Border Problems

While reading some of my classmates' blogs, I came across Amelia Henneke's blog, Lone Republic. In her blog, Amelia discusses the Texas-Mexico border problems. I agree that the countless murders committed by the drug cartels are bad and something needs to be done about it; however, I disagree with her views on illegal immigration. To help solve the cartel problems, I believe that we should step away from the border and look for other options. The border problem is not one of Mexico's top priorities at the moment, so I don't see them asking for aide anytime soon. As long as the demand for illegal drugs like marijuana exist, the cartels are not going anywhere. I seem to be talking a lot about this this week, but I believe that if Texas made marijuana legal, the strength of the cartels would greatly diminish and we would no longer have to spend millions of dollars in defense from the cartels.

Amelia asks why people would come to the US illegally It seems though Amelia already answered her question early on in her post by stating, "I can understand that people want a better life for them and their family and so they come to America where they can have freedom and make money to send to their family". Amelia later goes on to say, "There is no reason or excuse for a person to try and come to America illegally". Amelia seems to contradict herself with this, I believe that wanting a better life for one's family is a great reason for someone to enter the US illegally. Also, it is obvious that crossing the border is very dangerous, but if people are still willing to risk their lives to do it, there must be great reason for it. Amelia seems to be a strong believer in following the bureaucratic order of things. What do you do though when you have an ill family member and your $30 a day is not enough to even buy your family decent food let alone medication and doctor's visits. You know that if you immigrated to the US you would be able to find a job that pays enough to support your family and help your ill family member. What do you do? Do you start your application process which takes several years and is not a guarantee while your family suffers? Or do you cross the border illegally so you can help your family sooner. Yes, I know that entering the US without the proper documentation is illegal, but sometimes law are meant to be broken.