The United States of America & Illegal Immigration

December 12, 2006

 By: Kevin Scanlon 

Immigration has essentially made the United States what it is today. The hard work and devotion of immigrants from all over the world have shaped this country into an immensely diverse and prosperous nation. The promises of freedom, success and security make the United States a very attractive place for foreign-born individuals to begin a new life. Immigration is also beneficial to the United States because it contributes necessary workers to the labor pool, and perpetuates economic growth. There are programs in place that allow for a limited number of foreign-born individuals to gain legal residency in the United States each year. The problem is that the number of people wishing to gain legal residency is far greater than number allowed by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. This growing imbalance has lead to high levels of illegal immigration. There are essentially two methods in which people immigrate to the United States illegally. The first method entails sneaking across the national borders without detection. This is also referred to as “entry without inspection” or EWI.[1] The immigration authorities currently estimate that about two-thirds of all illegal immigrants are EWIs.[2] The second method of illegal immigration involves the legal entry to the United States with a temporary visa and the subsequent violation of the terms of that visa. This type of illegal immigration occurs when an individual over-stays the term of their legal-obtained visa. The reason for concern is that illegal immigration places an immense strain on the United States economy and is seen as a drain on public funds. The healthcare system and educational system are particularly affected in a negative way by illegal immigration.

            To fully understand the scale of the current illegal immigration problem in the United States, one must look at the available data. The foreign-born population of the United States is currently 33.1 million, equal to 11.5 percent of the U.S. population.[3] Since 1970, more than 30 million legal and illegal immigrants have settled in the U.S., representing more than one-third of all people ever to come to America's shores.[4] This year alone, an estimated 1.1 million immigrants will enter the United States.[5] This number continues to grow each year. The immigration authorities have determined that the population of illegal aliens is increasing by an estimated half million people annually.[6] The number of illegal immigrants already settled in the United States is staggering. It is difficult for authorities to get an exact number, but recent estimates range from 8-9 million[7] to over 12 million[8] illegal residence. When the number of immigrants (both legal and illegal) are combined with the high birth rates of immigrant women, the total amount accounts for three-fourths of all U.S. population growth.[9] The high volume of individuals migrating to the United States demonstrates the need for effective control mechanisms to maintain order, fairness and sustainability.

            The United States government goes to great lengths to control immigration. Agencies such as the U.S. Coast Guard and the U.S. Customs and Border Protection act as the physical enforcers of U.S. immigration laws. These agencies primary concentrate their enforcement along the national borders and at ports of entry like airports and naval ports. The punishments for violating immigration laws rage from monetary fines to jail time to deportation. Each year the U.S. Border Patrol makes more than a million apprehensions of aliens who flagrantly violate our nation's laws by unlawfully crossing U.S. borders. Such entry is a misdemeanor, but, if repeated, becomes punishable as a felony.[10] Legal citizens of the United State that are caught attempting to aid in the illegal immigration of an individual face a fine of $5000 for their first offence.[11] Recently, the United States Customs and Border Patrol have increased their levels of inspections of passenger vehicles at border crossings. They have also increased the consequences for smugglers and implemented fines for those who don’t meet prosecution standards. These increased efforts have created noticeable results. U.S. Customs agents caught fewer people trying to enter the U.S. illegally by hiding in passenger cars. Apprehensions of undocumented migrants smuggled in cars dropped by half this year compared to last.[12] It is apparent that increased efforts at the borders are making a moderately significant impact on the number of immigrants attempting enter the U.S. illegally. The trouble is, less than half of illegal immigrants gain entry to this country by running across a border or through human smuggling. The remainder get into the country with legal temporary visas. They then knowingly overstay their allowed time periods and slip into the shadows of America. The challenge for the future of U.S. immigration control is to develop and implement more effective programs that monitor and identify visa over-stayers and U.S. immigration law breakers.

            The growing illegal immigration problem has taken a high priority among U.S. politicians and lawmakers. There are now several programs that politicians and the government leaders of this country are beginning to plan an implement in an effort to curtail this mounting problem. A few of these programs include increased employer sanctions, a guest worker program, and an increase in border security.

In the past, 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.[13] Many Democrats want to focus on employer sanctions as a way to stem illegal immigration. They have accused the White House and the Republican-led Congress for letting “its guard down when it comes to employer sanctions.”[14] A recent Government Accountability Office study showed that the enforcement of employer sanctions has been nearly nonexistent over the last few years. Audits of employers to make sure they are checking employee documentation fell 77 percent from 1998 to 2003.[15] State Representative Charles Gonzalez (D-Texas) has proposed a bill to increase enforcement of sanctions against employers of illegal aliens.[16] However, Angelo Amador, the director of immigration policy for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, said he promised to oppose any increased employer sanctions if they came to the House floor without other immigration reform provisions.[17] It is evident that there is no simple solution. New policies that impose sanctions on companies that employ illegals would, however, essentially lead to greater corporate accountability. If effectively implemented, the policies would significantly reduce the amount of jobs available to illegal immigrants. A decrease in available jobs will then translate to a decrease in illegal immigration. Some steps are already being taken towards this goal. The Bush administration's 2007 budget proposes $41.7 million in new funds for work-site enforcement and an additional 171 agents.[18] As a result, we should begin to see more employers of illegal immigrants facing sanctions and fines in the upcoming years.

