An illegal immigrant in the United States is an alien (non-citizen) who has entered the United States without government permission or stayed beyond the termination date of a visa.[1]
The illegal immigrant population of the United States in 2008 was estimated by the Center for Immigration Studies to be about 11 million people, down from 12.5 million people in 2007.[2] Other estimates range from 7 to 20 million.[3] According to a Pew Hispanic Center report, in 2005, 56% of illegal immigrants were from Mexico; 22% were from other Latin American countries, primarily from Central America;[4] 13% were from Asia; 6% were from Europe and Canada; and 3% were from Africa and the rest of the world.[4]
Illegal immigrants continue to outpace the number of legal immigrants—a trend that's held steady since the 1990s. While the majority of illegal immigrants continue to concentrate in places with existing large Hispanic communities, increasingly illegal immigrants are settling throughout the rest of the country.[5]
An estimated 13.9 million people live in families in which the head of household or the spouse is an illegal immigrant.[5] Illegal immigrants arriving in recent years tend to be better educated than those who have been in the country a decade or more. A quarter of all immigrants who have arrived in recent years have at least some college education. Nonetheless, illegal immigrants as a group tend to be less educated than other sections of the U.S. population: 49 percent haven't completed high school, compared with 9 percent of native-born Americans and 25 percent of legal immigrants.[5]
Illegal immigrants work in many sectors of the U.S. economy. According to National Public Radio in 2005, about 3 percent work in agriculture; 33 percent have jobs in service industries; and substantial numbers can be found in construction and related occupations (16 percent), and in production, installation, and repair (17 percent).[5] According to USA Today in 2006, about 4 percent work in farming; 21 percent have jobs in service industries; and substantial numbers can be found in construction and related occupations (19 percent), and in production, installation, and repair (15 percent), with 12% in sales, 10% in management, and 8% in transportation.[6] Illegal immigrants have lower incomes than both legal immigrants and native-born Americans, but earnings do increase somewhat the longer an individual is in the country.[5]
A percentage of illegal immigrants do not remain indefinitely but do return to their country of origin; they are often referred to as “sojourners: they come to the United States for several years but eventually return to their home country."[7]
As of 2006,[8] the following data table shows a spread of distribution of locations where illegal immigrants reside by state.
| State of residence | Estimated population in January | Percent of total | Percent change | Average annual change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| All states | 11,555,000 | 100 | 37 | 515,000 |
| California | 2,930,000 | 25 | 13 | 53,333 |
| Texas | 1,640,000 | 14 | 50 | 91,667 |
| Florida | 980,000 | 8 | 23 | 30,000 |
| Illinois | 550,000 | 5 | 25 | 18,333 |
| New York | 540,000 | 5 | - | - |
| Arizona | 500,000 | 4 | 52 | 28,333 |
| Georgia | 490,000 | 4 | 123 | 45,000 |
| New Jersey | 430,000 | 4 | 23 | 13,333 |
| North Carolina | 370,000 | 3 | 42 | 18,333 |
| Washington | 280,000 | 2 | 65 | 18,333 |
| Other states | 2,950,000 | 26 | 69 | 200,000 |
According to the Government Accountability Office (GAO), different estimates of the total number of undocumented persons are based on different definitions of the term "undocumented".[9] There are also questions about data reliability.[9]
The GAO has stated that "it seems clear that the population of undocumented foreign-born persons is large and has increased rapidly."[9] On April 26, 2006 the Pew Hispanic Center (PHC) estimated that in March 2005 the number of illegal immigrants in the U.S. ranged from 11.5 to 12 million individuals.[10] This number was derived by a statistical method known as the "residual method."[9] According to the General Accounting office the residual estimation (1) starts with a census count or survey estimate of the number of foreign-born residents who have not become U.S. citizens and (2) subtracts out estimated numbers of legally present individuals in various categories, based on administrative data and assumptions (because censuses and surveys do not ask about legal status). The remainder, or residual, represents an indirect estimate of the size of the undocumented population.[9] Using the residential method, several different estimates of the number of undocumented persons present in the United States have been derived:
Some unofficial private estimates put the number even higher.[13]
From 2005 to 2009, the number of people entering the U.S. illegally declined by nearly 67%, according to the Pew Hispanic Center, from 850,000 yearly average in the early 2000s to 300,000.[14]
The Pew Hispanic Center determined that according to an analysis of Census Bureau data about 8 percent of children born in the United States in 2008 — about 340,000 — were offspring of unauthorized immigrants. In total, 4 million U.S.-born children of unauthorized immigrant parents resided in this country in 2009 (alongside 1.1 million foreign-born children of unauthorized immigrant parents).[15] These babies are, according to the predominant interpretation of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, American citizens from birth. These children are sometimes referred to as anchor babies by those aggressively opposed to this method of citizenship attained outside of the legal immigration process.
According to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the countries of origin for the largest numbers of illegal immigrants are as follows (latest of 2009):[16]
| Country of origin | Raw number | Percent of total | Percent change 2000 to 2009 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mexico | 6,650,000 | 62% | +42% |
| El Salvador | 530,000 | 5% | +25% |
| Guatemala | 480,000 | 4% | +65% |
| Honduras | 320,000 | 3% | +95% |
| Philippines | 270,000 | 2% | +33% |
| India | 200,000 | 2% | +64% |
| Korea | 200,000 | 2% | +14% |
| Ecuador | 170,000 | 2% | +55% |
| Brazil | 150,000 | 1% | +49% |
| China | 120,000 | 1% | -37% |
| Other | 1,650,000 | 15% | -17% |
The Urban Institute estimates "between 65,000 and 75,000 undocumented Canadians currently live in the United States."[17]
People can be termed illegal immigrants in one of three ways: by entering without authorization or inspection, by staying beyond the authorized period after legal entry, or by violating the terms of legal entry.[18] Their mode of violation breaks down as follows: If the suspect entered legally without inspection, then the suspect would be classified as either a "Non-Immigrant Visa Overstayer" (4 to 5.5 million) or a "Border Crossing Card Violator" (250,000 to 500,000). Together, legal entries account for 4.5–6 million unauthorized migrants, just under half of the total population. If the suspect entered illegally without inspection, then the suspect would be classified as having "Evaded the Immigration Inspectors and Border Patrol". This mode of entry accounts for 6 to 7 million people, slightly more than half of the total population.[19] Some prospective immigrants pay a "coyote" to assist them in entering the United States illegally. The cost of a coyote can be up to $17,000.
