Illegal immigration to the United States

A warning sign at the international boundary between the United States and Canada in Point Roberts, Washington.

Illegal immigration to the United States is the act by foreign nationals violating United States immigration laws by either entering the country without government permission (i.e., a visa) or once lawfully entering, remaining within the country beyond the termination date of a temporary visa. In 2012 the Obama administration spent $18 billion on immigration enforcement programs; more than the budget for all other federal law enforcement agencies that year combined.[1]

The illegal immigrant population of the United States in 2008 was estimated by the Center for Immigration Studies to be about 12 million people, down from 12.5 million people in 2007.[2] Other estimates range from 7 to 30 million.[3][4][5] According to a Pew Hispanic Center report, in 2004, 57% of illegal immigrants were from Mexico; 24% were from other Latin American countries, primarily from Central America;[6] 9% were from Asia; 6% were from Europe and Canada; and 3% were from Africa and the rest of the world.[6]

Profile and demographics

Illegal immigrants continue to exceed the number of legal immigrants —a trend that has 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.[7]

In 2012, an estimated 14 million people live in families in which the head of household or the spouse is in the United States without authorization.[7] Illegal immigrants arriving recently before 2012 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 recently before 2012 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.[7] This is a population increase from an estimated 11 million illegal aliens in the United States in 2009.[8]

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).[7] 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.[9] 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.[7]

Breakdown by state

As of 2006,[10] the following data table shows a spread of distribution of locations where illegal immigrants reside by state.

State of Residence of the Illegal Immigrant Population: January 2000 and 2006
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

Number of illegal immigrants

According to the Government Accountability Office (GAO), different estimates of the total number of illegal immigrants vary depending on how the term is defined.[11] There are also questions about data reliability.[11] The GAO has stated, "it seems clear that the population of illegal foreign-born persons is large and has increased rapidly."[11] 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.[12] This number was derived by a statistical method known as the "residual method".[11] 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 illegal immigrant population.[11] Using the residual method, several different estimates of the number of illegal immigrants 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.[16]

In 2013, a DHS report estimating the size of the illegal immigrant population living in the U.S. said, "In summary, an estimated 11.4 million unauthorized immigrants were living in the United States in January 2012 compared to 11.5 million in January 2011. These results suggest little to no change in the unauthorized immigrant population from 2011 to 2012."[17]

Children

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 illegal immigrants. (The report classifies a child as offspring of illegal immigrants if either parent is unauthorized.) In total, 4 million U.S.-born children of illegal immigrant parents resided in this country in 2009 (alongside 1.1 million foreign-born children of illegal immigrant parents).[18] These infants are, according to the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, American citizens from birth. These children are sometimes referred to as anchor babies by those opposed to this method of citizenship attained outside of the legal immigration process.

The majority of children that are born to parents who are illegal migrants fail to graduate high school, averaging two fewer years of school than children of legal immigrants. Reasons for this under-performance are thought to include stress, pressure to work at a younger age, and not having the economic resources needed for higher education. [19]

Surge in immigration by unaccompanied children from Central America

In 2014 tens of thousands of women and children, many children unaccompanied by their parents, came to the United States from Central America. Most simply crossed the Rio Grande and turned themselves into to the Border Patrol, relying on the belief, partly well founded,[20] that United States law made special provision for illegal immigrants who were children.

The United States Department of Justice reported in June 2014 that it will provide around 100 lawyers and paralegals for the rising number of children illegally coming to the United States, without parents or relatives. Under this program, the federal government will issue $2 million in grants to entice lawyers and paralegals to help illegal minors.[21] Attorney General Eric Holder stated, "We're taking a historic step to strengthen our justice system and protect the rights of the most vulnerable members of society." The Obama administration estimates roughly 60,000 unaccompanied children will come across the border to the US in 2014. Minors illegally coming across the border often end up in immigration courts without legal representation and know little English or about the U.S. justice system.[22][23] A 2014 Mother Jones article suggests many of these unaccompianied children are attempting to escape abusive situations.[24] The provisions of the William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008, which give substantial rights and protection to unaccompanied children from countries which do not have a common border with the United States, such as the nations of Central America other than Mexico, made expeditious deportation of the large number of children from Central America who came to the United States in 2014 difficult and expensive, prompting a call by President Barack Obama for an emergency appropriation of $4 billion[25] and resulting in discussions by the Department of Justice and Congress of how to interpret or revise the law in order to expedite handling large numbers of children under the act.[20] One solution, proposed by the Department of Justice in July 2014, is to move cases involving children and families with children to the head of the docket in immigration court.[26]

While acknowledging suggestions that prospects of immigration reform may have helped prompt the influx of child migrants, the Obama Administration has sought cooperation from Mexico to try to stop the flow. In summer 2014, Mexico took actions to keep migrants from using freight trains ("La Bestia") to travel through Mexico. The United States has also help fund the "Merida program" of Mexico to fortify its southern border with Guatemala.[27][28][29]

Present-day countries of origin

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):[10]

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 also estimates "between 65,000 and 75,000 Canadians currently live illegally in the United States."[30]

Definition

The categories of foreign-born people in the United States are:

Non-citizens residing in the United States are further subdivided into immigrants and non-immigrants. Immigrants are foreign-born non-citizens that are able to apply for citizenship. Non-immigrants are foreign-born non-citizens who are not able to apply for citizenship, which includes diplomatic staff, temporary workers, students, tourists, etc.