Another policy being considered to help reduce illegal immigration is a guest worker program. The intent of guest worker programs is to add workers to the labor force temporarily, but not add permanent residents to the population.[19] On January 7, 2004, President George W. Bush proposed his plan for a temporary worker program in the United States. Bush described it as a, “new temporary worker program that will match willing foreign workers with willing American employers, when no Americans can be found to fill the jobs. This program will offer legal status, as temporary workers, to the millions of undocumented men and women now employed in the United States, and to those in foreign countries who seek to participate in the program and have been offered employment here.”[20] Bush has faces a lot of criticism over his new temporary worker program. Many U.S. citizens feel that the new policy is too easy on immigrants that are already in the country illegally. The new program would require these people to come forward and willfully pay a small fee to become a registered temporary worker. According to Bush, “the legal status granted by this program will last three years and will be renewable”.[21] Although Bush claims he is against amnesty for illegal immigrants, this plan seems as though it would be very favorable for illegal immigrants. Also, those who are opposed to a guest worker program in the United States raise the point that “in almost all countries and in virtually all time periods, guest worker programs tend to become larger and to last longer than anticipated, and some of the migrant workers settle with their families.”[22] Those who oppose the program often use the situation in Germany as an example. In Germany, there is now a very large, poorly integrated Turkish population that remains as the result of a similar guest worker program. If the United States is going to implement a guest worker program, many challenges will have to be faced. The program will have to be efficient and effective.

Increased border security is one area of immigration control that has made recent progress and appears to be moving in a productive direction. The United States Department of Homeland Security has been clearly focused on achieving three major goals. They include an efficient detention and removal system, improved technology, and enhanced infrastructure at the border. The re-engineered system will involve an increase in available detention capacity and a streamlined process to minimize the length of detention prior to removal of the alien.[23] This system will also integrate with, and require the cooperation of, the Canadian and Mexican governments. An improved detention and removal system is an attempt to stop illegals from simply being caught and then released only to attempt to cross the border again. The implementation of new technology along the borders promises to increase the capabilities of Border Patrol agents. Some of these new technologies include Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), aerial assets, Remote Video Surveillance camera systems, and sensors.[24] These tools will be used to spot illegal border-crossers in desolate regions of the desert and will allow Border Patrol agents to be dispatch quickly and efficiently. Finally, improvements to border infrastructure will assist in limiting illegal immigration. These future improvements will involve increasing physical layers of security, building access roads to enable Border Patrol to speed response efforts, installing stadium style lighting to deter border crossers, and providing surveillance cameras to monitor incursion along targeted areas of the border.[25] Other physical layers of security planned for the near future include the construction of 700 miles of fencing along various parts of the U.S. – Mexican border. Programs like this have received mixed emotions. Some people feel that building walls is the wrong approach to take while others demand increased security and protection from potential terrorist threats. In the end, good immigration policies combined with a variety of effective enforcement techniques will be required to ensure a satisfactory solution to the current illegal immigration problem.

 

Works Cited

 

Camarota, Steven A., “Immigrants at Mid-Decade A Snapshot of America's Foreign-Born Population in 2005” Center for Immigration Studies, December 2005, http://www.cis.org/articles/2005/back1405.html (accessed December 7, 2006).

 

Cameron Joseph and Bob Cusack, “Dems may take hardline on those who hire illegal immigrants,” The Hill, December 6, 2006, http://www.thehill.com/thehill/export/ TheHill/Business/120606_immigrants.html (accessed December 7, 2006).

 

Cantlupe, Joe, “Feds Targeting Employers of Illegal Workers,” SignOnSanDiego.com, December 10, 2006, http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/nation/20061210-9999-1n10enforce.html (accessed December 10, 2006).

 

“Fact Sheet: Secure Border Initiative,” Department of Homeland Security, November 2, 2005, http://www.dhs.gov/xnews/releases/press_release_0794.shtm (accessed December 11, 2006).

 

“Home Page,” Federation for American Immigration Reform, http://www.fairus.org/site/PageServer (accessed December 11, 2006).

