Title:
Does there need to be a wall on the border between the United States and
Mexico?
Author:
Michael Terwilliger
Course/Level:
American Government Grade 10
Materials:
-computer to watch videos
-post-it-notes
-copies of documents with questions
-Presidential Nominee Rick Perry speech at an El Paso, Texas town meeting (2012)
-Presidential Nominees Mitt Romney speech to public at Reagan Library in Simi
Valley, California (Sept. 7, 2011)
-ACLU Press Release Regarding Border Patrol (2013)
-“thrash-it-out” question sheet
HCPSS Curriculum Connections:
This activity will be completed during the 4th quarter unit on Public Policy
Learning Outcomes: Students will:
-identify the positives and negatives associated with building a wall on the
US/Mexican border
-evaluate whether or not bias is prevalent the documents provided
- formulate evidence based opinions that support or refute the building of a wall on
the Mexican border
-Corroboration-Construct an interpretation using conflicting information given about
the topic.
Historical Thinking Skills Assessed:
-Close Reading—Students will be looking for both pros and cons of building a
border as well as author bias.
-Evidence—Students will justify a claim/opinion that is based on the evidence
provided.
-Claim—Students will create a plausible argument based on an evaluation of the
data provided.
Background:
The border debate has been entrenched in political debate for at least a century. In
recent memory, it has been one of the most debated issues on the political agenda. The
creation of the US Border Patrol in 1924 was the first attempt at a national level to deal
with drug trafficking and illegal immigration into the United States. The creation of the
Border Patrol was tied to passage of the Immigration Act of 1924 (Asian Exclusion Act)
which restricted admission of immigrants from countries to 2% of their 1890 immigration
numbers. The act in actuality, heavily benefited western Europeans and heavily
restricted eastern Europeans/Asians. There was no mention of Mexican immigration in
the Immigration Act of 1924, instead focusing the brunt of the immigration restriction
offensive on Asians and Eastern Europeans. As a result, Mexico was left essentially
unaffected. The creation of the Border Patrol was thus created as the strong arm of the
Immigration Act of 1924. It’s purpose: to enforce laws and regulations for the admission
of foreign-born persons into the United States.
When the United States intervened in World War I, Mexican laborers immigrated in
to the United States to work the farms that desperately needed laborers to fulfill food
quotas for the military. John Steinbeck’s book “The Grapes of Wrath” discusses the
impact of the Depression on American farmers in mid-west shortly after WWI. Some of
whom moved west and clashed with these Mexican laborers.
The Bracero Act of 1942 served a similar purpose for America. Under the
provisions of the Act, Mexicans were recruited (some 4.6 million) to work temporarily as
agrarian laborers. The influx of laborers continued after WWII ended and attempts to
restrict Mexican immigration through Immigration Act in 1965, 76, 78 and 80 failed. The
number of legal immigrants actually rose from 38,000 in 1964 to 67,000 in 1986.
Undocumented immigration rose from 87,000 to 3.8 million per year between those
same times.
After 9/11, the Border Patrol has also taken on the task of preventing terrorists and
terrorists weapons into the United States. In 2005, Congressman Duncan Hunter (R-CA)
introduced to the House of Representatives the Border Protection, Antiterrorism, and
Illegal Alien Control Act of 2005, which mandated the construction of hundreds of miles
of fencing along the southern U.S. border. The bill passed in the House but failed in the
Senate. Less than 10 months later, President George W. Bush signed the Secure Fence
Act of 2006. It planned to build 700 miles of double-reinforced security fencing in areas
along the border of Mexico that are prone to drug trafficking and illegal immigration as
well as the installation of surveillance cameras. The Secure Fence Act was signed in
January of 2006 and by May 15th, 2006, President Bush deployed 6,000 National
Guardsmen to the Mexico border to assist with border control, this was called “Operation
Jump Start.” The total cost, $7 billion.
As the debate continues to rage on in recent years, the effects are being felt by
persons both in and outside of the United States.
Context Setting -- The Hook
5 min
Supplies
-computer
-post-it notes
-chalkboard labeled for and against building a wall on the Mexican border
-have students put their name on the post it note and place it on the board in one of two areas: for
building a wall on the Mexican border and against building a wall on the Mexican border
-discuss basis for student decisions
-hand out Secure Fence Act Sheet and discuss main idea/theme
Document Analysis
-20 minutes
-Give students documents 1, 2, 3 and 4
-Allow students 10-15 minutes to read the documents and answering the questions provided
-Conduct a “thrash-it-out” using the “thrash-it-out” question sheet provide
-Ask students if they would like to change their post-it-note opinion from the beginning of
class
-Conduct “thrash” it out”
SECURE FENCE ACT OF 2006
AT THE SECOND SESSION
Begun and held at the City of Washington on Tuesday, the third day of January, two thousand and six
An Act
To establish operational control over the international land and maritime borders of the United States.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress
assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Secure Fence Act of 2006’’.