A person can be charged with illegally re-entering the United States after being previously deported. The U.S. Sentencing Guidelines prescribe up to a 16-level offense level increase, potentially causing more than a quadrupling of one's sentence, for illegal re-entry of certain felons into the U.S.[20] The PROTECT Act instructed the U.S. Sentencing Commission to authorize four-level "fast-track" downward departures in illegal-reentry immigration cases upon motion of the prosecutor.[21]
The Pew Hispanic Center estimates that 6–7 million unauthorized migrants came to the United States via illegal entry, accounting for probably a little over half of the total population.[19] There are an estimated half million illegal entries into the United States each year.[19][22]
A common means of border crossing is to hire professionals who smuggle illegal immigrants across the border for pay. Those operating on the US-Mexico border are known informally as "coyotes".[22]
According to Pew, between 4 and 5.5 million unauthorized migrants entered the United States with a legal visa, accounting for between 33–50% of the total population.[19] A tourist or traveler is considered a "visa overstay" once he or she remains in the United States after the time of admission has expired. The time of admission varies greatly from traveler to traveler depending on what visa class into which they were admitted. Visa overstays tend to be somewhat more educated and better off financially than those who entered the country illegally.[23]
To help track visa overstayers the US-VISIT (United States Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology) program collects and retains biographic, travel, and biometric information, such as photographs and fingerprints, of foreign nationals seeking entry into the United States. It also requires electronic readable passports containing this information.
Visa overstayers mostly enter with tourist or business visas.[19] In 1994, more than half[24] of illegal immigrants were Visa overstayers whereas in 2006, about 45% of illegal immigrants were Visa overstayers.[25]
A smaller number of unauthorized migrants entered the United States legally using the Border Crossing Card, a card that authorizes border crossings into the U.S. for a set amount of time. Border Crossing Card entry accounts for the vast majority of all registered non-immigrant entry into the United States – 148 million out of 179 million total – but there is little hard data as to how much of the illegal immigrant population entered in this way. The Pew Hispanic Center estimates the number at around 250,000–500,000.[19]
The United States is viewed worldwide as a highly desirable destination by would-be migrants. International polls by the Gallup organization have found that more than 165 million adults in 148 foreign countries would, if they could, move to the US, which is the most desired destination for migrants.[26]
The continuing practice of hiring unauthorized workers has been referred to as “the magnet for illegal immigration.”[27] As a significant percentage of employers are willing to hire illegal immigrants for higher pay than they would typically receive in their former country, illegal immigrants have prime motivation to cross borders.
In 2003, then-President of Mexico, Vicente Fox stated that remittances "are our biggest source of foreign income, bigger than oil, tourism or foreign investment" and that "the money transfers grew after Mexican consulates started giving identity cards to their citizens in the United States." He stated that money sent from Mexican workers in the United States to their families back home reached a record $12 billion.[28] Two years later, in 2005, the World Bank stated that Mexico was receiving $18.1 billion in remittances and that it ranked third (behind only India and China) among the countries receiving the greatest amount of remittances.[29] United States policy reforms aimed at helping the lower class often have unintended effects associated with them besides their intended target. For example, a policy put in place in a border state such as Texas or Arizona aimed at making receiving government assistance easier to lower class people, makes other people want to move to these states. An externality to this policy procedure could be the increased illegal immigration of the Hispanic population to the United States as the poor population lives better in the US than in their home country. According to the World Bank, in 2002 half of the Mexican population was living in poverty and one fifth of the population was living in extreme poverty. The National Poverty Center at the University of Michigan[30] found in 2009 only 14.3 percent of the population in the US lived in poverty.
According to Tom Rex, who studies Arizona economy for the Arizona State University's W.P. Carey School of Business,[31] said immigration crackdowns, notably the state's employer-sanctions law, have driven more undocumented workers from the aboveground economy into the underground cash economy. This in turn means less tax revenue for the state of Arizona since undocumented workers who work aboveground pay income taxes according to the Arizona Republic.[31] Illegal immigrants boost the local economy by purchasing goods and services. Clint Hickman Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Hickman Family Farms, the largest egg producer in Arizona has said sales to supermarkets that cater to Latinos has dropped 20 percent since the passage of SB1070.[31]
According to demographer Jeffery Passel of the Pew Hispanic Center, the flow of Mexicans to the U. S. has produced a "network effect" - furthering immigration as Mexicans moved to join relatives already in the U.S.[32] The Pew Hispanic Center describes that the recent dramatic increase in the population of illegal immigrants has sparked more illegal immigrants to cross borders. Once the extended families of illegal immigrants cross national borders, they create a “network effect” by building large communities.[32]
Analysts believe that costs, delays, and inefficiencies in processing visa applications and work permits contribute to the number of immigrants who immigrate without authorization.[33] As of 2007 there was a backlog of 1.1 million green card applications, and the typical waiting time was three years.[34]
The Rockridge Institute argues that globalization and trade agreement affected international migration, as laborers moved to where they could find jobs. Raising the standard of living around the world, a promise the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA), the World Trade Organization (WTO), the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and the World Bank, would reduce the economic incentive for illegal immigration.[35]
