For the past three and a half years, President Donald Trump has guided the nation with an “America First” philosophy. He championed fair and reciprocal trade deals, brought countless jobs back to the United States, and cut taxes so that Americans could have more money in their pockets. Arizonans have seen firsthand what President Trump has achieved for them. However, the biggest accomplishment for the Grand Canyon State may be how the president brought a renewed focus to our nation’s border security.
Approximately 14.3 million illegal aliens live within the United States, including more than 400,000 who reside in Arizona. Once they illegally cross the border and arrive here, they pursue jobs just like any normal person would after arriving in a new country. Unfortunately, rather than go through the proper channels to immigrate to the United States, they broke the law and crossed the border clandestinely.
More than 7 million of the illegal aliens within our nation are estimated to hold jobs in the economy — that includes Arizona. These are jobs that could and should belong to Americans. President Trump understands this, and has used every tool at his disposal to enforce our federal immigration laws. Take Mississippi, for example. Last summer, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested nearly 700 suspected illegal aliens at poultry processing plants in the Magnolia State. In the week that followed, U.S. citizens flocked to the open positions that were suddenly available.
While Arizona has not seen anything of this scale yet, the state has hardly been left out in the cold. President Trump continues to act quickly in Arizona, ensuring that jobs held by illegal aliens instead go to U.S. citizens and lawful immigrants. It’s no secret that illegal aliens primarily occupy low-skilled positions, such as farming and construction, when they first arrive, but these are jobs that Americans need now more than ever — especially while our economy is recovering from the coronavirus pandemic.
In addition to filling jobs that rightly belong to Americans, we don’t exactly know who these illegal aliens are coming into our country. They’re not using the proper channels to enter, so they aren’t vetted before arriving here. Almost 3 percent of the illegal aliens in Arizona are incarcerated in state or local facilities at some time throughout the year — a much higher rate than the citizens and lawful immigrants of the state.
We have seen too many Americans suffer at the hands of criminal illegal aliens in recent years. Tragedies such as the murders of Kate Steinle and Mollie Tibetts occur far too frequently. This happens in Arizona just as it does across the nation, and we know for a fact that dangerous illegal aliens use Arizona as an entry point to sneak across the border. President Trump understands this as well, and has worked to close the Arizona border off from dangerous criminals.
Just as he promised on the campaign trail back in 2016, President Trump is quickly building a wall across our southern border, and has enhanced our nation’s border security in other ways, too. The Trump Administration has more than 270 miles of the wall built so far, and the results are already showing. In July alone, the number of border apprehensions had been reduced by half from year to year. That news should help any Arizonan sleep well at night.
In 2016, President Trump promised that he would implement common sense policies to protect American jobs, secure our borders, and protect us from the potentially dangerous criminals that want to escape into the United States. He kept those promises, and we have proof that his policies are working. In the last three months, we have seen more than 9 million jobs added to the economy, and the number of illegal aliens attempting to cross the border has decreased substantially.
The results are in. President Trump’s policies are working. Look at what he has accomplished for Arizona and the nation over the last three and a half years. Now imagine where we could be if he has another four years in office to build on that success. President Trump is the right man for the job, and has a proven track record that can back him up.
Mary Ann Mendoza is an Angel Mom from Arizona and is a member of the Donald J. Trump for President Inc. advisory board.
