No need for weed?

We are all well aware of my stand regarding the legalization of marijuana, but I felt I should show both sides of the argument to my readers. The biggest reason against non-legalization of marijuana is that there is no difference when you’re talking about being killed or maimed by a drunk driver or a driver under the influence of marijuana. There is no doubt that the number of traffic accidents will go up if marijuana is deemed legal. Another issue is that unlike cigarettes, you can get high off someone else’s smoke. This would mean there probably would be designated areas for people to smoke because it I doubt it will be allowed in public places.

Another argument that seems to be less known is that marijuana is a gateway drug, which is why it is illegal and alcohol is not. The more people use marijuana on a daily basis, the more likely they are to advance to cocaine, crack, meth, or other drugs that will send their future spiraling out of control. Also, how many successful parents do you know that consistently smoke weed on a regular basis? If more people smoke weed then our country overall becomes less responsible. One of the most more terrifying consequences is that (although it has not yet been infallibly proven) enough research studies have concluded that marijuana use in youth causes some degree of chromosome damage which even years on down the line significantly increase their offspring's chances of developing childhood leukemia. Although not conclusive, many people feel that the risk is too much.
As I said earlier I am for the legalization of marijuana because WE NEED MORE MONEY! As I said in my last post America has to stop ignoring the debt that we’ve just swept under our rug that is Washington D.C. Legalizing marijuana means that it can be taxed like no other. Many people quit smoking because they wake up one day and there’s no money in their bank account. Yes there are people with enough money to sit back and get high for the rest of their lives but if they have made that much money then I say they’ve deserved that luxury. By legalizing marijuana drug cartels will lose an alarming percentage of their profits and as a result they would become much weaker and much more vulnerable to the Mexican government. It is clear that legalizing marijuana would create a few problems for America, but the problems it will solve, in my opinion, will greatly outweigh the problems that will be created.

The DREAM Act

The DREAM Act is a bill would provide permanent residency to a select group of illegal alien-students of “good moral character” who graduate from US high schools, arrived in the US as minors, and lived in the country continuously for at least five years prior to the bill's enactment.  The word “DREAM” is an acronym for “Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors” and was reintroduced to the senate on May 1^st, 2011.  This is a bill that I actually agree with for a change. The bill states that illegal immigrants will be able to obtain a temporary six year residency if they have: "acquired a degree from an institution of higher education in the United States or has completed at least 2 years, in good standing, in a program for a bachelor's degree or higher degree in the United States." When you combine the “’Good moral character”’ and the “’degree from an institution of higher education in the United States” you come out with what seems to be a responsible, promising, good-natured, English speaking immigrant, one that would probably make our nation a better place.                                          

The area I don’t agree with and never will agree with is that they will allow in-state tuition to these people. Statistics have shown that people of color are more likely to receive a scholarship to a university over an equal Caucasian citizen. Because they have this advantage I feel they don’t deserve in-state tuition, and because they obviously aren’t from that state, let alone our country.  While I can whine about that trait all I want it still won’t change the fact that this bill is a step in the right direction. The bill is going to "reduce deficits by about $1.4 billion over the 2011-2020 period and increase government revenues by $2.3 billion over the next 10 years." If you live in America then hopefully you’re well aware of our trillion dollar debt crisis that we just seem to overlook. If America can start passing more and more acts like this, eventually we will begin to climb out of this mile deep hole we have dug ourselves. It will not happen overnight and it will not happen over the next year and probably not in this decade. Personally I don’t think will come out of debt in my lifetime. But if America is willing to make sacrifices and make hard decisions then I’m sure eventually, we will solve this debt crisis and it all starts with bills like The DREAM Act.

Breeding criminals in prison

In the Tucson courthouse, in June 2011, a group of 70 illegal aliens or so trot into the room and fill up the 12 seat jury booth and the 16 row wooden benches that are usually reserved for the public. One reporter who was able to get in described it as the scene saying; “The courtroom is expansive, with a regally high ceiling, and is filled with the pungent smell of dried sweat.” In just over an hour all 70 men will plead guilty to crossing the border illegally. They will then be sent to a jail of the court’s decision often still in the boots they crossed the border in. This scene basically sums up the burden that is illegal immigration on our judicial system. When asked about how he feels regarding the illegal immigration system, Chicago federal Judge Ruben Castillo, said; “There is a use of criminal justice resources that doesn't make sense ... Are we just running numbers so it appears we're doing more on immigration and drug offenses or are we doing anything worthwhile?" One must ask, does he have a point?