Several ethnic lobbies support immigration reforms that would allow illegal immigrants that have succeeded in entering to gain citizenship. They may also lobby for special arrangements for their own group. The Chairman for the Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform has stated that "the Irish Lobby will push for any special arrangement it can get — 'as will every other ethnic group in the country.'"[36][37]
The US Department of Homeland Security and some advocacy groups have criticized a program of the government of the state of Yucatan and that of a federal Mexican agency directed to Mexicans migrating to and residing in the United States. They claim that the assistance includes advice on how to get across the U.S. border illegally, where to find healthcare, enroll their children in public schools, and send money to Mexico. The Mexican federal government also issues identity cards to Mexicans living outside of Mexico.[38][39]
Groups in favor of application and enforcement of current immigration law oppose Matrícula Consular ("Consular Registration"), an identification card issued by the Government of Mexico through its consulate offices. The purpose of the card is to demonstrate that the bearer is a Mexican national living outside of Mexico. Similar consular identification cards are the Guatemalan CID card and the Argentinian CID card as well as a number of other CID cards issued to citizens of Colombia, El Salvador, and Honduras.[42] The document is accepted at financial institutions in many states and, in conjunction with an IRS Taxpayer Identification Number, allows illegal immigrants to open checking and saving accounts.[43] California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and former President Bill Clinton promote the use of foreign government CID cards in U.S. financial institutions.[44] In December 2008, Governor Schwarzenegger launched Bank on California which calls on California mayors to specifically encourage the use of the Mexican CID and Guatemalan CID card by banks and credit unions as a primary identification when opening an account.[45]
Immigrants can be classified as illegal for one of three reasons: entering without authorization or inspection, staying beyond the authorized period after legal entry, or violating the terms of legal entry.[46]
Section 1325 in Title 8 of the United States Code, "Improper entry of alien", provides for a fine, imprisonment, or both for any immigrant who:[47]
- enters or attempts to enter the United States at any time or place other than as designated by immigration agents, or
- eludes examination or inspection by immigration agents, or
- attempts to enter or obtains entry to the United States by a willfully false or misleading representation or the willful concealment of a material fact.
The maximum prison term is 6 months for the first offense and 2 years for any subsequent offense. In addition to the above criminal fines and penalties, civil fines may also be imposed.
Arizona, which passed immigration enforcement law Arizona SB 1070 in April 2010, is currently the "toughest bill on illegal immigration" in the United States,[48] and is being challenged by the Department of Justice as encroaching on powers reserved by the United States Constitution to the Federal Government.[48] On July 28, 2010, United States district court judge Susan Bolton issued a preliminary injunction affecting the most controversial parts of the law, including the section that required police officers to check a person's immigration status after a person had been involved in another act or situation which resulted in police activity.[49]
The Mexican Constitution grants citizens freedom to travel. The Constitution stipulates also that the right to cross border migration is authorized only if other applicable laws and requirements are observed, and when certain prerequisites have been met.[50]
The cost to immigrate illegally has also increased, encouraging longer stays to recoup the cost. Tens of thousands of illegal Mexican immigrants head each year in the direction of Mexico. While no statistics are kept on this reverse migration, researchers in both countries suggest that the numbers have declined as border controls have tightened.[51]
In October 2008, Mexico agreed to deport Cubans using the country as an entry point to the US. Cuban Foreign Minister said the Cuban-Mexican agreement would lead to "the immense majority of Cubans being repatriated."[52]
Audits of employment records in 2009 at American Apparel, a prominent Los Angeles garment manufacturer, by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE) uncovered discrepancies in the documentation of about 25 percent of the company's workers. This technique of auditing employment records originated during the George W. Bush presidency and has been continued under President Obama. It may result in deportations should definite evidence of illegality be uncovered, but at American Apparel the audit resulted only in the termination of employees who could not resolve discrepancies. Most fired workers, some of whom had worked a decade at the plant, reported that they would seek other employment within the United States. This technique of enforcement is much less disruptive than mass raids at workplaces, but is not popular with employers who feel targeted and threatened.[53]
US ICE, USBP, and CBP enforce the INA, and to some extent the United States military, local law enforcement and other local agencies, and private citizens and citizen groups guard the border.
The U.S. Customs and Border Protection is responsible for apprehending individuals attempting illegal entry to the United States. The United States Border Patrol is its mobile uniformed law enforcement arm, responsible for deterrence, detection, and apprehension of those who enter the United States without authorization from the government and outside the designated ports of entry.
In December 2005, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to build a separation barrier along parts of the border not already protected by separation barriers. A later vote in the United States Senate on May 17, 2006, included a plan to blockade 860 miles (1,380 km) of the border with vehicle barriers and triple-layer fencing along with granting an "earned path to citizenship" to the 12 million illegal aliens in the U.S. and roughly doubling legal immigration (from their 1970s levels) . In 2007 Congress approved a plan calling for more fencing along the Mexican border, with funds for approximately 700 miles (1,100 km) of new fencing.
