Illegal Immigration
Illegal Immigration and How It Affects the United States
William Pearsall
St. Joseph’s College
Problem Solving/Professionals / GS401
Professor Sherley Beausoleil
March 13, 2017
Illegal immigration has been an issue that has been of major concern for decades in the United States. As much as it seems to be of major concern every time election season comes around, it seems as if there is never any progress ever made. With the situation in the country right now concerning travel bans and talk of building a wall on our southern border, there has been much debate between the two major political parties. Regardless of political views, undocumented immigration is something that needs to be taken seriously and stopped because it is illegal. With so many people coming into this country undocumented, how do we really know who we are letting in? We don’t. There needs to be a system in place that stops this illegal activity, yet still allows for those seeking to pursue the “American dream”, to do so.
Analyzing the environment
The current environment regarding illegal immigration in the United States is a very sensitive subject. Many democratic leaders are against taking certain measures to secure our borders and further screening of individuals who are coming into our country. Republicans are attempting to take all possible measures to eliminate illegal immigration and even deport criminal aliens.
Recognizing a problem
Some problems with illegal immigration are that there are individuals coming into the country who are working and not paying taxes, some are committing crime, some are causing working Americans to pay more for their health coverage by not paying for services provided. Many Americans feel that undocumented immigrants are taking their jobs by performing cheaper labor. According to a Gallup Poll from as far back as 2006, “66% of Americans believe that illegal immigrants “cost the taxpayers too much by using government services like public education and medical services” rather than becoming “productive citizens” in the long run who “pay their fair share of taxes”.” Another problem is that there are many refugees coming into the United States from war-torn countries such a Syria and Iraq. There are many who feel that these individuals are not being properly vetted and that we may be letting Islamic extremists into the United States and leaving ourselves open to future terrorist threats.
Identifying the problem
The major problem the United States needs stricter policies in place in order to deter this type of immigration. At the same time, we need to make it easier for individuals who want to become United States citizens, a way to do it legally so that they may become productive members of society. However, we must first make sure that our national security is not at risk before we accommodate anybody who isn’t already a United States citizen.
Making assumptions
Some assumptions that can be made that it is impossible to completely stop illegal immigration. Another assumption could be that stopping illegal immigration will prevent terrorist attacks on U.S. soil. It would probably be safe to say that because of how large the United States is, it is absolutely possible that there was always be a few who “slip through the cracks”. In regards to terrorism, even if we we’re able to completely stop the threat of Islamic-extremist type terrorism, there is no way that we would be able to prevent acts of domestic terrorism, the committing of terrorist acts in the perpetrator’s own country, such as the Oklahoma City bombing.
Generating alternatives
While there are numerous options available when it comes to combatting illegal immigration, perhaps one of the most popular approaches is the thought of the construction of a wall at our southern border. Based on an example set forth by one of our allies, Miriam Valverde of politifact.com points out that we can just take a look at what Israel has done to secure their borders. In a report titled, “Securing Israel: Lessons learned from a nation under constant threat of attack”, Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin states, “the number of people illegally crossing the Israel-Egypt border was more than 16,000 in 2011 and less than 20 in 2016, a 99 percent decrease.” Based on the resources available at the United States’ disposal, it’s possible to imagine that we could potentially pull off similar results. However, it should be noted that the U.S-Mexico border is roughly 2,000 miles while the Israel-Egypt border is only about 150 miles. This also made it easier to supply a sufficient amount of man-power to patrol the border.
Another feasible approach would be to increase security along the border and well as rounding up criminal aliens by activating the National Guard. According to an article by Donovan Slack and Kevin Johnson of USA Today, “An internal Department of Homeland Security memo from last month proposed calling up as many as 100,000 National Guard troops to round up undocumented immigrants” (Feb. 2017). However, DHS denied the accusation that they were considering activating the National Guard.
Another rather interesting approach would be to institute a travel ban. This is one approach that was actually put into place already earlier this year. According to USA Today, the ban, “temporarily barred citizens of Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen for 90 days, all refugees for 120 days, and Syrian citizens indefinitely. It led to chaos at U.S. and international airports as tens of thousands of visa holders were blocked from entering the country or detained after arriving in the U.S.” It wasn’t long before the federal courts shut the ban down and stated that such a ban was unconstitutional. However, President Trump plans to roll out a plan for a revised travel ban and will rely on, “a 1952 law that allows a president to bar entry to immigrants or classes of immigrants if the president deems them to be “detrimental to the interests of the United States.”
Finally, one approach to decrease illegal immigration that could have an immediate impact would through the use of “E-Verify”. According to Eddie C. Quinn of the Jacksonville Daily News, E-Verify, “is an internet-based system that allows employers to determine whether a job applicant is entitled to work in the United States.” With the use of E-Verify, it’s possible for employers to be able to identify whether and individuals can legally work in the United States. This could also potentially help government employees determine who is eligible for taxpayer-funded benefits in the United States. This could be very effective in ensuring that taxpayer dollars aren’t being spent on those who don’t contribute for those same benefits. Without access to many benefits, those coming here illegally may reconsider, and head back home.