SEC. 2. ACHIEVING OPERATIONAL CONTROL ON THE BORDER.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 18 months after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of
Homeland Security shall take all actions the Secretary determines necessary and appro- priate to achieve
and maintain operational control over the entire international land and maritime borders of the United
States, to include the following—
(1) systematic surveillance of the international land and maritime borders of the United States through more
effective use of personnel and technology, such as unmanned aerial vehicles, ground-based sensors,
satellites, radar coverage, and cameras; and
(2) physical infrastructure enhancements to prevent unlaw- ful entry by aliens into the United States and
facilitate access to the international land and maritime borders by United States Customs and Border
Protection, such as additional checkpoints, all weather access roads, and vehicle barriers.
-Secure Fence Act (signed
into being by Vice
President Dick Cheany
and Presidents of the
Senate Harry Reid and
Mitch McConnell)
Document 1
Presidential Nominee Rick Perry speech at an El Paso, Texas town meeting (2012)
“The idea that you’re going to build a wall from Brownsville to El Paso — 1200 miles —
is a bit ludicrous to me..”
-Texas Governer/2012 Presidential Nominee Rick Perry
Click on the video link below:
http://www.theblaze.com/blog/2011/09/07/flashback-rick-perry-says-idea-of-borderfence-is-nonsense/
1. Is this a Primary or secondary source? How do you know?
2. What is the claim the video is making about border patrol?
3. How does the person in the video support that claim?
4. What feelings did the director try to invoke in the listener?
5. How can this source be used to answer the focus question?
Document 2
Presidential Nominees Mitt Romney speech to public at Reagan Library in Simi Valley,
California (Sept. 7, 2011)
Well, first, we ought to have a fence. Secondly...The whole fence should be 2,600 miles…
Romney: Yes. We got to -- we got to have a fence, or the technologically approved system to make
sure that we know who's coming into the country, number one. Number two, we ought to have
enough agents to secure that fence and to make sure that people are coming over are caught…
If we want to secure the border, we have to make sure we have a fence, technologically,
determining where people are, enough agents to oversee it, and turn off that magnet. We can't talk
about amnesty, we cannot give amnesty to those who have come here illegally.”
--Mitt Romney, former Governor of Massachusetts, stated the following during the
Republican presidential debate held at the Reagan Library in Simi Valley, CA on Sep. 7, 2011,
Source: NYTimes.com
http://2012election.procon.org/view.answers.election.php?questionID=172
1. Is this a Primary or secondary source? How do you know?
2. What is the claim the source is making about border patrol?
3. How does the person in the source support that claim?
4. What feelings did the author try to invoke in the reader?
5. How can this source be used to answer the focus question?
Document 3
ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union) Releases List of Border-Related
-
Amendments It Supports
June 20, 2013
WASHINGTON — According to news reports, Sens. Corker (R-Tenn.) and
Hoeven (R-N.D.) plan to file an amendment today to the immigration reform bill
that would place an additional 20,000 border patrol agents along the U.S.-Mexico
border, require construction of 700 miles of additional border fencing, and
provide money for aerial drones.
"This plan would double the number of border patrol agents to 40,000 and
appears to more than triple spending on border enforcement activities at a time
when unauthorized entry is at near-historic lows," said Joanne Lin, American Civil
Liberties Union legislative counsel. "This is unnecessary because the underlying
legislation already includes $6 billion more for border enforcement activities,
which the Congressional Budget Office estimates would reduce unauthorized
entry significantly. Furthermore, Border Patrol has demonstrated itself to be an
agency that abuses its power and lacks independent oversight. This massive
deployment of force would be simply devastating for border communities."
1. Is this a Primary or secondary source? How do you know?
2. What is the claim the source is making about border patrol?
3. How does the person in the source support that claim?
4. What feelings did the author try to invoke in the reader?
5. How can this source be used to answer the focus question?
Document 4
Cesar Chavez: Longtime foe
of illegal immigration
March 22, 2007
By Bryan Fischer (reporter for www.renewAmerica.com)
“employers go to Mexico and have unlimited, unrestricted use of
illegal alien strikebreakers to break the strike. And, for over 30 years,
the Immigration and Naturalization Service has looked the other way
and assisted in the strikebreaking. I do not remember one single
instance in 30 years where the Immigration service has removed
strikebreakers. ... The employers use professional smugglers to
recruit and transport human contraband across the Mexican border
for the specific act of strikebreaking...We have essentially privatized
the immigration policy of this country, and left it in the hands of
California's growers."
Ceaser Chavez
Founder of United Farm Workers Union
Testimony to Congress 1979
Regarding Illegal Immigration
1. Is this a Primary or secondary source? How do you know?
2. What is the claim the source is making about border patrol?
3. How does the person in the source support that claim?
4. What feelings did the author try to invoke in the reader?
5. How can this source be used to answer the focus question?
Document 5
TAKE OUR JOBS
There are two issues facing our nation--high unemployment and
undocumented people in the workforce--that many Americans believe
are related.
Missing from the debate on both issues is an honest recognition that
the food we all eat - at home, in restaurants and workplace cafeterias
(including those in the Capitol) - comes to us from the labor of
undocumented farm workers.
Agriculture in the United States is dependent on an immigrant
workforce. Three-quarters of all crop workers working in American
agriculture were born outside the United States. According to
government statistics, since the late 1990s, at least 50% of the crop
workers have not been authorized to work legally in the United States.