"If immigrants, whether legal or illegal, are apprehended entering the US while committing a crime, they are usually charged under federal statutes and, if convicted, are sent to federal prisons."[54]
For decades, immigration authorities have alerted ("no-match-letters")[55] employers of mismatches between reported employees' Social Security cards and the actual names of the card holders. On September 1, 2007, a federal judge halted this practice of alerting employers of card mismatches.[56]
Illegal hiring has not been prosecuted aggressively in recent years: between 1999 and 2003, according to The Washington Post, “work-site enforcement operations were scaled back 95 percent by the Immigration and Naturalization Service.[57] Major employers of illegal immigrants have included:
About 40% of illegal immigrants enter legally and then overstay.[7] About 31,000 people who are not American citizens are held in immigration detention on any given day,[62] including children, in over 200 detention centers, jails, and prisons nationwide. The United States government held more than 300,000 people in immigration detention in 2007 while deciding whether to deport them.[63]
An individual's deportation is determined in removal proceedings, administrative proceedings under United States immigration law. Removal proceedings are typically conducted in Immigration Court (the Executive Office for Immigration Review) by an immigration judge. Deportations from the United States increased by more than 60 percent from 2003 to 2008, with Mexicans accounting for nearly two-thirds of those deported.[64] Under the Obama administration, deportations have increased to record levels beyond the level reached by the George W. Bush administration with a projected 400,000 deportations in 2010, 10 percent above the deportation rate of 2008 and 25 percent above 2007.[65] Fiscal year 2011 saw 396,906 deportations, the largest number in the history of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement; of those, 216,698 had been convicted of crimes, including:[66]
Complications in deportation efforts ensue when parents are illegal immigrants but their children are birthright citizens. Federal appellate courts have upheld the refusal by the Immigration and Naturalization Service to stay the deportation of illegal immigrants merely on the grounds that they have U.S.-citizen, minor children.[67] There are some 3.1 million United States citizen children with at least one illegal immigrant parent as of 2005; at least 13,000 American children had one or both parents deported in the years 2005–2007.[68][69]
Such was the case of Mexican Elvira Arellano, who sought sanctuary at a Chicago-area church in an effort to impede immigration authorities from separating her and her eight year old, U.S.-born son. This is also the case in the instance of Sadia Umanzor, an illegal immigrant from Honduras and the central figure of a November 17, 2007, New York Times story. Umanzor was a fugitive from a 2006 deportation order. She was recently arrested, in anticipation of deportation. However, a judge postponed that deportation proceeding. The judge placed her under house arrest, citing her six-month old U.S.-born baby as the factor.[70]
According to The Washington Post,[71] Rajeev K. Goyle, of the Center for American Progress, a liberal Washington think tank, says he conducted a study to respond to conservative officials who have advocated mass deportations. This study claims that the cost of forcibly removing most of the nation's estimated 10 million illegal immigrants is $41 billion a year. A spokesman for Rep. Tom Tancredo calls the study "useless" because no one's talking about employing mass deportation as a tactic. Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, describes the study as a cartoon version of how enforcement would work.
There have been two major periods of mass deportations in U.S. history. In the Mexican Repatriation of the 1930s, through mass deportations and forced migration, an estimated 500,000 Mexicans and Mexican Americans were deported or coerced into emigrating, in what Mae Ngai, an immigration history expert at the University of Chicago, has described as "a racial removal program".[72] The majority of those removed were U.S. Citizens.[72] Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill., cosponsor of a U.S. House Bill that calls for a commission to study the "deportation and coerced emigration" of U.S. citizens and legal residents, has expressed concerns that history could repeat itself, and that should illegal immigration be made into a felony, this could prompt a "massive deportation of U.S. citizens".[72] Later, in Operation Wetback in 1954, when the United States last deported a sizable number of illegal immigrants, in some cases along with their U.S. born children (who are citizens according to U.S. law),[73] some illegal immigrants, fearful of potential violence as police swarmed through Mexican American barrios throughout the southeastern states, stopping "Mexican-looking" citizens on the street and asking for identification, fled to Mexico.[73]
The U.S. Supreme Court on June 16, 2008, per ponented Justice Kennedy ruled (5-4) "that someone who is here illegally may withdraw his voluntary agreement to depart and continue to try to get approval to remain in the United States." The lawsuit is about two seemingly contradictory provisions of immigration law. One prevents deportation by voluntary departure from the country. The other section allows immigrants who are here illegally but whose circumstances changed to build their case to immigration officials, and must remain in the US. In the case, Samson Dada, a Nigerian citizen, overstayed beyond the expiration of his tourist visa in 1998. Immigration authorities ordered him to leave the country as he agreed to leave voluntarily, to allow his legal re-entry then if he had been deported.[74][75]
In 1995, the United States Congress considered an exemption from the Posse Comitatus Act, which generally prohibits direct participation of Department of Defense personnel in civilian law enforcement activities, such as search, seizure, and arrests.[76]
In 1997, Marines shot and killed 18 year old U.S. citizen Esequiel Hernández Jr[77] while on a mission to interdict smuggling and illegal immigration near the border community of Redford, Texas. The Marines observed the high school student from concealment while he was tending his family's goats in the vicinity of their ranch. At one point, Hernandez raised his .22-caliber rifle and fired shots in the direction of the concealed soldiers. He was subsequently tracked for 20 minutes then shot and killed.[78][79] In reference to the incident, military lawyer Craig T. Trebilcock argues that "the fact that armed military troops were placed in a position with the mere possibility that they would have to use force to subdue civilian criminal activity reflects a significant policy shift by the executive branch away from the posse comitatus doctrine."[80] The killing of Hernandez led to a congressional review[81] and an end to a nine-year old policy of the military aiding the Border Patrol.[82]
After the September 11 attacks in 2001, the United States again considered placing soldiers along the U.S.-Mexico border as a security measure.[83] In May 2006, President George W. Bush announced plans to use the National Guard to strengthen enforcement of the US-Mexico Border from illegal immigrants,[84] emphasizing that Guard units "will not be involved in direct law enforcement activities."[85] Mexican Foreign Secretary Luis Ernesto Derbez said in an interview with a Mexico City radio station, "If we see the National Guard starting to directly participate in detaining people ... we would immediately start filing lawsuits through our consulates."[86] The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) called on the President not to deploy military troops to deter immigrants, and stated that a "deployment of National Guard troops violates the spirit of the Posse Comitatus Act".[87] According to the State of the Union address in January 2007,[88] more than 6000 National Guard members have been sent to the US-Mexico border to supplement the Border Patrol,[89] costing in excess of $750 million.[90]
Several US cities have instructed their own law enforcement personnel and other city employees not to notify or cooperate with the federal government when they become aware of illegal immigrants living within their jurisdiction.
