This article was last updated on April 16, 2022
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Illegal migration is at the core of America’s immigration problems. And it is likely to become an even more divisive issue as the surge of Central American children, adolescents, and women continue to turn themselves in at the border and are dispersed throughout the United States without much fear of being sent back to their home countries.
It is, however, a complicated issue. And there is some truth on the side of those who point out “this nation’s complicity in an arrangement that allows more than 11 million people to live here without documentation. For years it’s been an arrangement of mutual benefit.”
That has been true for some people and groups, but for the vast majority of Americans, the “rewards” of illegal migration have been minimal and the civic, cultural, and political costs have been substantial.
Americans generally support legal immigration, but do not support those who gain entry by breaking immigration laws and avoid going through established legal immigration processes. Yet the American public is also ambivalent about the current slate of proposals that address this issue. Americans sympathize with those who wish to better their lives, but still think those who want to come should follow legal procedures. They don’t want mass deportations of the estimated 11-12 million illegal aliens already here, but they are supportive of deportations as a tool. They are also willing to consider some form of legalization for those already here, but do not want to face the same circumstances down the road.
And then there are those in positions of power.
Over time, Americans in positions of political and civic responsibility have turned a blind eye toward the hiring of illegal migrants. Government, for its part, has compounded these difficulties by first failing to establish strong and effective legal deterrents to such hiring practices (IRCA), continually pushing for amnesties to those who are living and working in the country in violation of our immigration laws (the 2007 comprehensive immigration bill and the most recent 2014 Senate Democratic bill), and most recently by President’s Obama’s numerous executive actions and administrative narrowing of immigration enforcement.
To complicate matters further, an effort is determinedly in progress to minimize the importance of illegal migration. This takes two forms. One is the view expressed by former President George W. Bush that “family values don’t stop at the Rio Grande.”
This expression of empathy rests on the proposition that the value of a better life for one’s self and one’s family is the property not only of Americans, but also of those who come here. That is certainly a fair and accurate statement, but it does triple duty as an understanding, an explanation, and an encouragement.
Moreover, it raises the obvious question: If 150 million potential immigrants worldwide want to improve their lives and those of their families, should we let them all have visas on that basis?
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