Kaplan

1
Joshua Kaplan
Mr. Burchett
Honors Government 5
1 November 2015
Open Borders For Americas Future

On September 11, 2001, 19 men were able to hijack four commercial airlines and kill almost

three thousand people across New York City and Washington D.C., an attack that has come to be
known as 9/11 (September 11). America was shocked. Out of this tragedy came a shift in
American opinion, and soon President Bush passed the Homeland Security Act and created The
Department of Homeland Security (Hesson). Stricter border regulations were established in an
attempt to prevent terrorism from entering our country and to stop drug trafficking. The Creation
of Homeland Security has cost the U.S. about $589 billion from 2001-2011 alone! Our government
continues to believe that adding more security to our borders is the best policy and it fails to
consider that this may not be true. America should stop living in the past and look towards the
future, a future with open borders created through the Border Proficiency Act. Passing the Border
Proficiency Act will streamline the legal entry and residency of immigrants in the U.S, decrease
heavy border regulation spending, and benefit the American economy.

With the Passing of the Border Proficiency Act, millions of immigrants both entering and

residing in the U.S. will gain legal residency status. One of the current problems with our border
policy isnt just keeping immigrants out, but keeping immigrants in as well. Currently, over 11
million illegal immigrants are settled within U.S. borders. Only about a third of illegal borders
crosses are caught according to T.J. Bonner, president of the National Border Patrol Council. (Katel).
Since many of these immigrants come to the U.S. to find work, what do they do when they cant find
work and want to leave or return to their country? They cant. While the border regulations are
meant to keep immigrants out, they also prevents illegal immigrants from leaving as well.

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According to Robert Barsky of Vanderbilt University, millions of immigrants are expected to cross
the border and return home if open borders were established (Patterson). This theory implies that
those already trapped in the United States are likely to leave, allowing for a more fluctuating
number of immigrants in the United States. With this said, the legality of immigration produces an
environment where immigrants are given the freedom of movement and also produces a less tense
and hostile atmosphere for them. With a better environment for immigrants, they will be able to
focus on earning a living above all else, which is there primary goal for coming to the United States
in the first place. The legality of these immigrants offers another benefit as well. As Barsky
explained, its actually immigration laws that create safety risks because they cause immigrants to
hide from authorities. Immigrants will avoid them at all costs even if their only crime is being an
illegal immigrant. What are the chances [undocumented immigrants] will call the police if they see
something happening? The police are potentially their enemy. Everyone is potentially their enemy
(Patterson). With the almost 11 million immigrants within the United States, we can see how this
mindset of immigrants could have a big impact on community safety. Their legality will not only
increase their own safety, but the safety of other citizens in the communities as well. Guaranteeing
legal status to immigrants allows them to work much more easily and will provide for the greater
safety of their lives and those of American citizens.

Along with establishing the legality of immigrants, open borders will decrease heavy border

spending regulations and allow for money to be expended in other areas of our country. The Border
Security Budget has increased to 13 times the budget in 1990 to 2007 (United States Border Patrol).
With our country being greatly in debt, this rapid increase of spending poses greater deficits that
can be avoided with open borders. It has cost over 90 billion to secure our Mexico-American border
for 10 years (Mendoza). Despite this, the drug supply in America has not declined and little impact
has been seen on terrorist issues, which prompted the creation of Homeland Security in the first
place. Furthermore, a decreased border patrol budget will allow our government to put some of the

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extra funds toward stopping issues from within America, at the source, rather than attempting to
stop them from entering our borders. In 2012, America spent more on immigration enforcements
than all of the other government agencies combined- $18 billion (Foley)! These other agencies
include the FBI, DEA, the Secret Service, and many more dealing with a wide variety of issues. Due
to the major drug trade between Mexico and the United States, it makes sense to put more money
into the DEA or another agency to crack down on the issues. Border Regulations may play a large
role in our modern society, but opening our borders allows America to push towards decreasing
our debt while simultaneously allocating money to more effective agencies.

On top of cutting costs, opening our borders will boost our nations economy. Since a

majority of immigrants traveling to the United States are unskilled, they actually increase the
efficiency of skilled American workers. From 1990 to 2007, legal American workers pay increased
by up to 10% when working complimentary to undocumented immigrant (Davidson). Skilled
workers are able to focus on skilled tasks when they work with and let unskilled immigrants do the
other tasks. This dynamic thus increases the efficiency of these skilled workers. Not only does this
boost the productivity of individual companies, but a surplus of these workers allow the American
economy to work more productively as a whole. Furthermore, immigrants offer a very unique
benefit to the American economy. Unlike many Americans, immigrants are often more willing to
move in order to find work (Peri). By doing so, they help slow the declining wages in areas with
slow economic growth and increase the economic growth in highly productive areas. Ultimately,
these immigrants provide a unique benefit that creates productivity growth in large labor markets.
With their ability to mobilize and work complimentary to skilled workers, immigrants increase the
size of and boost the economy.