Non-citizen residents can become undocumented/illegal/criminal in one of four ways: by unauthorized entry, when the employer fails to pay worker documentation fees, by staying beyond the expiration date of their status or other authorization, or by violating the terms of legal entry.[34][35]

Illegal entry

The Pew Hispanic Center estimates that 6–7 million immigrants came to the United States via illegal entry, accounting for probably a little over half of the total population.[35] There are an estimated half million illegal entries into the United States each year.[35][36]

A common means of border crossing is to hire people smugglers to help them across the border. Those operating on the US-Mexico border are known informally as "coyotes".[36]

Visa overstay

According to Pew, between 4 and 5.5 million foreigners entered the United States with a legal visa, accounting for between 33–50% of the total population.[35] 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 the 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.[37]

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.[35] In 1994, more than half[38] of illegal immigrants were Visa overstayers whereas in 2006, about 45% of illegal immigrants were Visa overstayers.[39]

Those who leave the United States after overstaying their visa for more than 180 days but less than one year and then attempt to apply for a new visa will face a three-year ban which will not allow them to re-enter the U.S. for that period. Those who leave the United States after overstaying their visa for a period of one year or longer and then attempt to apply for a new visa will face a ten-year ban.

Border Crossing Card violation

A smaller number of illegal immigrants 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.[35]

Causes

The United States is viewed worldwide as an extremely 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, making it the most desired-destination country for migrants worldwide.[40] Most immigrants who come to America come for better opportunities for employment, a much greater degree of freedom, avoidance of political oppression, the opportunity to rejoin with loved ones, for the prospect of providing better lives for themselves and their family, and for the educational and medical services benefits.[41]

Causes by region

In general illegal immigrants from Mexico and Central America come for economic reasons, but also sometimes due to political oppression.[41] Illegal immigration leading to increased population of Mexican Americans can lead to Mexico reclaiming and retaking the American Southwest, known as reconquista;[42] this possible outcome has been criticized,[43] while it has been written that this is to increase Democratic Party voting base.[44] From Asia, they come for economic reasons but some come involuntarily as indentured servants or sex slaves.[41] From Sub-Saharan Africa, they come for economic activities and there is some chance of slave trade.[41] From Eastern Europe, they come for economic activities and to rejoin family already in the United States. However, there are also some who come involuntarily who work in the sex industry.[41] From the Middle East, they come for economic activities or to rejoin family already in the United States.

Overpopulation

High fertility rates in some areas can cause overpopulation problems that force some of the population out of a country and to become illegal immigrants. Also, very large family size leaves children inadequately parented.

In Mexico, for example, the average man or woman had 6.8 children in 1970, while in the US fertility rates among non-Hispanics have been below 2.0 since 1970, and below 3.0 for the entire 20th Century.

Because developed countries are in a stage of declining fertility as they are transitioning to egalitarian marriage (or Shared earning/shared parenting marriage) from patriarchal marriage, this can form a vacuum that encourages illegal immigration.[45] When a developed country moves further through to having more egalitarian marriages, the fertility rate tends to rise back up and illegal immigration rates drop, however, this stage may be prevented if the (a) high fertility rates of illegal immigrants mask the issues in the developed country or (b) the value system of the immigrants prevents reform of the developed country's systems to end discrimination against egalitarian families.[46]

Economic incentives

The continuing practice of hiring unauthorized workers has been referred to as "the magnet for illegal immigration". 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.[47]

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 "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 in 2003.[48] 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.[49]

Economic reasons are the most popular motivation for people to illegally immigrate to the United States. United States employers hire illegal immigrants at wages substantially higher than they could earn in their native countries.[50] A study of illegal immigrants from Mexico in the 1978 harvest season in Oregon showed that they earned six times what they could have earned in Mexico, and even after deducting the costs of the seasonal migration and the additional expense of living in the United States, their net U.S. earnings were three times their Mexican alternative.[51] In the 1960s and early 70s, Mexico's high fertility rate caused a large increase in population. While Mexican population growth has slowed, the large numbers of people born in the 1960s and 70s are now of working age looking for jobs.[51]

According to Judith Gans, Immigration Policy Program Manager at the University of Arizona, United States employers are pushed to hire illegal migrants for three main reasons – global economic change, the inadequacy of channels for legal economic migration, and ineffective employer sanctions.[50] Global economic change is one cause for illegal immigration because information and transportation technologies now foster internationalized production, distribution and consumption, and labor. This has encouraged many countries to open their economies to outside investment, then increasing the number of low-skilled workers participating in global labor markets and making low-skilled labor markets all more competitive.[50] This and the fact that developed countries have shifted from manufacturing to knowledge-based economies, have realigned economic activity around the world.[50] Labor has become more international as individuals migrate seeking work, despite governmental attempts to control this migration.[50] Because the United States education system creates relatively few people who either lack a high school diploma or who hold PhDs, there is a shortage of workers needed to fulfill seasonal low-skilled jobs as well as certain high-skilled jobs. To fill these gaps, the United States immigration system attempts to compensate for these shortages by providing for temporary immigration by farm workers and seasonal low-skilled workers, and for permanent immigration by high-skilled workers.[50] The third cause of illegal immigration — the ineffectiveness of current employer sanctions for illegal hiring — allows migrants who are in the country illegally to easily find jobs. There are three reasons for this ineffectiveness – the absence of reliable mechanisms for verifying employment eligibility, inadequate funding of interior immigration enforcement, and the absence of political will due to labor needs to the United States economy.[50] For example, it is unlawful to knowingly hire an illegal immigrant, but according to Judith Gans, there are no reliable mechanisms in place for employers to verify that the immigrants' papers are authentic.[50] Evidence is accumulating that the number of illegal immigrants is diminishing because of increased border security and tougher immigration laws.[41]

Channels for legal migration

The United States immigration system provides channels for legal, permanent economic migration, especially for low-skilled workers.[50] The United States immigration system rests on three pillars: family reunification, provision of scarce labor (as in agricultural and specific high-skilled worker sectors), and protecting American workers from competition with foreign workers.[50] The current system sets an overall limit of 675,000 permanent immigrants each year; this limit does not apply to spouses, unmarried minor children or parents of U.S. citizens.[52] Outside of this number for permanent immigrants, 480,000 visas are allotted for those under the family-preference rules and 140,000 are allocated for employment-related preferences.[52] The current system and low number of visas available, make it impossible for low-skilled workers to legally and permanently enter the country to work, so illegal entry becomes the way migrants respond to the lure of jobs with higher wages than what they would be able to find in their current country.[50] Another reason for the large numbers of illegal immigrants present in the United States is the termination of the bracero program. This program existed from 1942 to 1964 to supply low-skilled Mexican workers to harvest fruits and vegetables in the United States. Many legal workers became illegal when this program ended because the change in law was not accompanied by a change in economic incentives for Mexican workers and the American growers.[51]

