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More agents won't stop border problems

In the weeks since the end of spring semester, the situation on Arizona's border has only worsened. Sheriffs, ranchers, congressmen and citizens alike have all lined up to ask the federal government for more help monitoring the border. And each year at this time, officers and border patrol agents brace themselves for throngs of heat-related deaths and injuries. But lining up more patrol agents and giving sheriffs the jurisdiction to deal with illegal entrants will only temporarily slow border crossings. The only way to prevent desperate men and women from risking their lives and detention to cross the border is to give them a reason to stay in Mexico.

Just last Tuesday, a young woman who crossed the border died after giving her water to her infant. Her death will surely not be the last of the summer. Typically dry conditions, exacerbated by the lack of rain during the winter months, have left the deserts more arid than usual. Illegal border crossers in the past have used livestock holes to get emergency water, but because of the weather, that is no longer possible. However, even the severe weather is not a sufficient deterrent to the desperate entrants. In this year alone, 10 illegal immigrants have died crossing the border, four of them in the last two weeks.

In addition to death, many illegals have been detained by ranchers and other border citizens. The situation in border towns has reached a point where some illegal immigrants have reported abuses - such as being shot - at the hands of the border property owners. Agencies that are legally authorized to deal with the influx of border trespassers have reported having to rescue 746 illegal immigrants from either heat- or cold-related health incidents.

Conditions in Mexico are such that no amount of border agents will significantly stop the flow of immigrants. Currently in Mexico, the rate of unemployment is fantastic. The Mexican government is not stable enough to deal with this crisis, and it is filled with corruption and violence due to the drug relationship the state has with the United States. Even the people who have jobs in Mexico are often paid an unlivable wage. In a border maquilidora, a typical man makes less than $50 a week for more than 40 hours of work. It is no wonder that many choose to cross the border - where a man can make more than $200 a week for the same amount of labor - and risk death or detention.

No matter how many agents the government places on the border, things will not change until the quality of life in Mexico and Latin America improves. The good news is that the United States can directly impact this in some fairly simple ways. The first thing that must be done is that American companies working within Mexico must be strongly urged to pay their laborers a living wage. This might mean a loss of profit to companies, but it would do much to stabilize their host nation. Secondly, the United States government must be critical of governmental corruption and exert pressure on the state to ensure that true democracy is practiced there. If those things happen, they might inspire dramatic change in the life of the average Mexican citizen.

At the same time, Americans must also realize the role they play in border dynamics. Consider for a moment all the illegal immigrants that find jobs in the United States. Clearly, there is a market in need of their labor, or else they would not stay. The old detention and immigrant chase is simply not effective. It is time that the government looked closely into work programs for entrants.

This summer is proving to be a dry and hot one. Clearly, the economy in Mexico is such that illegal immigrants are willing to risk death and detention for the sake of a better paying job. If this situation continues, many immigrants will die or be injured, and the United States will be forced to spend money and manpower on a never-ending cycle of border crossings. However, real change is possible if the lives of Mexicans can be improved by a stabilization of the government and the payment of decent wages to Mexican workers. If these changes do not occur, people will continue to die, and resources will continue to be thrown at ineffective border solutions.

Lora J. Mackel is a history junior. She can be reached at editor@wildcat.arizona.edu.