Here they will overcrowd the prisons with and overwhelm the system that helps them rehabilitate and keeps the guards safe. The overwhelming the judicial system prevents Americans from receiving a swift trail that they are so promised in The Bill of Rights. Statistics released this week revealed that Hispanics now comprise nearly half of all people sentenced for federal felony crimes, a number swollen by immigration offenses. In comparison, Hispanics last year made up 16 percent of the total U.S. population. They will also most likely be assimilated into one of the many Latino gangs that inhabit these prisons. As the number of Latinos in prisons increase, so will the tensions between other races in these prisons.

A man seeking a better life in America illegally immigrates and is caught along the way. All he wanted was to crawl out of poverty and now he is in jail. In order to stay safe he joins a gang and here he discovers the money that the gangs rake in from the contemptible drug trade that plagues our country. From here, odds are he ends up doing hard time in prison, or hard time 6 feet beneath the earth. This scenario plays out routinely and is in no way, shape, or form, fair to the naïve man who just wanted a better life. We are pooling our resources to actually create more criminals from other countries instead of stopping our own.

Here's what I think

In this blog we’ve seen what people think should be done to stop illegal immigration. Its time I give you my idea. My take. My opinion. My words on what I would do to stop this burden on our extraordinary nation. I would start by addressing the illegal immigrants that are on our side of the border. I would separate those who have committed a felony from those who haven't. I would have a mass deportation of those who have committed a felony. For those who haven’t committed a felony I would give them the choice of deportation, or military service to gain access into our nation. They would be required to serve a minimum of 2 years in The National Guard or The Army. Here they would get an education and learn English which would set them up for a successful life in the states.

In order to prevent people from illegally immigrating, I would legalize marijuana. This would cut take power from the drug lords in Mexico and slow down the smuggling business and make the border far less violent place. By decreasing the violence along the border people would be far more willing to stay in Mexico. I would obviously direct more funding to the United States Border Patrol, and I would require the Arizona SB 1070 bill to be passed in all Border States. Yes this would cause civil unrest but this is the best way to find illegal immigrants in our nation. Immigrants have to stay a certain period of time in a state to qualify for in-state-tuition for universities.

In order for this plan to work we would need a debt fee country (which will never happen) and a general population that can realize that change on this scale doesn’t happen overnight (Again, never going to happen.) A mass deportation would take years and the civil unrest would be a very big problem. Hopefully many immigrants would be deported and then the bill would be lifted once it begins to get fewer results. Finally, I would take a small percentage of government spending and I would use it to create an easier way for people to become United States citizens. This part would be left up to a person much smarter than me and hopefully my plan, in a perfect world, would work. However, if our government ever starts taking advice from a junior in high school, then I think that means we have much bigger issues than illegal immigration.

Just another reason to legalize marijuana

The Mexican Drug War is centered, obviously, around drugs. One of the drugs being smuggled into the United States is marijuana, a drug that is grown all throughout Mexico. So why don’t we just legalize marijuana? Doing so would cut the money drug dealers make significantly. The reason these cartels are so dangerous is because they’re so well-funded. If Mexico itself legalized marijuana the money the cartels would lose would be even more substantial. Unfortunately, when the debate came up, Mexican President Felipe Calderon responded by calling it "an unacceptable option." However, Calderon's predecessor, Vicente Fox, went even further, writing on his blog that "we should consider legalizing the production, sale, and distribution of drugs." Fox is not alone in this discussion, the former presidents of Brazil and Colombia, a country where drugs are a massive problem as well, agree with Fox. People have begun to compare our time period to that of the prohibition, comparing weed to alcohol, and the cartels to men like Al Capone.  

Much of the facts being stated in this post are form Gary Johnsons blog; Huff Post Politics. Gary Johnson, the governor of New Mexico has stated that by legalizing marijuana the drugs being smuggled across will reduce by 70%. Whether or not this is true has yet to be determined but obviously crime would decrease in large quantities. People against marijuana say that violence will stay the same, they feel that drug cartel violence will be replaced by crime committed to people that are high on marijuana. They also fear that because we legalize marijuana we will start to legalize other drugs until nothing is illegal and everyone is strung up on something.