Chain immigration

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.[53] 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.[53]

According to the Migration Policy Institute, increasing allowances for family members to immigrate to the US, and processing those applications faster, would reduce the number of illegal immigrants in the US.[54]

Further Incentives

Lower costs of transportation, communication and information has facilitated illegal migration. Mexican nationals, in particular, have a very low cost of migration and can easily cross the border. Even if it requires more than one attempt, they have a very low probability of being detected and then deported once they have entered the country.[51]

Lobbying

Several ethnic lobbies support immigration reforms that would allow current illegal immigrants 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, "the Irish Lobby will push for any special arrangement it can get — 'as will every other ethnic group in the country.'"[55][56]

International controversies

Mexican federal and state government assistance

The US Department of Homeland Security and some advocacy groups have criticized a program of the government of the state of Yucatán 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.[57][58]

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.[61] 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.[62] 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.[63]

Legal issues

Immigration laws

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.[64]

Section 1325 in Title 8 of the United States Code, "Improper entry of alien", provides for a fine, imprisonment, or both for any noncitizen who:[65]

  1. enters or attempts to enter the United States at any time or place other than as designated by immigration agents, or
  2. eludes examination or inspection by immigration agents, or
  3. 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,[66] and is being challenged by the Department of Justice as encroaching on powers reserved by the United States Constitution to the Federal Government.[66] 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.[67]

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.[68]

Prevention

In October 2008, Mexico agreed to deport Cubans using the country as an entry point to the US. Then-Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Pérez Roque said the Cuban-Mexican agreement would lead to "the immense majority of Cubans being repatriated".[69]

The main prevention to illegal immigration is by entering the country legally and getting your papers in order. There are many ways to enter the U.S. legally although the immigration process is very dependent on each individual's independent circumstances.[70]

Employment

Illegal immigrants are generally not allowed to receive state or local public benefits, which includes professional licenses.[71] However, in 2013 the California State Legislature passed laws allowing illegal immigrants to obtain professional licenses. On February 1, 2014 Sergio C. Garcia became the first illegal immigrant to be admitted to the State Bar of California since 2008, when applicants were first required to list citizenship status on bar applications.[72]

Audits of employment records in 2009 at American Apparel, a prominent Los Angeles garment manufacturer, by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency 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 Barack 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. The Obama administration has pointed out that they do not follow the Bush administration pattern of raids with a mass roundup of workers. That method had been criticized for disrupting businesses, and breaking up immigrant families. However, the chief executive of American Apparel said of the new policy: "No matter how we choose to define or label them, illegal immigrants are hard-working, taxpaying workers."[73]

Apprehension

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.

At border

In December 2005, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to build a barrier along parts of the border not already protected by 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 immigrants 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."[74]

At workplace

For decades, immigration authorities have alerted ("no-match-letters")[75] 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.[76]

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.[77] Major employers of illegal immigrants have included:

El Paso (top) and Ciudad Juárez (bottom) seen from earth orbit; the Rio Grande is the thin line separating the two cities through the middle of the photograph.

Detention

About 40% of illegal immigrants enter legally and then overstay.[82] About 31,000 people who are not American citizens are held in immigration detention on any given day,[83] including children, in over 200 detention centers, jails, and prisons nationwide.[84] The United States government held more than 300,000 people in immigration detention in 2007 while deciding whether to deport them.[85]

Deportation

Deportations of immigrants, which are also referred to as removals, may be issued when immigrants are found to be in violation of the United States' immigration laws. Deportations may be imposed on a person who is neither native-born nor a naturalized citizen of the United States.[86] Deportation proceedings are also referred to as removal proceedings and are typically initiated by the Department of Homeland Security. The United States issues deportations for various reasons which include security, protection of resources, and protection of jobs.

The AEDPA and IIRIRA Acts of 1996

In 1996 there were two major pieces of legislation passed that had a significant effect on illegal immigration and most importantly deportations in the United States. The two new laws were the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act (AEDPA) and the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act (IIRIRA). These two laws were introduced following the events of the World Trade Center bombing of 1993 and the Oklahoma City bombing of 1995, both of which were terrorist attacks that claimed American lives. These two acts resulted in a significant change in the process of convicting lawful permanent residents. Although deportation had always been a viable and practiced sentence, these new laws changed the way criminal cases of lawful permanent residents were handled which in turn resulted in an increased number of deportations from the United States.[87] Before the 1996 deportation laws there were two steps that lawful permanent noncitizen residents who were convicted of crimes had to go through. The first step was to determine whether or not the person was deportable. The second step reviewed the case to determine if that person should or shouldn't be deported. Before the 1996 deportation laws the second step prevented many permanent residents from being deported by allowing for their cases to be reviewed in full before issuing deportations. External factors were taken into consideration such as the effect deportation would have on a person's family members and a person's connections with their country of origin. Under this system permanent residents were able to be relieved of deportation if their situation deemed it unnecessary. The 1996 laws however issued many deportations under the first step without ever arriving at the second step resulting in a great increase in the likelihood and frequency of permanent residents being subjected to deportation.

