Obviously, an open southern border is not only a path for people from Mexico or South America, it is an easy access to the U.S for many nationalities from across the world. Citizens of foreign countries can enter the U.S illegally without facing any security restrictions and hence, from there, cross every state’s lines freely.
Recently, I was completely surprised to learn that many people from a country like Turkey are entering the U.S through Mexico with the permission of the border patrol officers.
Last week while visiting Tennessee, I met a young Kurdish man from Turkish Kurdistan, who was undocumented. Out of curiosity I asked him how he entered the U.S. His response was through Mexico. As a citizen of Turkey, he obtained a Mexican visa from Turkey with no difficulty. At the U.S border, he was detained and taken to Texas, and six months later, without a US visa or any legal status, he was released based simply on a phone call from a person who claimed to be his sponsor.
This young man is one of thousands of people who are entering the U.S without any legal status. It appears that even the border patrol officers are loosening the restrictions at the entrance points, or perhaps more likely they are simply overwhelmed by the heavy loads of undocumented people entering the U.S from our southern borders.
Clearly, the subject of the southern border has become a political tool that politicians use to influence people emotionally, and enrage one group against another. Unfortunately, such attempts in most cases were successful especially during the elections. It should not be difficult to understand that a country’s border security has only one definition, and therefore, no other definition based on politicians’ interests should be accepted.
Despite people’s undeniable suffering in some countries across the world, broken border security should not be tolerated and a free pass must not be granted to whoever is attempting to enter the United States. Any competent person should be able to comprehend the consequences of weak border security, which promotes human smugglers and other illegal substances to enter the country. For example, the young man told me that he even did not know or meet the person who sponsored him — he simply paid the fees that people charge for “sponsoring” the undocumented immigrants.
The argument is not about the right of people to immigrate to the U.S, it is about the negligence of a system and the dishonesty of elected officials – including President Biden. Clearly, it is absolutely necessary for America to elect competent representatives who will find a way to implement a strict yet reasonable system of border security.
– Serwan Zangana supported Operation Iraqi Freedom as a U.S Army translator before coming to the U.S from Kurdistan, Iraq in 1997 to seek political asylum. He was granted asylum status and years later proudly became a U.S citizen. He currently serves as a correction officer in Roanoke.