Many cities, including Washington, D.C., New York City NYC, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco,[91] San Diego, Austin, Salt Lake City, Dallas, Detroit, Houston, Jersey City, Minneapolis, Miami, Denver, Aurora, Colorado, Baltimore, Seattle, Portland, Oregon, Portland, Maine, and Senath, Missouri, have become "sanctuary cities", having adopted ordinances banning police from asking people about their immigration status.[92]
Most of these cities claim that the benefit illegal immigrants bring to their city outweigh the costs. Opponents say the measures violate federal law as the cities are in effect creating their own immigration policy, an area of law which only Congress has authority to alter.[93]
According to a 2006 report by the Anti-Defamation League, white supremacists and other extremists were engaging in a growing number of assaults against legal and illegal immigrants and those perceived to be immigrants.[94]
The Indian reservations along the US/Mexico border are being inundated with illegal aliens passing through their lands, leaving debris and waste, as well as committing crimes on tribal lands.[95] They have asked the US Government to stop the large number of illegal aliens as they are unable to do so.
The No More Deaths organization offers food, water, and medical aid to migrants crossing the desert regions of the American Southwest in an effort to reduce the increasing number of deaths along the border.[96]
George J. Borjas, an economist at Harvard University, has argued that illegal immigration may reduce the economic status of U.S. poor while benefiting middle class individuals and wealthier Americans.[97] The presence of illegal immigrants and the exploitation of them may drive down wages for certain sectors of the American populace, further widening the socioeconomic gulf between rich and poor.[98]
Research by Borjas, Jeffrey Grogger, and Gordon H. Hanson suggests that a 10-percent immigrant-induced increase in the supply of a particular skill group reduced the black wage by 4.0 percent, lowered the employment rate of black men by 3.5 percentage points, and increased the incarceration rate of blacks by almost one percent.[99]
These claims are supported by impressive credentials, but not by census data.[100] The illegal immigrant population in the United States produces an annual economic consumer demand of approximately $150 billion.[101] The direct economic impact of $150 billion in consumer demand from illegal immigrants directly employs just under 8 million people, or about 5% of the United States workforce.[102]
Texas has the second highest population of illegal immigrants, and The Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas indicates that putting a halt to current deportation policies will improve the US economy by encouraging increased economic consumption.[103]
The decline in consumer demand created by declining immigrant population matches the start of the Great Recession that began with foreclosures in 2007.[104] An almost identical economic decline occurred from 1929 through 1937 during the period of Mexican Repatriation following the Mexican Revolution, when over half a million illegal immigrants and legal US citizens of Latin descent were forcibly deported out of the country following racist campaigns by most news organizations within the US.[105][106]
Reverse migration of illegal immigrants from the US back to Mexico has reduced consumer demand in the United States due to an overall decline in the population.[107][108][109][110][111] According to the Center for Immigration Studies, US Census estimates indicate 6 of 7 illegal immigrants are leaving the country on their own, so this trend has nothing to do with border enforcement and deportation efforts.[112]
Illegal immigrants are estimated to pay in about $7 billion per year into Social Security.[113]
A paper in the peer reviewed Tax Lawyer journal from the American Bar Association asserts that illegal immigrants contribute more in taxes than they cost in social services.[114] The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office reviewed 29 reports published over 15 years to evaluate the impact of unauthorized immigrants on the budgets of state and local governments, and found that the tax revenues that unauthorized immigrants generate for state and local governments do not offset the total cost of services provided to those immigrants, but that the amount that state and local governments spend on services for unauthorized immigrants represents a small percentage of the total amount spent by those governments to provide such services to residents in their jurisdictions.[115]
Around 2005, an increasing number of banks saw illegal immigrants as an untapped resource for growing their own revenue stream and contended that providing illegal aliens with mortgages would help revitalize local communities, with many community banks providing home loans for illegal immigrants.[116]
Border control uses the latest technology to help capture illegal immigrants in the process of crossing, sometimes detain/prosecute, and send them back over the border. According to the US Department of Homeland Security and the Border Patrol Enforcement Integrated Database, apprehensions have increased from 955,310 in 2002 to 1,159,802 in 2004. "But fewer than 4 percent of apprehended migrants were actually detained and prosecuted for illegal entry, partly because it costs $90 a day to keep them in detention facilities and bed space is very limited. For the remainder of the apprehended migrants, if they are willing to sign a form attesting that they are voluntarily repatriating themselves, they are simply bussed to a gate on the border, where they re-enter Mexico."[117] "During the summer of 2004, the U.S. government pressured the Mexican government into accepting 'deep repatriation' of as many as 300 apprehended migrants per day to six cities in central and southern Mexico.
California has the largest immigrant population in the US, and immigrants are under represented among prison inmates.[118] The most recent research indicates approximately 35% of the California population consists of immigrants, while immigrants represent 17% of the prison population. This implies that immigrants are about half as likely to become involved in crime, although deporting illegal immigrants soon after incarceration lowers the immigrant prison population. In fact, U.S. born adult men are incarcerated at a rate over two-and-a-half times greater than that of foreign-born men.[118] However, this does not separate the illegal versus legal immigrants.