One significant change that resulted from the new laws was the definition of the term aggravated felony. Being convicted of a crime that is categorized as an aggravated felony results in mandatory detention and deportation. The new definition of aggravated felony includes simple convictions like shoplifting that would not be considered anything more than a misdemeanor in a lot of states. The new laws have categorized a much wider range of crimes under the term aggravated felony. The effect of this has been a large increase in permanent residents facing mandatory deportation from the United States without the opportunity to plea for relief. The 1996 deportation laws have received a lot of criticism for their curtailing of permanent resident's rights.[87]

The USA Patriot Act

The USA Patriot Act was passed seven weeks after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. The purpose of the act was to give the government more power to act against suspicious terrorist activity. The new governmental powers granted by this act included a significant expansion of the conditions in which illegal immigrants could be deported based on suspicion of terrorist activity. The act gave the government the power to deport individuals based not on plots or acts of terrorism, but on affiliations with certain organizations. The Secretary of State designated specific organizations foreign terrorist organizations before the USA Patriot Act was implemented. Organizations on this list were deemed dangerous because they were actively involved in terrorist activity. The USA Patriot Act created a type of organization called designated organizations. The Secretary of State and Attorney General were given the power to designate any organization that supported terrorist activity on any level. The act also allows for deportation based on involvement in undesignated organizations that were deemed suspicious. [88]

Under the USA Patriot Act the Attorney General was granted the power to "certify" illegal immigrants that pose a threat to national security. Once an illegal immigrant is certified they must be taken into custody and face mandatory detention which will result in a criminal charge or release. The USA Patriot Act has been criticized for violating the Fifth Amendment right to due process. Under the USA Patriot Act, an illegal immigrant is not granted the opportunity for a hearing before given certification. [89]

Complications

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.[90] 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.[91]

Such was the case of Mexican Elvira Arellano, who had a child while in the U.S. illegally and later sought sanctuary at a Chicago-area church in an effort to evade a deportation order.[92] This was also the case in the instance of Sadia Umanzor, a fugitive from a 2006 deportation order who failed to appear in court after her arrest for illegally crossing into the U.S.[92] 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.[93] 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.[94] 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:[95]

By the end of 2012, as many people had been deported during the first four years of the Obama presidency as were deported during the eight-year presidency of George W. Bush.[96] In November 2014, ICE officials claimed that they only have resources sufficient to deport about 400,000 persons each year; with deportations dropping 20% in 2014 from 2012.[97]

Dream Act

The Act was intended to stop the deportation of people who had arrived as children and had grown up in the US. The Act would give lawful permanent residency under certain conditions which include: good moral character, enrollment in a secondary or post-secondary education program, and having lived in the United States at least 5 years. Those in opposition of the DREAM Act believe that it encourages illegal immigration.[98]

Although the Dream Act was never enacted a number of the principles behind it transferred over to a memorandum issued by Janet Napolitano of the Department of Homeland Security whilst under the Obama administration. To be eligible for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), one must show that they were under 31 years of age as of June 15, 2012; that they came to the United States before their 16th birthday; that they have continuously resided in the United States from June 15, 2007 until the present; that they were physically present in the United States on June 15, 2012 and at the time they applied for DACA; that they were not authorized to be in the United States on June 15, 2012; that they are currently in school, have graduated or obtained a certificate of completion from high school, have obtained a general education development (GED) certificate, or are an honorably discharged veteran of the Coast Guard or Armed Forces of the United States; and that they have not been convicted of a felony, significant misdemeanor, three or more other misdemeanors, and do not otherwise pose a threat to national security or public safety.[99]

Deportation Trends

A direct effect of the deportation laws of 1996 and the USA Patriot Act has been a dramatic increase in deportations. Prior to these acts deportations had remained at about an average of 20,000 per year. Between 1990 and 1995 deportations had increased to about an average of 40,000 a year. From 1996 to 2005 the yearly average had increased to over 180,000. In the year 2005 the number of deportations reached 208,521 with less than half being deported under criminal grounds.[100] According to a June 2013 report published by the Washington Office on Latin America, dangerous deportation practices are on the rise and pose a serious threat to the safety of the migrants being deported. These practices include repatriating migrants to border cities with high levels of drug-related violence and criminal activity, night deportations (approximately 1 in 5 migrants reports being deported between the hours of 10pm and 5am), and "lateral repatriations", or the practice of moving migrants from the region where they were detained to areas hundreds of miles away.[101] These practices increase the risk of gangs and organized criminal groups preying upon the newly arrived migrants.

In 2013, deportation prioritization guidance used by Immigration and Customs enforcement, was extended to Customs and Border Protection, under the Obama Administration's prosecutorial discretion plan.[102] This has led to a reduction of the number of deportations of those who are in "non-priority" categories.[103]

According to survey by the Associated Press conducted in August 2014, The Homeland Security Department was on pace to remove the fewest number of immigrants since 2007. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the federal agency responsible for deportations, sent home 258,608 immigrants between the start of the budget year – October 1, 2013. and July 28, 2014 – a decrease of nearly 20 percent from the same period in 2013, when 320,167 people were removed. Obama announced earlier in 2014 plans to slow down deportations; recently these have been put on hold until the upcoming election in November.[104]

Mass deportation

According to The Washington Post,[105] Rajeev K. Goyle, of the Center for American Progress, a liberal Washington think tank, says he conducted a study to respond to 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".[106] The majority of those removed were U.S. Citizens.[106] 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".[106] 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),[107] 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.[107]

Police and military involvement

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.[108]

In 1997, Marines shot and killed 18 year old U.S. citizen Esequiel Hernández Jr[109] 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.[110][111] In reference to the incident, military lawyer Craig T. Trebilcock argues, "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."[112] The killing of Hernandez led to a congressional review[113] and an end to a nine-year-old policy of the military aiding the Border Patrol.[114]

After the September 11 attacks in 2001, the United States again considered placing soldiers along the U.S.-Mexico border as a security measure.[115] 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,[116] emphasizing that Guard units "will not be involved in direct law enforcement activities".[117] 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."[118] The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) called on the President 245 not to deploy military troops to deter illegal immigrants, and stated that a "deployment of National Guard troops violates the spirit of the Posse Comitatus Act".[119] According to the State of the Union address in January 2007,[120] more than 6000 National Guard members have been sent to the US-Mexico border to supplement the Border Patrol,[121] costing in excess of $750 million.[122]

Sanctuary cities

Main article: Sanctuary city

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;[123] San Diego; Austin; Salt Lake City; Dallas; Detroit; Honolulu; Houston; Jersey City; Minneapolis; Miami; Denver; Aurora, Colorado; Baltimore; Seattle; Portland, Oregon; Portland, Maine; and Senath, Missouri, have become "sanctuary cities", having adopted ordinances refraining from stopping or questioning individuals for the sole purpose of determining their immigration status.[124]

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.[125]

However scholars have tagged these so-called "don't tell" measures as "obvious targets for express preemption" given the apparent conflict between "don't tell" policies and the restrictions in Sections 434 of the "Welfare Reform Act" and Section 642 of the "Immigration Reform Act" that expressly forbid restraints on communications with federal officials, including the sharing of information relating to people's illegal immigration status.