Choosing among alternatives
When choosing between what approach may be the most suitable to deter illegal immigration, there are pro’s and con’s that go along with all of them. In terms of the border wall, it’s obvious that the construction of the wall would create thousands of jobs. This would also go hand-in-hand with the number of jobs created by increasing the number of Customs and Border Patrol agents at the border. However, funding could potentially be an issue. While many Americans support the construction of a border wall, many don’t want to see their taxes increase. This means there would most likely be money cut from other agencies or programs to be re-allocated to the wall. According to Jeremy Herb and Bryan Bender of Politico.com, the current administration has proposed budget cuts to the U.S. Coast Guard, as well as the TSA, in order to fund the wall. However, these cuts could have a devastating effect on preventing illegal immigration coming in from the coast of our country, as well as being detrimental to counter-terrorism efforts in our airports. In essence, we would be building up one line of defense, and decimating another.
When it comes to activating the National Guard, this is a great idea if only meant to be a short-term operation. While it may seem cost effective at first, National Guard troops are “citizen-soldiers”. When activated, they must receive funding for housing, subsistence and incentive pay, in addition to base pay. Depending on a number of factors, this could be a very expensive operation, especially if for an extended period of time.
The institution of a travel ban might possibly be the least effective in regards to deterring illegal immigration. While the ban may prevent potential terrorist threats by those coming from regions known as “breeding grounds” for Islamic-extremism, the ban also impacts citizens of the United States from going to their home country to see family. It also faces plenty of opposition from the federal court and is “toeing the line” of constitutional law.
E-Verify could potentially be the most effective if put into place successfully. It gives access to real numbers and whether or not individuals are complying with the policy put into place. Being that everyone must register, it’s much easier to hold employers accountable when they aren’t doing the right thing. The one downfall is that employers who don’t comply will most likely be providing “off-the-books” employment which is much harder to monitor than employers who employ “on-the-books” and provide their employees a pay stub and W-2 tax form.
Implementing the Chosen Solution
Based upon the pros and cons of every possible approach, it would be safe to say that E-Verify is probably the best solution. E-Verify, compared to the other solutions would be the most fiscally and morally responsible solution. It would be affordable to maintain and monitor while also providing an incentive for those here illegally, to take the proper legal pathway to citizenship. Once an individual attains citizenship, they would have access to the same benefits as native-born American citizens, while also becoming working class citizens and paying taxes. Eventually those taxes could decrease because there would be more people paying into the system than there are “feeding” off of the system. Those who are not citizens and are in the United States undocumented would have no incentive to stay and would end up returning to their country of origin.
8 – Control
Once E-Verify is implemented and is eliminated of any flaws, it would need to be passed by the current administration and become the law. Once put into place, there would be a series of guidelines for employers and employees to comply with. To maximize compliance, all employers would have to register employees through E-Verify within the first 90 days of it becoming the law. After 90 days, non-compliant employers and companies would be subject to fines and penalties that get steeper and have surcharges added every 30 days until they real 1 year. If after a year, they still fail to comply, they would be subject to jailtime if they are found to be employing individual who don’t have a right to work in the United States. The individual would also be subject to deportation for not taking the proper steps to attaining citizenship.
The system would be very simple to monitor progress and achieve success because it would be comprised of a database with real numbers. Within 1 year, there should be a compliance rate that is close to 100% and should be similar to that of the national labor force participation rate in the United States. Almost immediately, it would be hard to imagine that the number of illegal border crossings every month doesn’t decrease rapidly because of the lack of opportunity available to those who are not here legally and documented.
References:
Gallup, I. (2006, September 14). The Real Impact of Illegal Immigration.
Bender, J. H., Goldmacher, S., Gold, M. N., Primus, R., Gerstein, J., Crowley, M., . . .
Karabell, Z. (2017, March 7). Coast Guard, TSA cuts would help pay for Trump’s wall. Retrieved March 14, 2017, from http://www.politico.com/story/2017/03/trump-coast-guard-budget-235750
Gomez, A., & Jackson, D. (2017, February 28). Trump prepares to issue new travel ban.
Retrieved March 14, 2017, from http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2017/02/28/donald-trump-new-travel-ban-majority-muslim-countries/98541052/
Quinn, E. C. (2017, February 24). What is so difficult about handling illegal immigration?
Retrieved March 14, 2017, from http://www.jdnews.com/opinion/20170226/what-is-so-difficult-about-handling-illegal-immigration
Slack, D., & Johnson, K. (2017, February 17). DHS memo proposed using up to 100,000 Guard
troops to round up immigrants. Retrieved March 14, 2017, from http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2017/02/17/white-house-denies-report-rounding-up-immigrants/98041794/
Valverde, M. (2017, February 13). GOP senator says Israel border fence cut illegal immigration.
Retrieved March 14, 2017, from http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2017/feb/13/ron-johnson/border-fence-israel-cut-illegal-immigration-99-per/