I for one don’t feel that it will go that far and I can’t find any logical reason to not legalize marijuana, at least none that outweigh the benefits that will come from its legalization. The bottom line is that if we legalize marijuana we will cut a huge percentage of the funding the cartels receive. If the cartels have less money, the Mexican government can get the drug war under control. If we get the drug war under control then the death toll in Mexico will plummet. If the death toll plummets and crime falls, people will stop illegally immigrate into the United States. That ladies and gentlemen is the sole reason why we should legalize marijuana in the United States.

Illegal Education

To say that the city of Nogales, Arizona is by the border would be an understatement. Nogales is ON the border, it is a large city that has been divided into two smaller cities by the U.S. Mexico Border. The Mexican education system is underfunded and in total disarray because government spending is being used to try and stop the drug war. This lack of education greatly affects the city of Nogales because people living on the Mexican side of the border are only a few miles at most from an education that is far superior to any they have in Mexico. This is causing people on the Mexico side of Nogales to simply walk across the border to the local American school then just stroll back across the border like nothing happened. But something did happen, no matter how short they stay in our country, the second they stepped foot onto American soil they are illegally crossing the border.
When you venture across the border on a Monday morning you are almost guaranteed to see middle scholars in their uniforms. While this may seem like an insignificant detail, if u look closer your will see that some of these students have American middle school uniforms. If they wear red, they probably attend A.J. Mitchel Middle School. If they wear green, they most likely attend Vasquez De Coronado Middle School. Both of these feed into Nogales High School and all of these schools are suffering because of illegal immigration. Parents walk their children across the border to the bus stop, drop them off, and then go back to their daily routine in Mexico. The Nogales Police Department is underfunded and doesn’t have the manpower to stop this disgrace to our nation. Now the word disgrace may seem a little harsh, and yes I think that Nogales Police Department has bigger concerns, but this seemingly harmless act has major repercussions on the Nogales school district. Keep in mind these parents aren’t paying taxes for education so schools are educating these immigrants for free. This is resulting in underfunding for the schools and it is taking away from the education of American students.
A boy gets in trouble during class for acting out and is sent to the counselor’s office. The counselor asks to see the boy’s parents. The boy tells the counselor that his parents can’t come because they live in Mexico. The counselor tells the boy he can’t go back to class until the counselor speaks with the boy’s parents. The boy drops out. As unfortunate as this scenario is, it is not uncommon in Nogales. In order to stop this Mexican government has to regroup and reestablish what its priorities are, hopefully then they will pay more attention to the lack of funding for their education system and then illegal immigration will surely drop dramatically.

People smugglers

In border terminology, a coyote is a shady character who guides illegal immigrants through the desert into Mexico by leading them on foot or transporting them in the back of a large vehicle. Coyotes are said to charge large prices for the ride over then also charge their own “hidden fees” along the way because the illegals have no other alternative if the coyote is not satisfied. Throughout the border these men are known as ruthless and exploitative, but recent evidence has shown that this is not always the case.

At the Berlin Film Festival in 2009, Spanish filmmaker Chema Rodriguez, made a film called; “coyote.” In this film, a man goes undercover with a large group of illegal aliens to see what they go through day to day, the results were unexpected. Throughout the journey, Maco, the Coyote leading Rodriguez proved to be a supportive leader and in the film he says that he “never abandons his people.” Throughout the journey described as; "one of the most dangerous scenes in the world," Maco is seen teaching the immigrants bits and pieces of the English language and Spanish history. Maco believes that he is helping his working for a good cause despite the fact that what he’s doing is illegal.

This is clearly a heartwarming story that will hopefully make us think twice before we judge people on their looks, but unfortunately, Maco is a rare case. Immigrants everywhere are being lied to and manipulated by ruthless human smugglers who will most likely drain the immigrants of all their money before abandoning them in the middle of the Desert. Border patrol officials are being bribed by the day and unfortunately there are few ways to prevent this. The United States Border Patrol is clearly the least appreciated form of law enforcement considering the amount of work they do. If we can show more support for the men and women who help keep our borders safe I believe they will be much more loyal to our country and as a result, human trafficking will be drastically reduced.