Community-based involvement

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.[126]

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.[127]

In 2014, 'Dreamer Moms' began protesting, hoping that President Obama will grant them legal status. On November 12, 2014, there was a hunger strike near the White House where Dreamer Moms have decided to fast. On November 21, 2014, Obama provided 5 million illegal immigrants legal status because he says that mass deportation "would be both impossible and contrary to our character".[128]

Impacts

Economic

Wages and employment

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.[129] 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.[130] Professor emeritus Stephen J. Unger from the University of Columbia, explains that this results from employers who hire illegal immigrants that are exploited or willing to work for lower wages, instead of raising wages to attract legal citizens. Thusly, wages are kept flat or depressed and the employment rates for legal U.S. citizens decrease at the same time.[131] Additionally, illegal immigrants may displace work opportunities that would otherwise be available to citizens, thereby inducing native-born citizens to commit crimes.[132]

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.[133]

A 2002 study of the effects of illegal immigration and border enforcement on wages in border communities from 1990 to 1997 found little impact of border enforcement on wages in U.S. border cities, and concluded that their findings were consistent with two hypotheses, "border enforcement has a minimal impact on illegal immigration, and illegal immigration from Mexico has a minimal impact on wages in U.S. border cities".

Housing prices

From 2000 to 2011, US housing prices rose most rapidly in those regions with increasing immigrant populations, and fell in those regions with decreasing immigrant populations.[134]

Taxes and social services

Illegal immigrants are estimated to pay in about $7 billion per year into Social Security.[135]

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.[136] However, The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office reviewed 29 reports published over 15 years to evaluate the impact of illegal immigrants on the budgets of state and local governments, and found that the tax revenues that illegal immigrants generate for state and local governments do not offset the total cost of services provided to those immigrants, though the report speculated that the impact of illegal immigrants on state and local budgets was likely to be modest.[137]

Mortgages

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 immigrants with mortgages would help revitalize local communities, with many community banks providing home loans for illegal immigrants. At the time, critics complained that this practice would reward and encourage illegal immigration, as well as contribute to an increase in predatory lending practices. One banking consultant said that banks which were planning to offer mortgages to illegal immigrants were counting on the fact that immigration enforcement was very lax, with deportation unlikely for anyone who had not committed a crime.[138]

Law enforcement expenses

Apprehension and deportation

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."[139] "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.

Public Health Preparedness and Emergency Management

The increasing number of illegal immigrants living within the borders of the United States has also placed an increased strain on the Public Health Preparedness and Emergency Management systems. It is impossible for organizations within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to accurately prepare for a disaster if a significant portion of the affected area's population is undocumented, and therefore unaccounted for. One organization in particular, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, (FEMA) has had numerous issues when dealing with unexpected increases in the number of people requesting assistance. The appropriate amount of funding, resources, and manpower is based on the population in an area. Adequate care will not be dispatched due to the growing number of illegal immigrants living in a disaster area. Essentially, relief service agencies must be accountable for people who are theoretically not there. It is essential for public health preparedness and emergency management personnel, to have an accurate depiction of the number of people that will require assistance following an emergency. Illegal immigrants make this task much more difficult and burdensome than necessary.

Illegal immigrants who do not have a basic understanding of the English language exacerbate the problem further. Because of this break in communication, many people will not be aware of where to receive aid, how to secure assistance, if and when to evacuate, or even the fact that they may be in immediate danger. "Failures in communication not only endanger limited English proficient individuals and their families but also threaten to put into harm's way first responders tasked with rescuing people". Difficulties in the past include, "connecting victims and evacuees with major disaster relief providers due to the providers' lack of linguistically and culturally competent staff; difficulties securing adequate funding for disaster relief operations; poor communication with FEMA, Red Cross, and other major disaster relief providers".[140]

Furthering complications is the fact that most illegal immigrants have an innate distrust of the American government, or simply fear retribution from being identified as being an illegal immigrant residing in America. This is despite the fact that noncash emergency assistance is mandated, by law, to be given to victims of a disaster regardless of citizenship by FEMA. Illegal immigrants without documentation also cause problems in regards to the distribution of assistance to victims. It would be nearly impossible, aside from using biometrics, to determine which illegal immigrant has and has not received assistance. These undocumented people may repeatedly go and take more assistance than what is needed thus making it more difficult for others in need to receive assistance. Unless a trust can be built between the government and illegal immigrants, "future disasters could result in grave human tragedy, public health catastrophes, and national embarrassment, particularly if the disaster is a pandemic or bioterrorism attack".[141]

As a result of the increasing number of people in the United States who do not speak English, several laws and bills have been established in order to ensure their safety. Although many of these laws were established for legal citizens who speak little or no English, much of what they discuss now applies to illegal immigrants. In 2000, The White House issued Presidential Executive Order 13166, "which requires that federal agencies work to ensure that federally funded programs provide meaningful access to limited English proficient applicants and beneficiaries. It also directs federal agencies to examine the services they conduct, identify any need for services among those with limited English proficiency, and develop and implement a plan to provide those services to ensure that limited English proficient persons have meaningful access to them".[141]

Crimes committed by illegal immigrants

California has the largest immigrant population in the US, and immigrants (combined total of legal and illegal) are under represented among California prison inmates.[132] The most recent research indicates approximately 35% of the California population consists of immigrants, while immigrants represent 17% of the 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.[132] However, this does not separate the illegal versus legal immigrants.

