Zed Wanted to Carry a Redhawk lists, namely just #1 and #2, we can make a serious dent in it, more than 50%.
And that's the other thing that gets my goat. The conservatives who are in favor of amnesty etc. because "you can't stop them all" type of logic. I certainly think stopping or reducing illegal immigration by 50% is a laudable and very worthwhile goal.
If we could ever really crack down on illegal immigration I see some long-term HUGE upsides for both America and Mexico.
1. The American welfare underclass needs to be forced (in market terms, not authoritarian) into the labor pool that the illegal immigrants is now filling. (and many of these are not bad paying jobs.) This increases tax revenue, and reduction of welfare costs could be huge, and it could start to reverse the dangerous cancers of inter-generational dependency and joblessness.
2. Illegal immigration into the U.S. is Mexico's safety valve for both social and economic pressures. It's subtle, but Mexico is a very racist country, and very economically divided. The white Spaniards are on top, and the mixed/Indian blooded, below...
And Mexican politicians and important people have stated on record that they believe Mexico needs it's underclass to stay where it is. They practice win-lose capitalism there, vs. the American variety which at least tries to be more win-win in nature.
If that safety valve were to be shut off, Mexico may finally be forced to deal with it's own huge internal political, social, and economic problems and inequities. I think the powers that be in both Mexico and the U.S. know this, and both settle on the situation as-is, because they fear having another Chavez/Venezuela right on our southern border.