While there are many benefits to open borders, opposition to the idea stems most

prominently from the beliefs that immigrants take American jobs and abuse citizen benefits such as
Social Security and healthcare. Due to immigrants willingness to work for less, many claim that

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they take low-skilled jobs from natives, and many Americans are outraged at this. However, these
people do not understand the issue at hand. According to Art Carden of Forbes magazine, the arrival
and entry of immigrants into the American work force frees up low-skilled American workers who
can then specialize in tasks that require better English. (Carden). Furthermore, immigrants often
fulfill the unskilled labor demand in our economy that many Americans dont want and without
them, whole sectors of our economy, such as farming, could potentially crumble. (Jacoby). The
benefits of immigrants to our economy dont stop here, for the money these immigrants make then
goes back into the economy as they use it to buy food, rent apartments, and so on. By doing so, they
increase demand for labor while filling labor demands, boosting the economy and ultimately
exemplifying their positive effect on our society. Besides this point, many Americans believe that
immigrants abuse services such as Social Security and Medicare. Admittedly, there are immigrants
who take advantage of the welfare systems in America, but these people dont make up a large
majority. In fact, it is estimated that undocumented workers pay $1,800 more than they utilize per
household per year for Social Security and Medicare (Becerra). By doing so, they are actually
providing funds for retirees. Although Americans believe immigrants take our jobs and abuse
beneficial systems such as Social Security and Medicare, evidence proves that they dont act as a
detriment to these areas.

The Border Proficiency Act, which will open United States borders, will streamline the legal

entry and occupation of immigrants in the United States, decrease heavy spending on border
regulations, and boost our economy. Despite how people believe immigrants take American jobs
and abuse American services, evidence has shown that they actually do the opposite, filling
unwanted jobs and overcompensating for services like Social Security and Medicare. Even with the
clear benefits of open borders, the reasons for establishing them stretch even farther. As Mary
Williams states in her novel Minorities, militarizing our borders and dismantling social, medical,
and educational support for immigrants will create further tensions with foreign countries. Is this

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the kind of closed society we want to create for our future? Open borders provide the right
approach to put our country in the best position for our future affairs. Recognize the benefits of the
Border Proficiency Act, and support it to benefit Americas well-being.

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Works Cited

Electronic Sources:
1. Becerra, David. "Examining the Economic Effects of Counterfeiting and Piracy." Examining
the Economic Impact of Undocumented Immigrants in the U.S. (2008): 133-70. Western
Michigan University. Arizona State University School of Social Work. Web. 21 Oct. 2015.
<https://www.wmich.edu/hhs/newsletters_journals/jssw_institutional/individual_subscribers/39.
4.Becerra.pdf>.
2. Art Carden. "Illegal Immigrants Don't Lower Our Wages or Take Our Jobs." Forbes. Forbes,
28 Aug. 2015. Web. 21 Oct. 2015.
<http://www.forbes.com/sites/artcarden/2015/08/28/how-do-illegal-immigrants-affect-americanworkers-the-answer-might-surprise-you/)>.
3. Davidson, Adam. "Do Illegal Immigrants Actually Hurt the U.S. Economy?"
The New York Times. The New York Times, 16 Feb. 2013. Web. 25 Sept. 2015.
<http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/17/magazine/do-illegal-immigrants-actually-hurt-the-useconomy.html?_r=0>.
4. Foley, Elise. "Immigration Enforcement Cost Higher Than FBI, Policing Drugs, Guns
Combined: Report." The Huffington Post. The Huffington Post, 7 Jan. 2013. Web. 23 Oct. 2015.
<http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/07/immigration-enforcement-cost_n_2425647.html>.
5. Hesson, Ted. "Five Ways Immigration System Changed After 9/11." ABC News. ABC News
Network,11Sept.2012. Web. 23 Oct. 2015.
<http://abcnews.go.com/ABC_Univision/News/ways-immigration-system-changed911/story?id=17231590>.

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6. Jacoby, Tamar. "Without Immigrant Labor, The Economy Would Crumble." The New York
Times. The New York Times, 17 Apr. 2012. Web. 21 Oct. 2015.
<http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2011/08/17/could-farms-survive-without-illegallabor/without-immigrant-labor-the-economy-would-crumble>.
7. Katel, Peter. "Illegal Immigration." University of Idaho. University of Idaho, 6 May 2005.
Web. 21 Oct. 2015.
<http://www.webpages.uidaho.edu/eng207-td/Sources,%20Links/illegal_immigration.htm>.
8. Mendoza, Martha. "$90 Billion Spent on Border Security, with Mixed Results." Boston.com.
BostonNews, 26 June 2011.Web. 21 Oct. 2015.
<http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2011/06/26/90b_spent_on_border_security_with_
mixed_results/).>.
9. Patterson, Jim. "Open Borders Not Giant Wall Is Best Solution for Immigration Issue."
Vanderbilt Research. Vanderbilt University, 16 Sept. 2015. Web. 25 Sept. 2015.
<http://news.vanderbilt.edu/2015/09/open-borders-not-giant-wall-is-best-solution-forimmigration-issue/>.
10. Peri, Giovanni. "IMMIGRATION: The Economic Benefits of Immigration." Center for Latin
American Studies (CLAS). University of California Berkeley, n.d. Web. 23 Oct. 2015.
<http://clas.berkeley.edu/research/immigration-economic-benefits-immigration>.
11. "September 11th Fast Facts." CNN. CNN, 7 Sept. 2015. Web. 21 Oct. 2015.
<http://www.cnn.com/2013/07/27/us/september-11-anniversary-fast-facts/).>
12. United States Border Patrol. S.l.: Book On Demand, 2013. U.S. Border Patrol. Web. 24 Sept.
2015.

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<https://www.cbp.gov/sites/default/files/documents/BP%20Budget%20History%2019902014_0.pdf>.
Book Sources:
13. Williams, Mary E. Minorities. San Diego, CA: Greenhaven, 1998. Print.