(Letter from Francisco Ochoa)

Dear Senator Boxer,
My name is Francisco Ochoa; I am 16 years old and I currently attend The Bay School of San Francisco where I am a junior. Recently in my US History course, we have been thoroughly discussing how immigration has historically affected the United States, and how it has helped to shape the wonderful country that it is today. We have been looking closely at the current US immigration policy, and some of the proposals that have been brought up to help shape it. As the son of two parents who were immigrants from Mexico, my bias is probably going to be very pronounced. However, I believe that some of the thoughts I have are not only true for me, but that most people would find reason within them.

In my opinion, one of the most important current immigration issues is the recently approved proposal to build a 700 mile long fence along the US/Mexico border. I am a little perplexed as to why our senators, voted to build this fence. That is in large part due to the fact that the budget for this project is not large enough to pay for more than about half of the fence. This also seems to me like it might be perceived as a negative and unfriendly gesture towards Mexico. The bill treats Mexicans like animals in some sense, by trying to fence them in. I know that illegal immigrants shouldn't be crossing the border illegally, but perhaps they are driven to do so because the current immigration policy is so delayed in giving visas to those who want to come to the US. I know from some primary sources that sometimes people in Mexico file for worker visas, and it takes many years before they get them, so they find it necessary to attempt to cross the border illegally, even with all the risks.

As I mentioned before, my parents are immigrants, influencing my view in a very major way. It's probably the single greatest influence that I have ever had on a political issue. I have the advantage of knowing their motives and reasons for coming to the United States and leaving home in Mexico. Also, I happen to know that the reason which they do this most of the time is because they want a better future for their kids (which they have given me) than they received themselves, and to help out their families in Mexico. Out of all the immigrants that I know, no one has gone to jail or has ever been anything less than a very hard working citizen/resident to the United States. For example, I have an uncle who came to the US in order to help his family back in Mexico. All he did was work in whatever he could find, and eventually he got his residency. To this day, he continues to send money back to them, and keep working hard so that his kids can have a better future than he ever could. I recognize that some immigrants contribute to crime in the US, but I am willing to say that most of the time that isn't the case. I don’t believe that anyone would really be foolish enough to go through all the trouble and hardship of coming to a new country just to commit crimes and go to jail.

I was very surprised when I learned that you had voted to support the bill to build a fence along the border, because I would have thought that you would want to develop better relations with immigrants. You could then use these positive feelings to control immigration in a more efficient and respectful manner. This is especially pertinent to you since you are a senator of the state that receives the most immigrants, especially Mexicans, in the US.

At my age, I don't believe that I have the capacity to fully understand all aspects of the issue, but one thing I believe is that there should be more worker visas given out. This is what most people immigrate here for, and if they could legally earn money in the US and send it back home to their families, it would help to strengthen their home economies, and reduce the great numbers of immigrants that cross the US borders every year. I hope that we play our part in the world to help other countries who really need it, benefiting people's lives everywhere as best we can.

Sincerely,
Francisco Alejandro Ochoa