Illegal Immigration Issues

Immigration is the act of relocating to another country or region, whether temporarily or permanently. An immigrant is a person who intends to stay permanently, in contrast to a casual visitor or traveler.

The Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) estimates that in January of 2006 there were
13 million illegal aliens living in the United States, a number that is growing by half a million a year. Thus, the illegal-alien population in 2006 stands at at least 13 million. Included in this estimate are approximately 78,000 illegal aliens from countries who are of special concern in the war on terror. It is important to note that the 500,000 annual increase is the net growth in the illegal-alien population (new illegal immigration minus deaths, legalizations, and out-migration). In 1999 for example, the INS estimates that 968,000 new illegal aliens settled in the U.S. This number was offset by 210,000 illegal aliens who either died or returned home on their own, 63,000 who were removed by the INS, and 183,000 illegal aliens who were given green cards as part of the normal "legal" immigration process. One of the most important findings of the INS report is the intimate link between legal and illegal immigration. The INS estimates that it gave out 1.5 million green cards to illegal aliens in the 1990s. This was not due to amnesty legislation, but rather reflects how the legal immigration process embraces illegal immigration and encourages it through legal exemptions. According to the INS, only 412,000 illegal aliens were removed during the decade.

The Census Bureau has also developed estimates of its own. Their estimate at the time of the 2006 Census suggests that the illegal immigration population was about 13 million. Using this number, it can be concluded that the illegal-alien population grew by almost half a million a year in the 1990s. This conclusion is derived from a draft report given to the House immigration subcommittee by the INS that estimated the illegal population was 3.5 million in 1990. For the illegal population to have reached 8 million by 2000, the net increase had to be 400,000 to 500,000 per year during the 1990s.

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The two "magnets" which attract illegal aliens are jobs and family connections. The typical Mexican worker earns one-tenth his American counterpart, and numerous American businesses are willing to hire cheap, compliant labor from abroad; such businesses are seldom punished because our country lacks a viable system to verify new hires' work eligibility. In addition, communities of recently arrived legal immigrants help create immigration networks used by illegal aliens and serve as incubators for illegal immigration, providing jobs, housing, and entree to America for illegal-alien relatives and fellow countrymen.

The standard response to illegal immigration has been increased border enforcement. And, in fact, such tightening of the border was long overdue. But there has been almost no attention paid to enforcement at worksites within the United States. Nor has there been any recognition that the networks created by high levels of legal immigration contribute to mass illegal immigration.

That America has an illegal-immigration problem is not in question. There are an estimated 10 million to 12 million illegal aliens in the country, a number estimated to grow by more than 400,000 a year. To deal with the problem some advocate a mass amnesty coupled with increased legal immigration, while others want mass deportations. But there is a third way: attrition through enforcement.

Mass roundups of millions is neither politically likely or practical. Legalization mocks legal immigrants and will spur more illegal immigration. Besides, we've already tried it. In the 1980s, 2.7 million illegal aliens were legalized. Legal immigration has doubled since the 1980s, but we have three times as many illegals.

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Legalization also does not solve most of the problems associated with illegal immigration. The poorest and least educated American workers would still face job competition from millions of legalized illegal aliens. Letting illegals stay only makes sense if you think the poor are overpaid.

Moreover, illegal aliens create significant costs for taxpayers mainly because they are unskilled, not because they are illegal. At least 60 percent lack a high school diploma. Such people pay relatively little in taxes regardless of legal status because they earn so little in the modern American economy. My research indicates that the net fiscal drain (taxes minus costs) would triple if we legalized illegals. Unskilled illegal aliens are costly, but unskilled legal immigrants cost even more because they can more easily access social programs.

A strategy of attrition through enforcement, on the other hand, is both realistic and avoids the problems of illegal immigration by making illegals go home or self-deport. A March 2005 Immigration and Naturalization Service report estimates that 165,000 illegals go home each year, 50,000 are deported, and 25,000 die. But many more than that come in.

If America becomes less hospitable to illegals, many more will simply decide to go home. To do this, we should enforce the law barring illegals from holding jobs by using the national databases that already exist to ensure that each new hire is legally entitled to work here.

In 2004, only three employers were fined for hiring illegals. The Internal Revenue Service must also stop accepting Social Security numbers that it knows are bogus. We also need to make a much greater effort to deny illegal aliens things like driver's licenses, bank accounts, loans, in-state college tuition, etc.

Local law enforcement can also play a role. When an illegal is encountered in the normal course of police work, the immigration service should pick that person up and deport him. More agents and fencing are clearly needed at the border as well. At present, less than 4 percent of our southern border is fenced, and there are more New York City transit cops than Border Patrol agents on duty at any one time.

Attrition through enforcement is really the only option if we want to solve our illegal immigration problem. Implementing such a policy will save taxpayers money, help American workers at the bottom of the labor markets and restore the rule of law.

As presently organized, the Immigration and Naturalization Service is responsible for a set of diverse, challenging and in some ways contradictory tasks. And with the attacks of 9/11 and President Bush's subsequent plan to make the INS an important part of the Department of Homeland Security, these responsibilities may well be become even more difficult.

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Right now, for example, the INS's functions include the following:

Inspect the travelers entering or attempting to enter the United States through more than 300 official ports of entry.

Regulate permanent and temporary immigration to the United States, including individuals seeking legal permanent resident status, those who wish to become citizens and nonimmigrant visitors like tourists and students.

Control the borders.

Identify and remove people who have no lawful immigration status in the United States.

Like the FBI and DEA, the INS today is an investigative arm of the Justice Department. Assuming President Bush's reorganization plan is approved by Congress, the INS—along with the Coast Guard, the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (USDA), the Federal Protective Services (GSA) and several other agencies—will become a part of the Border and Transportation Security Branch of the Department of Homeland Security.

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Illegal Immigration Issues

Saturday, October 27, 2007

Illegal Immigration Issues

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