Illegal immigrants avoid involvement in criminal activity to reduce interaction with law enforcement officials, and according to Tim Wadsworth, an assistant professor of sociology at the University of Colorado at Boulder, "[t]he suggestion that high levels of immigration may have been partially responsible for the drop in crime during the 1990s seems plausible."[142]

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".[74] Cities with large immigrant populations showed larger reductions in property and violent crime than cities without large immigrant populations.[143] 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.[74]

The Center for Immigration Studies in a 2009 report argued, "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.[144]

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.[145]

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.[146]

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.[147]

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.[148]

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 illegal immigrants 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.[149]

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 immigrants 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.[150]

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%).[151][152] 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.[150] With over 3,000 members in Northern Virginia alone making it the largest gang in the region,[153] 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 immigrants.[152][154] 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.[152]

Identity theft

Identity theft is sometimes committed by illegal immigrants who use social security numbers belonging to others, in order to obtain fake work documentation.[155] However, the US Supreme Court has ruled that illegal 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.[156]

Drug trafficking

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."[157]

Drug cartels have been reported using illegal immigrants, sometimes armed, to cultivate marijuana within American National Forests, in California's Los Padres National Forest,[158][159] Tahoe National Forest,[160] Six Rivers National Forest,[161] and Sequoia National Forest,[162] as well as in Arizona,[163] Oregon,[164] and Colorado.[165]

Gang violence

See also: 2010 Tamaulipas massacre and Los Zetas

As of 2005, Operation Community Shield had detained nearly fourteen hundred illegal immigrant gang members.[166]

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 immigrants from foreign countries into the United States. MS-13 has shown extreme violence against Border Patrol security to "teach them a lesson".[167] "Mexican alien smugglers plan to pay violent gang members and smuggle them and drugs into the United States to murder Border Patrol agents, according to a confidential Department of Homeland Security memo obtained by the Daily Bulletin."[168]

Environment

Waves of illegal immigrants are taking a heavy toll on U.S. public lands along the Mexican border, federal officials say.[169] Mike Coffeen, a biologist with the Fish and Wildlife Service in Tucson, Arizona found the level of impact to be shocking.[169] "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."[170]

"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."[171]

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.[172]

National security and terrorism

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.[173] 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:

out of the 48 al-Qaeda operatives who committed crimes here between 1993 and 2001, 12 of them were illegal immigrants 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.[174]

Vice Chair Lee H. Hamilton and Commissioner Slade Gorton of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States stated that of the nineteen hijackers in 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."[175] 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.[176]

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.

In the case of Rasmea Odeh, she was convicted of immigration fraud in 2014 for concealing her arrest, conviction, and imprisonment for a fatal terrorist bombing in Israel.[177][178]

Harm to illegal immigrants

There are significant dangers associated with illegal immigration including potential death when crossing the border. According to Chicano activist Roberto Martinez, since the 1994 implementation of an immigration-control effort called Operation Gatekeeper, immigrants have attempted to cross the border in more dangerous locations.[179] Those crossing the border come unprepared, without food, water, proper clothing, or protection from the elements or dangerous animals; sometimes the immigrants are abandoned by those smuggling them.[179] 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 trace amounts of methampehatine in his blood levels which contributed to his death.[180][181] The killing of Anastasio Hernández-Rojas was the subject of extensive media coverage in April 2012 by PBS "Need to Know"[182] and Democracy Now![183] The foreign ministry in Mexico City has demanded an explanation from San Diego and federal authorities, according to Tijuana newspapers.[180] 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.[184]

According to the Washington Office on Latin America's Border Fact Check site, Border Patrol rarely investigates allegations of abuse against migrants, and advocacy organizations say, "even serious incidents such as the shootings of migrants result in administrative, not criminal, investigations and sanctions."[185]

Slavery

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".[186][187] Many Latina women have been lured under false pretenses to illegally come to the United States and are instead forced to work as prostitutes catering to the immigrant population. Non-citizen customers without proper documentation that have been detained in prostitution stings are generally deported.[188]

Prostitution

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." [189] 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.[190] In the United States, women, who immigrate illegally, are often forced into sexual slavery.[191][192][193]

Death

Death by exposure has been reported in the deserts, particularly during the hot summer season.[194] "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.[195] Many migrants are also killed or maimed riding the roofs of cargo trains in Mexico.[196]

Cultural

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.

Immigration researcher Andrea Nill has a similar point. Nill noted that the association of illegal immigration with Latinos would bring adverse attention to their community.[197] Recent immigration laws could help fuel these associations and possibly encourage citizens to discriminate and distance themselves from the Hispanic culture.[197] Furthermore, this separation could allow for tensions and possibly violence to grow between both groups.[197]

Public opinion and controversy

US economy

One of the most important factors regarding public opinion about illegal immigration, is the level of unemployment; anti-illegal immigrant sentiment is highest where unemployment is highest and vice versa.[198] In general, some say that illegal immigrants are taking away jobs from Americans; however businesses and agricultural groups disagree and say that migrant workers are needed to fill unattractive jobs.[52] This is further supported by a May 2006 New York Times/CBS News Poll report that 53 percent of Americans felt "illegal immigrants mostly take the jobs Americans don't want".[199] However there are others who say that illegal immigration helps to "decimate the bargaining leverage of the American worker. If you use a form of labor recruitment that bids down the cost of labor, that leads you to a society where a small number are very, very rich, there's nobody in the middle, and everyone is left scrambling for crumbs at the bottom.[52] Yet there are still others who say that the U.S. "has an economy that depends on illegal immigration" and "without illegal immigration labor, it would almost certainly not be possible to produce the same volume of food in the country."[52]

Opinions from influential groups in society

Investors

According to a 2006 Gallup poll, 84% of investors believe that illegal immigrants mostly take low paying jobs that Americans do not want.[200] However, nearly 62% of investors say illegal immigration is hurting the investment climate.[200] 68% of investors say that illegal immigrants cost taxpayers too much because they use government services like public education and medical services, while 25% say that in the long run, illegal immigrants become productive citizens who come to make up paying their fair share of taxes. About 80% thought that the government should do more to curb illegal immigration.[200]