The fastest growing prison demographic are functionally illiterate adult male US citizens, which is over represented by the children of immigrants that failed to obtain an education because of the English-only movement. [119]
Illegal immigrants avoid involvement in criminal activity to reduce interaction with law enforcement officials, and evidence shows a decline in crime correlates with an increase in immigration in most large cities.[120]
According to Edmonton and Smith in The New Americans: Economic, Demographic, and Fiscal Effects of Immigration, "it is difficult to draw any strong conclusions on the association between immigration and crime".[54] Cities with large immigrant populations showed larger reductions in property and violent crime than cities without large immigrant populations.[121] Almost all of what is known about immigration and crime is from information on those in prison. Incarceration rates do not necessarily reflect differences in current crime rates.[54]
The Center for Immigration Studies in a 2009 report argued that "New government data indicate that immigrants have high rates of criminality, while older academic research found low rates. The overall picture of immigrants and crime remains confused due to a lack of good data and contrary information." It also criticized reports using data from the 2000 Census according to which 4% of prisoners were immigrants. Non-citizens often have a strong incentive to deny this in order to prevent deportation and there are also other problems. Some better but still uncertain methods have found that 20-22% of prisoners were immigrants. It also criticized studies looking at percentages of immigrants in a city and crime for only looking at overall crime and not immigrant crime as well as having other possible problems.[122]
As of 2010, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE) under its "Secure Communities" project has identified 240,000 illegal immigrants convicted of crimes, according to Department of Homeland Security figures. Of those, about 30,000 have been deported, including 8,600 convicted of what the agency calls "the most egregious offenses.[123]
A few of the other reasons also cited for why the extent of illegal immigrants' criminal activities is unknown are as follows:
In 1999, law enforcement activities involving illegal immigrants in California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas cost a combined total of more than $108 million. This cost did not include activities related to border enforcement. In San Diego County, the expense (over $50 million) was nine percent of the total county's budget for law enforcement that year.[124]
A study published by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas has found that while property-related crime rates have not been affected by increased immigration (both legal and illegal), in border counties there is a significant positive correlation between illegal immigration and violent crime, most likely due to extensive smuggling activity along the border.[125]
On August 6, 2008, an audit done by agents of Immigration and Customs Enforcement found that 122 of the 637 jail inmates in the Lake County, Illinois jail were of questionable immigration status. Of those 122 originally suspected, 75 were later ordered to face deportation proceedings by the ICE. According to Lake County sheriff Mark Curran, illegal immigrants were charged with half of the 14 murders in the county.[126]
The Arizona Department of Corrections reported in 2010 that illegal immigrants are over-represented in the state's prison population. In June 2010, illegal immigrants represented 14.8 percent of Arizona state prisoners, but accounted for 7 percent of the state's overall population according to the Department of Homeland Security. In addition, the data showed that the undocumented accounted for 40% of all the prisoners serving time in Arizona state prisons for kidnapping; 24% of those serving time for drug charges; and 13 percent of those serving time for murder.[127]
A US Justice Department report from 2009 indicated that one of the largest street gangs in the United States, Los Angeles-based 18th Street gang, has a membership of some 30,000 to 50,000 with 80% of them being illegal aliens from Mexico and Central America. Active in 44 cities in 20 states, its main source of income is street-level distribution of cocaine and marijuana and, to a lesser extent, heroin and methamphetamine. Gang members also commit assault, auto theft, carjacking, drive-by shootings, extortion, homicide, identification fraud, and robbery.[128]
Another prominent street gang, Mara Salvatrucha, also known as MS 13, with a membership of some 8,000 to 10,000 members in the US, is estimated to be predominantly composed of illegal immigrants (with some reporting up to 90%).[129][130] MS-13 members smuggle illicit drugs, primarily powder cocaine and marijuana, into the US and transport and distribute the drugs throughout the country. Some members also are involved in alien smuggling, assault, drive-by shootings, homicide, identity theft, prostitution operations, robbery, and weapons trafficking.[128] With over 3,000 members in Northern Virginia alone making it the largest gang in the region,[131] MS-13 has been targeted by the Northern Virginia Regional Gang Task Force which reports that 40% of arrests from 2003-2008 were of illegal aliens.[130][132] It is also reported that 71% of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement(ICE) gang arrestees under "Operation Community Shield" in Northern Virginia from February 2005 to September 2007, were of EWI "Enter Without Inspection" status.[130]
Identity theft is associated with illegal immigrants who use social security numbers belonging to others, in order to obtain fake work documentation.[133] However, the US Supreme Court has ruled that undocumented immigrants cannot be prosecuted for identity theft if they use "made-up" social security numbers that they do not know belong to someone else; to be guilty of identity theft with regard to social security numbers, they must know that the social security numbers that they use belong to others.[134]
According to proceedings from a 1997 meeting of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration and Claims, "Through other violations of our immigration laws, Mexican drug cartels are able to extend their command and control into the United States. Drug smuggling fosters, subsidizes, and is dependent upon continued illegal immigration and alien smuggling."[135]
Drug cartels have been reported using illegal immigrants, sometimes armed, to cultivate marijuana within American National Forests, in California's Los Padres National Forest,[136][137] Tahoe National Forest,[138] Six Rivers National Forest,[139] and Sequoia National Forest,[140] as well as in Arizona,[141] Oregon,[142] and Colorado.[143]
As of 2005, Operation Community Shield had detained nearly fourteen hundred illegal immigrant gang members.[144]
Members from the Salvadoran gang MS-13 are believed by authorities to have established a smuggling ring in Matamoros, Mexico. This smuggling involved transporting illegal aliens from foreign countries into the United States. MS-13 has shown extreme violence against Border Patrol security to “teach them a lesson.”[145] "Mexican alien smugglers plan to pay violent gang members and smuggle them into the United States to murder Border Patrol agents, according to a confidential Department of Homeland Security memo obtained by the Daily Bulletin."[146]
Waves of illegal immigrants are taking a heavy toll on U.S. public lands along the Mexican border, federal officials say.[147] Mike Coffeen, a biologist with the Fish and Wildlife Service in Tucson, Arizona found the level of impact to be shocking.[147] "Environmental degradation has become among the migration trend's most visible consequences, a few years ago, there were 45 abandoned cars on the Buenos Aires refuge near Sasabe, Arizona and enough trash that a volunteer couple filled 723 large bags with 18,000 pounds of garbage over two months in 2002."[148]
"It has been estimated that the average desert-walking immigrant leaves behind 8 pounds of trash during a journey that lasts one to three days if no major incidents occur. Assuming half a million people cross the border illegally into Arizona annually, that translates to 2,000 tons of trash that migrants dump each year."[149]
Illegal immigrants trying to get to the United States via the Mexican border with southern Arizona are suspected of having caused eight major wildfires in 2002. The fires destroyed 68,413 acres (276.86 km2) and cost taxpayers $5.1 million to fight.[150]
Mohamed Atta and two of his co-conspirators had expired visas when they executed the September 11 attacks. All of the attackers had U.S. government issued documents and two of them were erroneously granted visa extensions after their deaths.[151] The National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States found that the government inadequately tracked those with expired tourist or student visas.