Why dont they just come here legally?

Living in Arizona and having to deal with all the issues and prejudice against illegal immigration I head this sentence a lot; “Why don’t they just come here legally?” When I was in middle school that made sense, you were an American citizen, you didn’t have to live in fear, you could be paid minimum wage instead of under the table, all of these reasons made illegal immigration seem so meaningless to me. I don’t see how crossing the Sonoran Desert avoiding poisonous critters, enduring obnoxiously harsh weather, getting past border patrol, just so you can work for $5.00 an hour for a year, then get deported back to Mexico. However, when you look at both sides of the story you can see that they would rather come here legally as well and they would be love nothing more than to become legal citizens. However the truth shows that it is not nearly as easy as one would think.

When I moved to Iowa I had to retake driver’s education to get my Iowa license, when I completed the mind numbing course I had to go to the DMV stand in line for 3 hours to meet the cranky employee who told me wait another 3 hours but this time I got to sit. People assume that in order to get a green card you wait in line and go through a similar process; I was one of these misconstrued people who envisioned this process a lot like getting your driver’s license at the DMV. If you ran that scenario past a Mexican trying to get his or her green card they would be thrilled about it because in truth, getting your green card is much more difficult.

There are three main ways to obtain your green card. The first is a Family-based immigration that involves you having a legal, American born citizen as a relative that can get permission (through a petition) to have you come across the border. Once you have obtained yours, you can petition for your spouse and children to come across. This was is the most popular but let’s be honest, do you have any relatives that are legal citizens in other countries? Probably not and so most Mexicans do not qualify for this method of entry.

The second option for those seeking a green card is through an Employment-based immigration. This is the second most popular way to get a green card but is nowhere near as popular as the first method. This involves you getting a job offer from a company or business in America and you future boss must be willing to sponsor you on entry. Unfortunately for most people residing in Mexico is that there isn’t a very high demand for “legal” Hispanic workers.

The last and least popular way to gain access to the states is through a Humanitarian-based immigration. This one means you’re fleeing persecution from you native country and you have to prove that you are truly living in fear of being persecuted for your race, religion, political opinion, etc. An extremely small group of people qualify for this means of entry and there are very few ways to prove your honesty being persecuted.

While there are other small ways of entry i.e. a diversity lottery, only a very minuscule percentage of people get in this way. Even if you have qualified for a green card there is no line to stand in to get the actual card. You have to go through long arduous process that takes years to complete and even after you have completed your paperwork your still at the mercy of the Immigration and Naturalization Service which is more worried about getting Hispanics out of our country than in. Unless Congress is pressured to develop a new procedure, people will have to wait years for their opportunity at a better life. When your family is starving NOW, how long would you wait?

El Chapo

Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman is the leader of the Sinaloa Cartel that has been terrorizing the streets of Ciudad Juarez for the last decade. Guzman was born to a poor family on April 4^th, 1957 outside of Badiraguato to a family of 7. His dad smuggled cocaine into the United States for the Sinaloa Cartel. When Guzman was in his 20’s he was placed in charge of transporting drugs from the Sierra to the cities and border and overseeing shipments. He worked his way up the criminal ladder until he was the #2 man in the Sinaloa Cartel, when the leader was arrested; Guzman was placed in charge of the whole Sinaloa Cartel.  Guzman was captured in 1993 and sentenced to 20 years, 9 months in prison for drug trafficking, criminal association and bribery charges. However, later that year, Guzman escaped the maximum security prison. Police say he was able to escape because he had an influence over everyone in the prison including its director. Police also assume that many of the officers were on his payroll and took part in his escape. In total, police say that 78 people were implicated in his escape plan. Once he had made his way out of the prison, he got back into the hands of the Sinaloa Cartel and went into hiding where he still is today.

