Rev. Robin Hoover's Border Maps

Common Sense Says Maps Are not the Answer

For some strange reason Pastor Robin Hoover of Tucson, Ariz., and the founder of Humane Borders has decided to print maps for distribution in Mexico. These maps show routes that illegal immigrants can use to cross the desert into Arizona. Additionally, the map indicates water locations, rescue beacons and future plans call for maps to indicate locations where cellular phone service is optimal.

I have heard the argument that this organization has an agenda of compassion and only wishes to save lives. It is at this very moment that I disagree with their mission. If they were really trying to save lives, they would not be printing maps to encourage non-citizens to cross the parched Arizona desert. These maps will most certainly increase the numbers of illegal immigrants, thereby increasing the number of people dying in the desert.

As with most issues, this is a complex problem with many tough decisions to be made. Most importantly, this is a national security crisis. In recent weeks, there have been Mexican military incursions into the United States, reports of an unlicensed Spanish radio station in Texas broadcasting the locations of Border Patrol agents, two more tunnels found for drug trafficking; and yet the immigrants still make their way, only this time they have a map, compliments of Pastor Hoover and the First Christian Church.

The negative impact that illegal immigrants have in Arizona is wide ranging: from a $31 million healthcare bill for illegal immigrants in 2005, to over crowded jails, $5 million last year in welfare and food stamps to illegals, public education problems, increased crime rates and many more. If Humane Borders distributes their maps, these numbers will surely increase at an alarming rate. But what if the Border Patrol Agents, while chasing a group of illegal immigrants, is distracted and a terrorist comes across the border with a dirty bomb? Is there any doubt that Pastor Hoover and Humane Borders are jeopardizing national security?

Solving this crisis is going to take a plan that involves two primary components: we must begin with a plan that does not reward law breakers on either side of the border, and we must not create a program that encourages future illegal immigration.

Based on these guiding principles, there needs to be stiffer penalties for American employers and laws calling for the mandatory verification of employees’ legal status. Penalizing companies that knowingly employ illegal immigrants is a key component to curbing the influx of immigrants. Other such solutions to solving this national security crisis on the border include: building a fence and securing the border with our military technology, increasing penalties for alien smuggling and, finally, put an end to “anchor babies,” wherein a child born in the United States of an illegal immigrant does not receive citizenship.

The guest worker plan touted by Senators McCain and Kennedy is not realistic. Any plan that requires registration and return to Mexico is simply not going to be effective. Additionally, history has shown the guest worker programs do not work. From the recent riots in France, youth of Muslim guest workers residing in Paris ghettos, to Saudi Arabia and its reported six million guest workers, these programs only cause for a caste system to be created within the country. It is also important to note that these guest worker programs do not hold Mexicans accountable for creating substandard living conditions and an economy that cannot support its population. These guest worker programs help Mexico as American dollars keep being pumped into the Mexican economy.

Maps are not the answer for illegal immigration. Pastor Hoover is mistaken and he is endangering the lives of those in Mexico, harming the economy of Arizona and endangering the lives of all Americans. Illegal immigration is about nation security first and foremost; join me in telling Rev. Hoover to stop printing and distributing these maps.