Illegal immigration is nothing new to the United States. Immigrants come to the United States from all different corners of the world seeking not only political and religious freedom, but also jobs to provide for their families at home.

But the discovery of 11 dead Mexican immigrants in a train car in Denison on Oct. 14 was a wake-up call to the dangers of smuggling. Smugglers prey on people who are desperate to leave their countries to find economic opportunities that are found in the United States. In some cases, smuggling is lethal.

Four of the 11 have been identified, including 23-year-old Roberto Esparza and 17-year-old Omar Esparza, who were traveling to the United States in search of jobs so they could send money to support their family in a small Mexican town. The other two, Pedro Amador Lopez and Isidro Avila Bueso, both 38, were traveling from Honduras. The immigrants are thought to have endured temperatures of more than 120 degrees during their trip into the United States.

Family members of the Esparzas said a smuggler comes to their town of 900 every 15 days to recruit Mexicans for work in our country. The family said Roberto and Omar boarded a bus to the Mexican border town of Matamaros, and then hopped on a train that eventually took them to Oklahoma, and then to Iowa a few months later. No one yet knows the horror that the 11 immigrants endured.

On Jan. 10, 2000, three illegal Chinese immigrants were found dead of dehydration and starvation aboard a cargo ship in Washington state and a fourth immigrant died later. They each paid their smugglers $50,000 to $60,000 to be packed into a cramped steel container with 12 to 15 other people. Then the immigrants had to endure 15 to 25 days at sea.

In the Washington state case, Immigration and Naturalization Services convicted four men who were connected to the Chinese smuggling ring in New York on racketeering charges. But smugglers are getting smarter and their tactics could lead to more dangerous actions.

But what drives these immigrants to risk their lives in order to support their family? It’s because of the lack of jobs in their home countries, and the attractiveness of jobs in the United States. The jobs that illegal or legal immigrants are in search of do not affect the job markets in the United States. They take the jobs that we Americans do not want and which are the most dangerous, such as jobs at meat-packing plants, mining and agricultural facilities. These immigrants provide good labor for our economy.

It’s not immigrants’ fault that their countries don’t have the bountiful jobs that we have. Let’s not punish them for doing what many of our ancestors did long ago. Their goals are the same as ours.

Editorial Board:Cavan Reagan, Amber Billings, Rachel Faber Machacha, Charlie Weaver, Zach Calef, Ayrel Clark.