 

“Illegal Immigration,” Center for Immigration Studies, http://www.cis.org/topics/ illegalimmigration.html (accessed December 7, 2006).

 

 “Illegal Immigration is a Crime,” Federation for American Immigration Reform, March, 2005, http://www.fairus.org/site/PageServer?pagename=iic _immigrationissuecenters6ce3 (accessed December 10, 2006).

 

Isackson, Amy, “Fewer Illegal Immigrants Being Smuggled to U.S. in Cars,” KPBS News, December 7, 2006, http://www.kpbs.org/news/local?id=6737 (accessed December 7, 2006).

 

“Number of illegal immigrants caught at the border declines,” HoustonChronicle.com, December 6, 2006, http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/headline/metro/ 4384742.html (accessed December 7, 2006).

 

“President Bush Proposes New Temporary Worker Program,” Whitehouse.gov, January 7, 2004, http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2004/01/20040107-3.html (accessed December 11, 2006).

 

“WITNESSES QUESTION ADMINISTRATION OF CURRENT GUEST WORKER PROGRAMS, DESCRIBE KEY PROVISION OF SENATE GUEST WORKER EXPANSION AS 'TROUBLING',” US Fed News, July 19, 2006, LexisNexis (accessed December 10, 2006).

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[1] “Illegal Immigration is a Crime,” Federation for American Immigration Reform, March, 2005, http://www.fairus.org/site/PageServer?pagename=iic_immigrationissuecenters6ce3 (accessed December 10, 2006).

[2] “Illegal Immigration is a Crime,” Federation for American Immigration Reform

[3] “Illegal Immigration,” Center for Immigration Studies, http://www.cis.org/topics/ illegalimmigration.html (accessed December 7, 2006).

[4] “Illegal Immigration,” Center for Immigration Studies.

[5] “Home Page,” Federation for American Immigration Reform, http://www.fairus.org/site/PageServer (accessed December 11, 2006).

[6] “Illegal Immigration is a Crime,” Federation for American Immigration Reform.

[7] “Illegal Immigration,” Center for Immigration Studies.

[8] Cameron Joseph and Bob Cusack, “Dems may take hardline on those who hire illegal immigrants,” The Hill, December 6, 2006, http://www.thehill.com/thehill/export/ TheHill/Business/120606_immigrants.html (accessed December 7, 2006).

[9] “Illegal Immigration,” Center for Immigration Studies.

 

[10] “Illegal Immigration is a Crime,” Federation for American Immigration Reform.

[11] Isackson, Amy, “Fewer Illegal Immigrants Being Smuggled to U.S. in Cars,” KPBS News, December 7, 2006, http://www.kpbs.org/news/local?id=6737 (accessed December 7, 2006).

[12] Isackson, “Fewer Illegal Immigrants Being Smuggled to U.S. in Cars,” KPBS News.

[13] “Illegal Immigration,” Center for Immigration Studies.

 

[14] Cameron Joseph and Bob Cusack, “Dems may take hardline on those who hire illegal immigrants,” The Hill, December 6, 2006, http://www.thehill.com/thehill/export/ TheHill/Business/120606_immigrants.html (accessed December 7, 2006).

[15] Cameron Joseph and Bob Cusack, “Dems may take hardline,” The Hill.

[16] Cameron Joseph and Bob Cusack, “Dems may take hardline,” The Hill.

[17] Cameron Joseph and Bob Cusack, “Dems may take hardline,” The Hill.

[18] Cantlupe, Joe, “Feds Targeting Employers of Illegal Workers,” SignOnSanDiego.com, December 10, 2006, http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/nation/20061210-9999-1n10enforce.html (accessed December 10, 2006).

[19] “WITNESSES QUESTION ADMINISTRATION OF CURRENT GUEST WORKER PROGRAMS, DESCRIBE KEY PROVISION OF SENATE GUEST WORKER EXPANSION AS 'TROUBLING',” US Fed News, July 19, 2006, LexisNexis (accessed December 10, 2006).

[20] “President Bush Proposes New Temporary Worker Program,” Whitehouse.gov, January 7, 2004, http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2004/01/20040107-3.html (accessed December 11, 2006).

[21] “President Bush Proposes New Temporary Worker Program,” Whitehouse.gov.

[22] Martin, Philip, “Border Security and Immigration Issues,” Capitol Hill Hearing Testimony, July 19, 2006, LexisNexis (accessed December 10, 2006).

[23] “Fact Sheet: Secure Border Initiative,” Department of Homeland Security, November 2, 2005, http://www.dhs.gov/xnews/releases/press_release_0794.shtm (accessed December 11, 2006).

 

[24] “Fact Sheet: Secure Border Initiative,” Department of Homeland Security.

[25] “Fact Sheet: Secure Border Initiative,” Department of Homeland Security.