Below we provide four extracts, varying viewpoints on the problem of illegal immigration in the United States. They are taken from the BBC Web site.6 Illegal immigration also has a negative effect on the U.S.’s economic security. It doesn’t take a degree in economics to realize that a massive flow of low-skilled labor puts downward pressure on the wages of native-born Americans. These low-wage workers—who are largely paid off the books and without benefits—

meanwhile cost the American taxpayer in terms of social services. Illegal aliens rarely pay taxes, yet they send their children to our schools free of charge, they receive welfare benefits, and they get free medical treatment. The best solution to our illegal immigration problem is to begin enforcing our laws.

That means the federal government needs to get serious about prosecuting employers who lure illegal aliens into the U.S. with jobs. The threat of hefty fines and possible jail time will chasten employers’ desire to hire cheap, illegal workers. We also need to recommit to guarding our borders with more personnel, more technology and more money for physical infrastructure. And, we need to enable local police departments to aid the federal government in finding and deporting illegal aliens.
—Congressman Tom Tancredo There is a tremendous amount of hypocrisy surrounding the debate. So many businesses are doing well on the back of undocumented workers—from the oranges that are picked in Florida to the tomatoes harvested in Illinois.
Yet, their basic rights, such as the right to a safe workplace and fair treatment, are not protected. Undocumented workers never file complaints for injuries sustained at work for fear of being sacked. Rich families in Los Angeles employ undocumented nannies to look after their children. They also employ undocumented housekeepers, cleaners and gardeners—many of whom have keys to their houses. How can we be called criminals when we hold the keys to the houses of some of the richest people in the state?
—Felipe Aguirre, deputy mayor of “sanctuary”
town Maywood With a wink and a nod, the United States government essentially allowed millions of people into the country to be employed in vital strategic industries.
These workers produce value and that value is appropriated by business owners. The worker is never remunerated fairly for the value he creates and the immigrant worker creates a value far and above what a native worker creates because he works for a lower wage, does not have paid holidays, a pension plan or sick pay. They make an incredible economic contribution to the economy. A fair exchange would be a streamlined procedure allowing them to legalize their status. The current legislation being debated by the Senate, the Hagel-Martinez compromise, would not be satisfactory for the immigrant communities.
—Nativo Lopez, national president of Mexican-
American Political Association President Bush, the tough-talking cowboy leader of the free world, will deploy 6,000 unarmed National Guard in “support”
of U.S. Border Patrol along America’s southern frontier with Mexico. This ostensibly will address the threat posed by daily infiltration of American territory by waves of illegal migrants and massive loads of contraband that include billions of dollars of drugs, weapons and exploited human beings. Our National Guard, armed with construction equipment and paper clips, will be placed in the midst of a virtual war zone to build roads and shuffle paper for an outgunned and undermanned federal Border Patrol. President Bush seems to suffer from the notion that the greatest problem facing border agents is insufficient office help, not corrupt Mexican military forces colluding with violent drug cartels and shooting at our people. The Mexican government also receives the benefit of $50bn sent home annually by illegal aliens.
—Chris Simcox, founder and president of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps, a volunteer group monitoring U.S. borders for illegal immigrants Create a systemigram that portrays the various issues alluded to in these four viewpoints showing how they interact, conflict, and possibly produce counterintuitive behaviors, thereby revealing the complexities of the situation and hopefully an enlightened problem definition, which we suggest is an essential prior to the formulation of executive action. See Figure 7.4 for an answer.