Mark Krikorian of the Center for Immigration Studies, a think-tank that promotes immigration reduction, testified in a hearing before the House of Representatives that
"out of the 48 al-Qaeda operatives who committed crimes here between 1993 and 2001, 12 of them were illegal aliens when they committed their crimes, seven of them were visa overstayers, including two of the conspirators in the first World Trade Center attack, one of the figures from the New York subway bomb plot, and four of the 9/11 terrorists. In fact, even a couple other terrorists who were not illegal when they committed their crimes had been visa overstayers earlier and had either applied for asylum or finagled a fake marriage to launder their status."[152]
Vice Chair Lee H. Hamilton and Commissioner Slade Gorton of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States has stated that of the nineteen hijackers of the September 11, 2001 attacks, "Two hijackers could have been denied admission at the port on entry based on violations of immigration rules governing terms of admission. Three hijackers violated the immigration laws after entry, one by failing to enroll in school as declared, and two by overstays of their terms of admission."[153] Six months after the attack, their flight schools received posthumous visa approval letters from the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) for two of the hijackers, which made it clear that actual approval of the visas took place before the September 11 attacks.[154]
Since the attacks of September 11, 2001, illegal immigrants within the United States have attempted to carry out other terrorist attacks as well. Three of the six conspirators in the 2007 Fort Dix attack plot--Dritan Duka, Shain Duka, and Eljvir Duka—were ethnic Albanians from the Republic of Macedonia who entered the United States illegally through Mexico with their parents in 1984. Hosam Maher Husein Smadi, an illegal immigrant from Jordan who remained in the United States after the expiration of his tourist visa, was arrested in September 2009 for attempting to carry out a car bomb attack against Fountain Place in Dallas.
There are significant dangers associated with illegal immigration including potential death when crossing the border. Since the implementation of Operation Gatekeeper immigrants have been funneled into more dangerous routes to get into the country.[155] Most deaths are due to dehydration caused by the intense heats of the Arizona desert and the treacherous desert roads. Deaths also occur while resisting arrest. In May 2010, the National Human Rights Commission in Mexico accused Border Patrol agents of tasering illegal immigrant Anastasio Hernández-Rojas to death. Media reports that Hernández-Rojas started a physical altercation with patrol agents and later autopsy findings concluded that the suspect had elevated methampehatine blood levels which contributed to his death. The foreign ministry in Mexico City has demanded an explanation from San Diego and federal authorities, according to Tijuana newspapers.[156] According to the US Border Agency, there were 987 assaults on US Border Agents in 2008 and there were a total of 12 people killed by agents in 2007 and 2008.[157]
Furthermore, Amnesty International has taken concern regarding the excessive brutality inflicted upon illegal immigrants.[158] The organization states that its main concerns are:
Indian, Russian, Thai, and Chinese women have been reportedly brought to the United States under false pretenses. “As many as 50,000 people are illicitly trafficked into the United States annually, according to a 1999 CIA study. Once here, they're forced to work as prostitutes, sweatshop laborers, farmhands, and servants in private homes.” US authorities call it “a modern form of slavery.”[159] [160]
The Coalition Against Trafficking in Women has reported scores of cases where women were forced to prostitute themselves. “Trafficking in women plagues the United States as much as it does underdeveloped nations. Organized prostitution networks have migrated from metropolitan areas to small cities and suburbs. Women trafficked to the United States have been forced to have sex with 400-500 men to pay off $40,000 in debt for their passage.” [161] At least 45,000 Central American children attempt to illegally immigrate to the United States every year and many of them finish in brothels as sex slaves, according to Manuel Capellin, director in Honduras of the humanitarian organization House Alliance.[162]
Death by exposure has been reported in the deserts, particularly during the hot summer season.[163] “Exposure to the elements” encompasses hypothermia, dehydration, heat strokes, drowning, and suffocation. Also, illegal immigrants may die or be injured when they attempt to avoid law enforcement. Martinez points out that engaging in high speed pursuits while attempting to escape arrest can lead to death.[164] Many migrants are also killed or maimed riding the roofs of cargo trains in Mexico.[165]
Harvard political scientist and historian Samuel P. Huntington argues in Who Are We? The Challenges to America's National Identity that illegal immigration, primarily from Mexico, threatens to divide the United States culturally, into an Anglo-Protestant north, central, and eastern portion, and a Catholic-Hispanic southwest.
One of the most important factors regarding public opinion about illegal migration is the level of unemployment; anti-immigrant sentiment is highest where unemployment is highest and vice-versa.[166] In July 2010, Mayor Bloomberg along with Rupert Murdoch announced the launching of the Partnership for a New American Economy to try to change public opinion and federal legislation in order to ease the cause for comprehensive immigration reform including amnesty for all illegal migrants in the U.S.[167] Amnesty for illegal aliens has been offered in the past. The 1940 Alien Registry Act offered amnesty for illegal aliens in the country. According to a US Justice Department report, the majority of aliens who received amnesty under that act were European.[168]
A May 2006 New York Times/CBS News Poll shows that 53 percent of Americans feel that "illegal immigrants mostly take the jobs Americans don’t want".[169]
The highly publicized murder of Arizona rancher Rob Krentz in March 2010, suspected to have been committed by an illegal immigrant,[170] provided a strong rallying cry for immigration opponents and called public attention to other crimes— notably property crimes— committed by foreign nationals during their border crossings into the U.S. Krentz had previously reported that illegal immigrants had done over $8 million dollars in damage to his ranching operations during a five-year period,[171] and in the wake of his murder, interviews with his family and friends focused on similar crimes and break-ins committed by immigrants.[172]
The potency of anti-immigrant public sentiments generated by the murder was demonstrated a few weeks later, when Arizona responded by passing Arizona SB1070, the nation's toughest state immigration law.[173] While the law's writers have defended Arizona's new illegal immigration law by opining that it is necessary to fight violent crime. Though admitting an increase in border-related violence, such as home invasions and kidnappings, Phoenix Police Chief Jack Harris stated his disagreement with the law, arguing that it will distort police priorities.[174][175] Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu, in an interview on Horizon, said it is "absolutely appropriate" for law enforcement officers to question people about their immigration status during a routine stop or investigation.[176] The law sparked protests in Arizona and elsewhere, as well as led to the boycott of Arizona by cities and communities nationwide.[177]
A 2008 report by the non-partisan Public Policy Institute of California analyzes crime and immigration in California. Since most criminals are young adults, the study considered the proportion of foreign-born young adults in the general population compared to those in the prison population. The researchers found that, while foreign born young adults represented about 35% of California's population, they only represented about 17% of the prison population. The study concludes that "immigrants are underrepresented in California prisons compared to their representation in the overall population."[178] Such findings suggest that immigrants are less likely to be involved in criminal activity than non-immigrants.
