President George Bush visited the southern Arizona border region on Monday and insists the U.S. Border Patrol is making significant progress towards securing the U.S./Mexico Border.
Bush visited Arizona last year and felt Border Patrol was not doing enough to control border activity. Now, slowing illegal traffic has been made more practical with new fences, vehicle barriers, and a staggering increase of Border Agents. More than 400 people came to listen to Bush's comprehensive immigration change speech in Yuma, and the President made it clear that he truly believed our Border Patrol strategy is on the right track.
Bush said: "This border is more secure, and America is safer as a result." He also went on to say, "Securing the border is a critical part of a strategy for comprehensive immigration reform."
However, Bush did not simply praise the work the Border Patrol had done, he carefully outlined his general immigration security plan. The plan includes a temporary-worker program, consequences for employers who hire illegal immigrants, and a path for immigrants where they can become legal citizens.
The temporary-worker program is essentially needed specifically for the economic elements relating to illegal immigration. Many people feel that illegal immigrants are taking the jobs Americans do not want/are not doing.
This program could be extremely beneficial for Border Patrol, because they can direct more of their attention towards drug dealers, criminals and terrorists, and worry less about honest people trying to find legal work.Lighting the border has also become a significant issue Border Patrol has been dealing with on a consistent basis. It is hard to catch many illegal immigrants because the action primarily takes place during the night.
Immigrants try to use the darkness to their advantage and hopefully sneak by Border Patrol post and cameras. However, Border Patrol has recently added a half-mile of football stadium style lights making it nearly impossible to avoid/dodge Border Patrol.
Even though Bush and Border Patrol feel they are making progress via significant changes, many locals feel more border security will slowly tear families apart.
According to Border Action Network, "with Bush's proposal, entire categories of family visas would be eliminated." Family unity is a key component for all immigration policy, and Bush seems to think otherwise. "Without prioritizing family unity, the Bush proposal will fail," according to Border Action Network's website.
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