Guzman clearly is one of the most powerful men in Mexico and in my opinion, has more power than the Mexican President himself. Any man that can break out of prison with the help of 78 prison officials clearly has a very big influence. After the assassination of Osama Bin Laden, El Chapo became the most wanted person on the FBI and Interpol’s most wanted list. In my opinion, which I am honored to have here in America, he shouldn’t be. Assassinating this man will only create a power vacuum and the gang members will fight for that power the only way they know how and that is murder. I feel that we should not focus on one man, but perhaps a group of men, the old adage goes “In order to kill a snake you have to cut off the head.” This adage I feel doesn’t fit this situation because the rest of the snake isn’t going to kill everything that tries to become its head (obviously.) I am not one of those people that has jumped on the “government hate bandwagon” and I feel that OUR will resolve this problem the best way possible. I don’t think that the Mexican government has the money or power to stop these cartels which leads us to the question: Should the United States declare war on the drug cartels?

The Social media

Last week, the mangled bodies of a young man and woman were hung from a highway bridge in Nuevo Laredo along with a sign that read: "This is what happens to people who post funny things on the Internet. Pay attention." The two people each ran their own blogs, the first was Frontera Al Rojo Vivo — loosely translated as The Raw Border, which is run by a newspaper company and is used to distribute information throughout Mexico. The other was Blog del Narco, a blog that openly speaks out against the cartels and allows anyone to post on the blog.  This site shows graphic pictures of gruesome crimes committed by the cartels and is open to anyone with a computer. In the article “Mexican Drug Cartels Now Menace Social Media” on http://www.npr.org, John Burnett says “Blog del Narco, like the popular Mexican tabloids, has learned that savagery sells. You can log on, and see photos of severed heads and disfigured bodies next to ads for GM Truck Month, Geico Auto Insurance, Volvo, AT&T and Lysol Toilet Bowl Cleaner.” Both people were killed because of their views, and neither had any gang affiliation whatsoever.   

This is one of the many crimes the drug cartels in Mexico are committing in order to gain control over the social media network. Bloggers, journalists, news anchors, and radio DJ’s in Mexico often receive death threats if they attempt to speak out against the cartels. If these threats are not heeded, these people usually become another statistic in the death toll of this drug war. I fear if the cartels are able to gain control over the social network, they can uses these sites for recruiting and silencing everyone that is attempting to speak out against them. Civilians are calling for change because of the horrific crimes they find out about through bogs and internet sites. I think if the cartels ran these sites, they filter out all the negative news that would cause unrest throughout the city. This would mean less pressure on the government to crack down on the cartels and would make “business” much easier for them. 

In past decades, Mexican Drug Cartels have fought their wars by using intimidation and fear by committing appalling crimes, these atrocities however, have back fired in the past by causing civil unrest and have developed a rightfully earned hatred toward the gangs. It’s clear that the cartels want to end all of that and most likely will if the Mexican government does not intervene soon.

Ciudad Juarez Death Toll

In 2010, Ciudad Juarez (Juarez City) had a total death toll of over 3,000. 3,000 mothers, sons, brothers, sisters, fathers, daughters, uncles, and aunts had their lives brutally cut short. In 2008 the number stood at 1,623, and then it climbed to 2,763 all as a result of the Mexican Drug War being raged just minutes south of our border. Gangs like the Juarez Cartel and The Zetas are fighting over control of the drug trade and all of them try to "one up" the other in terms of how brutal they can be. More than 28,000 people have died because of the drug war throughout Mexico in the four years since President Felipe Calderon launched an offensive against drug cartels when he took office in December 2006 and declared war on the cartels of Mexico.

 The total murder rate in Juarez has become the highest in the world surpassing everything in Afghanistan and other countries that are actually at war. As I’ve stated before, this is clearly one of the reasons why illegal immigration has skyrocketed in the last 4 years. The Juarez Cartel, which is responsible for a majority of these brutal killings, is run by Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, whose wife recently gave birth in a Los Angeles hospital, has become the most wanted person in Mexico. Many fear that if this man is not caught the violence in Mexico will not stop and it will eventually spread to states like Texas or Arizona. If this is the case, then the violence in Juarez should be considered a matter of national security.

The violence in Juarez shows the lack of government authority in Mexico, cities that are in the middle of war are statistically safer than Juarez. President Caulderon assures his doubters that Mexico is winning the war against these cartels but in truth there are no winners in this war. The fact that a country like Mexico can completely implode should be taken as a warning that all countries would be wise to heed. Drugs in Mexico have turned mothers against sons and brothers against brothers, who’s to say this can’t happen to any other country? While it is unlikely to happen to the United States, countries with a weaker central government could easily spiral into a civil war over drugs like Mexico already has. The death toll in Juarez is the highest in the world, as scary as that statement sounds the fact that it is only going to get worse is even scarier.