71% of respondents in a 2006 Quinnipiac University Poll believed that enforcement of immigration laws will require additional measures beyond a border fence, with 65% of respondents supporting employer fines.[179] 77% of respondents to a Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg Poll support employer fines.[180][181]
A later NBC/Wall Street Journal poll indicates 57% strongly favor employer fines and 17% somewhat favor them, while 44% strongly favor increased border security and 19% strongly oppose.[182] In a CBS News/New York Times poll, 69% of Americans favor prosecuting and deporting illegal immigrants; 33% favor deporting those who have lived and worked in the U.S. for at least two years.[183][184]
The Manhattan Institute reported that 78% of likely Republican voters favor a proposal combining increased border security, tougher penalties for employers who hire illegal workers, and allowing illegal aliens to register for a temporary worker program that includes a path to citizenship. Respondents favored the program over a deportation and enforcement-only plan 58% to 33%.[185] The Quinnipiac poll reports that 65% of adults support a guest worker program for illegal immigrants.[181]
Following the passage of Arizona's Support Our Law Enforcement and Safe Neighborhoods Act in April, 2010, which authorizes police officials to question persons on their immigration status if there is reasonable suspicion that they are illegally in the country or committing other violations not related to their immigration status, numerous polls showed widespread support for the law. A Rasmussen poll found that 60% of the electorate support such a law while 31% are opposed to such a law.[186] A New York Times poll showed similar results: 51% of Americans felt the law was "about right" in its dealings with illegal immigration, 9% felt that its measures did not go far enough to address the problem while 36% have negative opinions regarding such a law.[187]
An ABC News Poll,[188] indicates that most respondents (67%) believe the United States is not doing enough to keep illegal immigrants from coming into the country and, according to a CBS News/New York Times poll[183] most Americans believe that US immigration policy needs either fundamental changes (41%) or to be completely rebuilt (49%).
In an opinion poll by Zogby International in 2005, voters were also asked, "Do you support or oppose the Bush administration's proposal to give millions of illegal aliens guest worker status and the opportunity to become citizens?" 35% gave their support; 56 percent disagreed. The same poll noted a huge majority, 81%, believes local and state police should help federal authorities enforce laws against illegal immigration.[189]
In choosing a presidential candidate, most respondents to a Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg Poll[190] consider his or her stand on illegal immigration to be either an important (66%) or the most important (15%) issue, while a clear minority consider it to be either not too important (16%) or not important at all (2%).
Most respondents (51%) would be upset if Congress does not pass an immigration bill while significantly fewer (22%) would be pleased.
A Chicago Tribune Super Tuesday exit poll shows that "Experts following the immigration debate claim Republicans had hoped illegal immigration would become a wedge issue between the two parties in the 2008 presidential election." The report adds, "Voters across the country overwhelmingly and consistently have named the economy as their number one issue, in exit poll data from Super Tuesday and subsequent primaries..."
According to a CNN/Opinion Research Corporation Poll,[191] most respondents (55%) believe state or local police forces should arrest illegal immigrants they encounter who have not broken any state or local laws.
The previously cited CNN/Opinion Research Corporation Poll poll indicates that most respondents (76%) are against state governments issuing driver's licenses to illegal immigrants. A poll by the Field Institute found that "[California] residents are very much opposed (62% to 35%) to granting illegal immigrants who do not have legal status in this country the right to obtain a California driver’s license. However, opinion is more divided (49% to 48%) about a plan to issue a different kind of driver’s license that would allow these immigrants to drive but would also identify them as not having legal status."[192][193]
Further, most respondents (63%) in the above-mentioned 2006 Quinnipiac University Poll[179] support local laws passed by communities to fine businesses that hire illegal immigrants while 33% oppose it.
How Democracy Works Now: Twelve Stories is a 12-part documentary film series that examines the American political system through the lens of immigration reform from 2001–2007, from filmmaking team Shari Robertson and Michael Camerini. Several films in the series contain a large focus on the issue of illegal immigration in the U.S. and feature advocates from both sides of the debate. Since the debut of the first five films, the series has become an important resource for advocates, policy-makers and educators.[194]
The series premiered on HBO with the broadcast debut of The Senator's Bargain on March 24, 2010. A directors' cut of The Senators' Bargain was featured in the 2010 Human Rights Watch Film Festival at Lincoln Center, with the theatrical title Story 12: Last Best Chance. That film featured Ted Kennedy's efforts to pass The Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2007. The second story in the 12-part series, Mountains and Clouds, opened the festival in the same year.
The films document the attempt to pass comprehensive immigration reform during the years from 2001–2007, and present a behind-the-scenes story of the success (and failure) of many bills from that period with an effect on illegal immigration including:
Marking Up The Dream, Story Six in the How Democracy Works Now series, focuses on the heated 2003 markup in The Senate Judiciary Committee, contrasting optimistic supporters who viewed The DREAM Act as a small bi-partisan bill that would help kids with the bill's opponents, who saw the legislation as thinly-veiled "amnesty for illegals". Also presented in the film are the rallies and demonstrations from non-U.S. citizen students who would benefit from The DREAM Act. The opens with demonstration from those high-school students as they stage a mock graduation ceremony on the U.S. Capitol lawn.