Border Security and Illegal Immigration

Illegal immigration has been an important issue for decades.  There has been a debate over how to solve this issue for the same amount of time.  Some people believe that improved border security is the solution to this problem, and others believe that amnesty is the best solution.  I believe, like another group of people, that a guest work visa program would be the best solution to help lessen this problem.  This would have the least impact on the economy.  Illegal immigration has an impact on the economy.

This video highlights the problems associated with illegal immigration.

 11.3 million illegal immigrants 8.1 million are working.  This makes up about 5.1% of the labor force in the United States.  In the past a work visa program worked pretty well.  In the 1950's there was a Bracero work visa program that drastically reduced the number of illegal immigrants, and this allowed the border patrol to manage the smaller number of illegal immigrants.  Amnesty, like the program Reagan enacted in 1986, only reduces the number of immigrants for a short amount of time.  Border security alone will not solve this problem either.  Since 1992, there has been a 500% increase in border patrol agents and patrol hours.  This has not increased the number of apprehensions at the border.  Border security alone cannot solve the problem of illegal immigration, it must be combined with another program.



Sources
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/the-smart-way-to-stop-illegal-immigration/article/2559393
http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/11/19/5-facts-about-illegal-immigration-in-the-u-s/

Useful Links
https://www.usimmigrationsupport.org/illegal-immigration.html
http://www.visanow.com/immigration-blog/a-brief-history-of-illegal-immigration/
http://www.migrationpolicy.org/topics/border-security

Supreme Court Corruption Case

May 2, 2016
Unit 4 Judiciary
link to article

Former governor of Virginia, Bob McDonnell, faces two years in prison after being convicted of public corruption.  His case has made its way all the way to the Supreme Court, and the justices are likely to side with McDonnell.  Justices from both ends of the ideological spectrum have said that the laws give prosecutors to much power to say that normal political favors are corruption.  McDonnell was convicted for arranging meetings and attending events with a businessman who had given him gifts.  A federal appeals court upheld the jury's conviction.  A supporting brief, from several former White House counsels, warned the court that if McDonnell's conviction was upheld it would cripple the ability of elected officials to complete their jobs.  Because the Supreme Court has allowed McDonnell to stay out of prison while the Supreme Court decided whether or not to hear the case, it is likely that they will side with McDonnell.  While it is likely that the justices will side with McDonnell, it is still hard to say if they will agree on a rational.  This is a difficult case that will have implications on all elected officials.

McDonnell's case is a criminal case that began in the Federal District Court before moving to the appellate court.  The case eventually made it to the United States Supreme Court after the justices granted McDonnell a writ of certiorari.  The justices have heard briefs from the parties and amicus curiae briefs about this case.  This case has traveled through the entire court system and will eventually receive a decision from the Supreme Court.  That decision is McDonnell's last hope to escape conviction.