Illegal Immigration and the Environment

One of the most controversial political issues of today is illegal immigration. Illegal immigration describes the long-term shift of populations across national borders without complying with the legal requirements. Many people are crossing the United States borders illegally to find better jobs, escape political persecution, and to help out families back home. Some Americans are against this movement of immigrants. One problem is because of the damaging effects to the United States environment, another is the amount of money needed to clean up the waste that is being left behind. Illegal immigration not only hurts the economy, it is also taking its toll on the environment. Illegal immigration damages the environment when the illegal immigrants build fires, litter, pollute our natural water sources, and abandon their automobiles.

Illegal immigration damages the environment when the immigrants set up camp and build fires. In the Coronado National Forest, wildfires have been started due to campfires set by illegal immigrants because they do not properly put out the campfires.

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(Clarren, 2006) The forest has lost many trees including douglas firs and oaks that will take countless years to be replenished. Wildfires have also destroyed 68,413 acres of natural land and cost American tax payers $5.1 million to fight. (Associated Press, 2002) The campfires are also started with brush and vegetation that is harmful to breathe. (Clarren, 2006) Small children and the elderly get respiratory infections as a result of the smoke from these illegal campfires. Jesse Juen field representative of the Bureau of Land Management of Tuscan, Arizona states "Over the past two years wildfires have destroyed about 20% of vegetation along the San Pedro River in Cochise County." (Hull, 2002)

The illegal immigrants are also damaging the environment by leaving litter at their campsites as they travel on. The government has estimated...