Point/Counterpoint: No Need for Immigrants Here. There are two questions to consider when deciding whether to stop welcoming illegal aliens.
First, do we even need the flow of labor that illegal immigration represents? And second, whatever immigration policy we do adopt, can it be enforced if we make it easy to live here illegally, as we do now? The answer to both questions is No. There is no economic need for foreign labor, legal or illegal. There are an estimated 12 million illegal aliens in the United States, with perhaps 7 million of them in the labor market — either working or actively looking for work.
More generally, the supporters of illegal immigration claim that low-skilled labor is a precious resource, like oil, and because we're running out of it at home, we have to import it from abroad. Apart from the specifics of policy, we need to consider how to enforce whatever path we decide on. Mark Krikorian is executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies.
Economic Impact of Local Immigration Regulation: An Empirical Analysis. Immigrant arrest (Wikimedia) Recessions and the subsequent job losses often result in backlash against a country’s migrants.
Though migration patterns suggest a recent decline in new arrivals from Mexico in the United States, the U.S. -Mexico corridor has traditionally recorded some of the highest levels of migrant movement in the world. Anti-immigrant sentiment in the United States sometimes stems from perceived competition instead of cohesion concerns or security threats, but it can also be exacerbated by the increased temperature of political debates themselves. A 2013 Migration Policy Institute report notes that the costs and scope of immigration enforcement have expanded greatly for the federal government in recent years; the costs were an estimated $18 billion in 2012, and some $187 billion since the passage of the 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act.
The findings include: In places where local anti-immigration laws were enacted, employment fell by 1% to 2%. Analysis assignments. Unauthorized Alien Students: Issues and ‘DREAM Act’ Legislation. (iStock) On June 15, 2012, U.S.
Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano issued a memorandum concerning undocumented immigrants who were brought to the country before the age of 16. It stated that if they had lived in the U.S. for five consecutive years and were either in school, had received a high-school diploma or GED, or had been admitted to a university, they could be considered for protection from deportation and would be able to apply for two-year work permits. The Migration Policy Institute estimates the number of those eligible at 1.76 million. Public education in the U.S. is open to unauthorized aliens through high school. A 2011 report by the Congressional Research Service, “Unauthorized Alien Students: Issues and ‘DREAM Act’ Legislation,” used data from Congressional records and from the Migration Policy Institute to estimate the impact of proposed immigration reform on millions of undocumented students currently in the United States. The report states: Unauthorized Immigrant Population: National and State Trends, 2011.
As major political questions about unauthorized immigrants in the United States continue to be debated, the size and nature of the undocumented population is changing.
Observers note several new trends that may be driving such changes. Law enforcement tactics and policies are evolving, home country economies are changing, and the negative economic and labor situation within the United States has made the country less attractive to some potential migrants. A 2011 report by the Pew Hispanic Center, part of the Pew Research Center, “Unauthorized Immigrant Population: National and State Trends,” examines the changes in demographic patterns and characteristics of undocumented border-crossers. The report’s findings include: In March 2010, undocumented immigrants made up 3.7% of the U.S. population and 5.2% of the labor force. Tags: Hispanic, Latino, race, campaign issue By Rozanne Larsen | July 20, 2011.
Center for Immigration Studies. FAIR: Federation for American Immigration Reform.