Mexicans to America or Americans to Mexico?

On Saturday, October 1st, while campaigning in Hampton, New Hampshire, presidential candidate Rick Perry says that he is open to sending U.S. troops to Mexico to help fight the drug war along the border. Perry has been accused of being to light on illegal aliens and illegal immigration as a whole., Perry resoponds to said critics by saying that he has the most credibility and experience on the issue. This action shows that Perry is clearly trying to disprove these doubters by fighting back against the drug cartels that have plagued the Mexican border and are a large reason for people in Mexico to try to cross the border.

Since Mexican President Felipe Cauleron declared war on organized drug gangs in 2006 over 30,000 lives have been claimed by this war. Cities have been turned into killing zones especially across the border. These killing zones are literally just over the fence in places like Tijuana, which shares its borders with San Diego, or Juarez which borders Houston to the South. This plan would most likely slow the drug trade significantly but it could also start another war that the U.S. doesn't need. By sending American troops to fight alongside corrupt Mexican troops that are most likely working for the drug cartels would only put our soldiers in danger.

To me it doesn't make sense starting another war when we already have troops in Afghanistan. I feel like this statement was more of a publicity stunt than a promise. The U.S. has never fought a war in the Western Hemisphere and I doubt that a majority of the general population would want to start one. I think that Perry knows this as well and he is just trying to send a message to his critics that say he isnt hard enough on illegal immigration considering this is one of the large reasons people are not voting for him. While it is a nice thought; America helping its less fortunate neighbor out, it clearly would not be a beneficial plan to the U.S. and it would most likely just create more jobs for American and Mexican gravediggers.

Ok they're here, now what?

If the borders were to be made airtight and completely secured tomorrow, America would still have to deal with the approximately 8,000,000 illegal aliens that have already crossed the border. There are two main arguments as to what should be done with these illegal aliens. Both arguments are on opposite ends of the spectrum and have divided many parts of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS).

The first argument is that America should undertake a mass deportation of all illegal immigrants. The plan would round up all illegals and send them back to Mexico completely cleaning out all illegal immigration. However, this plan would require an exceptional deployment of resources that are in very short supply. This in turn would worsen the current problems plaguing our detention systems that are already overcrowded as it is. Immigration courts would be overwhelmed and would likely result in human rights and due process violations all across America. Let's not forget the effect a mass deportation strategy would cripple our delicate economic growth and would also send a bad image to our neighbors in Mexico. This plan would cost the American taxpayer $285 billion dollars which is approximately $922 for each citizen. Unfortunately for this argument it is not a feasible choice economically or physically.

The second argument is that these illegal immigrants should be given the means to obtain legal status. This argument is based largely on the reason that it would give America a good image, and that it is "the right thing to do." Unfortunately just because one option makes you look good does not make it the best option. Many of the people that would become citizens are drug dealers and felons that would harm the people living in our country. This argument is being voiced largely by the devout religions citizens of America. These citizens openly quote people like Pope John Paul II who said "Significant gesture would certainly be one in which reconciliation, a genuine dimension of the Jubilee, is expressed in a form of amnesty for a broad group of immigrants who suffer the tragedy of precariousness and uncertainty more than others, namely, illegal immigrants." While the Pope is right as to the fact that this gesture would send a great image of America to surrounding countries, it doesnt mean it is the best thing to do.  Religion and Government are not meant to be mixed and when we do we abandon the branches of our government that make it the great system it is. Life isn't fair and we can't just give everyone a second chance.

While these two arguments alone, in my opinion, are not the best alternatives, a new argument has been arising that brings both of these two options together. The deportation of all immigrants that have committed a felony and the rest should be given the means to become legal citizens. This would hopefully get rid of the immigrants that would damage our society and give legal status to the immigrants that would supposedly benefit America. While this plan is better than the other two, in my opinion, it still would be even more expensive to weed out all of the felons out of the 8,000,000 and deporting all of those would be dangerous and expenssive. Unfortunately for us there is no easy solution to this problem were faced with, the only thing that is clear about this issue is that it won't be solved soon.