Crime

The highly publicized murder of Arizona rancher Rob Krentz in March 2010, suspected to have been committed by an illegal immigrant,[201] 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 in damage to his ranching operations during a five-year period,[202] and in the wake of his murder, interviews with his family and friends focused on similar crimes and break-ins committed by immigrants.[203]

A few weeks later, Arizona passed Arizona SB1070, the nation's toughest state immigration law.[204] 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, many Arizona police chiefs, such as Phoenix Police Chief Jack Harris,[205] have stated their disagreement with the law, arguing that it will distort police priorities.[206] 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.[207] The law sparked protests in Arizona and elsewhere, as well as led to the boycott of Arizona by cities and communities nationwide.[208]

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 represented only about 17% of the prison population. The study concludes, "immigrants are underrepresented in California prisons compared to their representation in the overall population."[209]

In a report published by the Congressional Research Service, illegal immigrants who have been released from custody have gone on to commit 16,226 other crimes between 2008 and mid-2011, including 19 murders, 142 sex crimes, and thousands of drunk-driving offenses, drug offenses, and felonies; roughly one in six illegal immigrants who were released were later arrested for committing crimes.[210] In a 2013 report by the Government Accountability Office, it reported that it had released just under sixty thousand aliens (59,837), just under three thousand (2,837) were convicted sex offenders.[211] In 2014, just over thirty thousand (30,558) aliens with criminal records were released back into the United States, including 250 with homicide convictions.[212]

Response of government

An ABC News Poll,[213] 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[214] 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 immigrants 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.

Federal response

Although Americans may favor one immigration policy over another, perceptions of government and officials' ability to implement these policies is consistently negative.[215] In November 2014, U.S. President Barack Obama announced a set of executive actions which could extend at least temporary legal status to nearly half of the illegal immigrants in the United States. The Republican majority in the new Congress as 2015 is challenging these actions. Although some Republican senators did vote for the reform bill of 2013 Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act of 2013, Obama's executive steps are not in accord with the overall stated policy position of the Republican Party.[216] On February 16, 2015, a federal district court judge issued a temporary injunction[217] against the Deferred Action for Parental Accountability program (one of the November 20, 2014 deferred action measures). The Justice Department intends to appeal the injunction.

State and local response

According to a CNN/Opinion Research Corporation Poll,[218] 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 "[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."[219][220]

Further, most respondents (63%) in the above-mentioned 2006 Quinnipiac University Poll[221] support local laws passed by communities to fine businesses that hire illegal immigrants while 33% oppose it.

In addition to these opinions, others at the local level have gotten involved in grass root, citizen-organized efforts to enhance controls on illegal migration.[222] Several citizen-led anti-illegal migration organizations have been created under the "Minuteman" name. These organizations developed with the purpose of patrolling the border and lobbying legislative bodies to reduce illegal migration. For instance, the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps (n.d.) have the following as their stated mission: "It is the mission of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps to see the borders and coastal boundaries of the United States secured against the unlawful and unauthorized entry of all individuals, contraband, and foreign military. We will employ all means of civil protest, demonstration, and political lobbying to accomplish this goal."[223]

Sanctuary cities

Currently there is a lot of controversy around Sanctuary cities, one response from the state and local governments. Many American cities have designated themselves as sanctuary cities and many other state and municipal governments discourage the reporting of illegal immigrants to U.S. immigration and Customs Enforcement.[41] A sanctuary city is defined as a city that follows certain practices to protect illegal immigrants; these include – cities that do not allow municipal funds or resources to be used to enforce federal immigration laws, usually by not allowing police or municipal employees to inquire about one's immigration status.[224] These cities include Washington D.C., New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, Santa Ana, San Diego, San Jose, Salt Lake City, El Paso, Houston, Detroit, Jersey City, Minneapolis, Miami, Denver, Baltimore, Seattle, Portland, Oregon, New Haven, Somerville, Cambridge, and Portland, Maine.[225] The controversy of this topic comes up around election time when public officials are often faced with deciding if they will continue to enforce the laws of a sanctuary city or appear to be harsher on immigration. Also the public opinion of the cities is not very high, a poll in 2011 found that 59% of the population supported a proposal to remove federal funding to sanctuary cities and 58% wanted the Justice Department to take action against these cities.[226]

Enforcement

71% of respondents in a 2006 Quinnipiac University Polling Institute poll believed that enforcement of immigration laws will require additional measures beyond a border fence, with 65% of respondents supporting employer fines.[221] 77% of respondents to a Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg Poll support employer fines.[227][228]

A 2007 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.[229] 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.[214][230]

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 immigrants 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%.[231]

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.[232] 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.[233]

Films

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.[234]