We are a nation in denial about our food supply. As a result the UFW
has initiated the "Take Our Jobs" campaign.
Farm workers are ready to welcome citizens and legal residents who
wish to replace them in the field. We will use our knowledge and staff
to help connect the unemployed with farm employers. Just fill out the
form to the right and continue on to the request for job application.
Excerpted from:
www.takeourjobs.org
Website created to encourage legal
citizens in America to come and take
jobs as farmers and eliminate illegal
immigrant labor.
1. Is this a Primary or secondary source? How do you know?
2. What is the claim the source is making about border patrol?
3. How does the person in the source support that claim?
4. What feelings did the author try to invoke in the reader?
5. How can this source be used to answer the focus question?
Corroborating Evidence and Constructing Interpretations -- Close Analysis
5 minutes
--Students will then have “thrash-it-out” with another student in the room who is of the
opposite opinion of theirs. (if the numbers are not balanced there can be 2-3 students with
one perspective having a “thrash-it-out” with 1 student.
-students will answer the following question based on the “thrash-it-out” with their
partner(s)
THRASH IT OUT SHEET
In a group/with a partner, answer the following questions:
1. Did everyone in the group come to the same conclusion about the documents they
read?
2. Answer the focus questions by stating your claim (thesis statement) here:
3. What evidence in the sources can you use to support your claim (thesis statement).
Note-You must use data from at least two of the sources provided.
Thoughtful Application
- ask if students would like to switch their position regarding building a wall on the border of Mexico
-give students the “in a nutshell” pros and cons of building a wall on the Mexican border
-decide whether or not you think a physical border on the Mexican border is the best idea
-give each student 15-30 seconds to:
1. Present their thesis
2. Propose their argument (which utilizes information from the documents)
3. Take a bow
Some possible arguments are below:
Pros
1. With a skyrocketing national debt and annual deficits,
the country can't sustain the drag on our
economy and the entitlement cost increases
that follow illegal immigration.
2. We are a nation of laws; we can't choose which laws
to enforce and which ones to ignore.
3. Amnesty and other proposed fixes to the current
illegal immigration problem can't even be
considered until the border fence is in place,
since a change in laws for a scheduled date
could trigger a massive inflow of illegals like
no other in history.
4. A country that built a transcontinental railroad and
put a man on the moon shouldn't have a
problem building a simple fence, especially
with billions of dollars of government
"stimulus" funds available.
5. It would cut off vehicle transport of illegals, forcing
those who want to enter the country to
pursue legal channels or cover potentially
hundreds of miles on foot and overcome other
difficult obstacles.
6. It would create thousands of construction jobs while
the fence is being built.
7. In addition to discouraging or stopping much of
illegal immigration, it would increase the
number of apprehensions of illegal
immigrants.
8. It would help contain the illegal drug trade pouring
into the country from Mexico and help keep
the bloody drug wars outside the United
States.
The wall would provide additional protection from
terrorist entry into the country.
Cons
1.
The materials and labor cost necessary
to build the border fence are something
we can't afford right now.
2.
It damages the international view of the
U.S., giving a propaganda weapon to our
enemies, who may compare the fence to
the Berlin Wall.
3.
A fence covering that long of a border will
take a very long time to build and may
not be very effective.
4.
The fence would disrupt the environment and
wild life, as it may potentially cross
rivers, sanctuaries, preservations, parks
5.
The costs and risks to humans crossing the
border, including elderly and children,
will dramatically increase.
6.
It might strain relations between Mexico and
the United States.
7.
Because of the increased costs and risks of
crossing, illegal immigrants that
previously pursued seasonal work and
then returned home may have to bring
their families and live permanently in the
country.
The information in the boxes above could be given to the class if teacher deems necessary,
however, the class may come up with many of these ideas on their own.
Homework
-Students will find a current article that discusses the topic of border security and
answer the following question.
1. Does this enhance or hurt your thesis statement?
2. How does the article enhance or hurt your thesis statement?
3. Highlight the evidence within the article that either enhances or hurts
thesis statement.
-Anticipatory Set for next day: Students could write a 2-3 sentence conclusion using
the thesis and two body paragraphs created
Grading
Use the link provided on the link below entitled “Historical Thinking Rubric” to
grade the “Historical Thinking Skills” listed above.
https://historylabs.wikispaces.hcpss.org/Course+Materials+--+Stout
Bibliography
1. http://www.wcl.american.edu/hrbrief/14/3tavares.pdf
2. http://www.umass.edu/complit/aclanet/USMigrat.html
3. http://www.pbs.org/kpbs/theborder/history/interactive-timeline.html
4. http://www.journalofamericanhistory.org/projects/mexico/jdurand.html
5. http://www.aclu.org/immigrants-rights/problematic-senate-border-planworks
6. http://2012election.procon.org/view.answers.election.php?questionID=172
7. http://www.theblaze.com/blog/2011/09/07/flashback-rick-perry-says-idea-ofborder-fence-is-nonsense/
8. http://www.renewamerica.com/columns/fischer/070322
9. http://www.takeourjobs.org/