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 children, with opponents who saw the legislation as thinly-veiled amnesty. Also presented in the film are the rallies and demonstrations from illegal immigrant students who would benefit from the DREAM Act. The film opens with demonstration by some illegal high-school students as they stage a mock graduation ceremony on the U.S. Capitol lawn.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Obama administration spent $18B on immigration enforcement". USA Today. January 7, 2013.
  2. ↑ Preston, Julia (July 31, 2008). "Decline Seen in Numbers of People Here Illegally". NYtimes.com. Retrieved January 2, 2012.
  3. ↑ Illegal immigrants in the US: How many are there?, csmonitor.com
  4. ↑ 30 Million Illegal Immigrants in the United States (Report). PRWEB. Retrieved June 6, 2014.
  5. ↑ "30 Million Illegal Immigrants Can't be Wrong". The Right Truth. Retrieved June 5, 2014.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Passel, Jeffrey (March 21, 2005). "Estimates of the Size and Characteristics of the Undocumented Population" (PDF). Pew Hispanic Center.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 "Study Details Lives of Illegal Immigrants in U.S.". NPR. Retrieved January 2, 2012.
  8. ↑ Orlando J. Rodriguez (February 28, 2011). Vote Thieves: Illegal Immigration, Redistricting, and Presidential Elections. Potomac Books, Inc. p. 58. ISBN 978-1-59797-671-8.
  9. ↑ Lynch, David J.; Woodyard, Chris (April 11, 2006). "Immigrants claim key role". USA Today. Retrieved May 5, 2010.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Michael Hoefer, Nancy Rytina and Bryan C. Baker. Estimates of the Unauthorized Immigrant Population Residing in the United States: January 2009. Office of Homeland Security, January 2009.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 11.4 11.5 "Report to the Subcommittee on Terrorism, Technology and Homeland Security, Committee on the Judiciary, U.S. Senate, Estimating the Undocumented Population a "Grouped Answers" Approach to Surveying Foreign- Born Respondents, Report # GAO-06-775, at page 17" (PDF). United States Government Accountability Office. September 2006.
  12. ↑ Pew Hispanic Center Factsheet PewHispanic.com, April 26, 2006
  13. ↑ "CAPS – Illegal Aliens Estimated at 20 to 38 Million". Capsweb.org. August 31, 2007. Retrieved September 22, 2011.
  14. ↑ Michael Hoefer, Nancy Rytina, and Christopher Campbell, "Estimates of the Unauthorized Immigrant Population Residing in the United States: January 2005" (Washington, D.C.: Department of Homeland Security, Office of Immigration Statistics), August 2006, cited in "Estimating the Undocumented Population", GAO Report #06-775, at page 17.
  15. ↑ Jeffrey S. Passel, "The Size and Characteristics of the Unauthorized Migrant Population in the U.S.: Estimates Based on the March 2005 Current Population Survey", Research Report (Washington, D.C.: Pew Hispanic Center, March 7, 2006), cited in "Estimating the Undocumented Population", GAO Report #06-775, at page 17.
  16. ↑ Bahrampour, Tara (September 1, 2010). "Number of illegal immigrants in U.S. drops, report says". The Washington Post. Retrieved July 30, 2011.
  17. ↑ Bryan Baker; Nancy Rytina (March 2013). "Estimates of the Unauthorized Immigrant Population Residing in the United States: January 2012" (PDF). Department of Homeland Security.
  18. ↑ Pew Hispanic Center: "Unauthorized Immigrants and Their U.S.-Born Children" August 11, 2010
  19. ↑ Birch, B.A. "Illegal Immigrants' Children Fare Worse at School". article. Education News. Retrieved March 27, 2012.
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 Carl Hulse (July 9, 2014). "Immigrant Surge Rooted in Law to Curb Child Trafficking". The New York Times. Retrieved July 9, 2014.
  21. ↑ SEMPLE, KIRK (June 6, 2014). "Youths Facing Deportation to Be Given Legal Counsel". New York Times. Retrieved June 7, 2014.
  22. ↑ Viswanatha, Aruna; Cowan, Richard (June 6, 2014). "U.S. to start legal aid program for some immigrant children". Reuters. Retrieved February 19, 2015.
  23. ↑ Gomez, Alan (June 6, 2014). "Obama to provide legal aid to border-crossing children". USA Today. Retrieved June 7, 2014.
  24. ↑ Gordon, Ian (August 2014). "70,000 Kids Will Show Up Alone at Our Border This Year. What Happens to Them?". Mother Jones. Retrieved June 21, 2014.
  25. ↑ Michael D. Shear and Jeremy W. Peters (July 8, 2014). "Obama Asks for $3.7 Billion to Aid Border". The New York Times. Retrieved July 9, 2014. an urgent humanitarian situation.
  26. ↑ Julia Preston (July 8, 2014). "U.S. Adjusts Court Flow to Meet Rise in Migrants". The New York Times. Retrieved July 9, 2014.
  27. ↑ "Children, Obama Delays Action". Migration News. Retrieved December 12, 2014.
  28. ↑ "Migrant Travel Today". Migration as a Travel Business. Migrants on 'La Bestia' train.
  29. ↑ "Mexico crackdown keeps migrants off trains known as 'La Bestia'." Los Angeles Times , September 7, 2014
  30. ↑ Beth Slovic Bslovic (February 20, 2008). "He's an... Illegal Eh-lien". Willamette Week.
  31. ↑ "Citizenship Through Naturalization". US Citizenship and Immigration Services: Department of Homeland Security.
  32. ↑ "Visas". US Department of State.
  33. ↑ "Title 8 § 1182 – Inadmissible aliens". Cornell University Law School.
  34. ↑ "Inspections Report". Inspections Division, Office of the Inspector General, Department of Justice.
  35. ↑ 35.0 35.1 35.2 35.3 35.4 35.5 "Modes of Entry for the Unauthorized Migrant Population" (PDF). Pew Hispanic Center. May 22, 2006. Retrieved February 2, 2011.
  36. ↑ 36.0 36.1 "Border-Crossing Deaths Have Doubled Since 1995; Border Patrol's Efforts to Prevent Deaths Have Not Been Fully Evaluated" (PDF). Government Accountability Office. August 2006. p. 42.
  37. ↑ Alexandra Marks (February 5, 2002). "A harder look at visa overstayers". Christian Science Monitor.
  38. ↑ "Immigration: The Demographic and Economic Facts". Cato.org. Retrieved January 2, 2012.
  39. ↑ "Nearly Half of Illegal Immigrants Overstay Visas". NPR. June 14, 2006. Retrieved January 2, 2012.
  40. ↑ Jon Clifton, "Roughly 6.2 million Mexicans express desire to move to U.S.", Gallup, June 7, 2010.
  41. ↑ 41.0 41.1 41.2 41.3 41.4 41.5 41.6 Anderson, Oliver C. Illegal Immigration: Causes, Methods, and Effects. New York: Nova Science, 2010. Print.
  42. ↑ "Mexican aliens seek to retake ‘stolen’ land". Washington Times. April 16, 2006. Retrieved March 24, 2015.
    Mark Krikorian (2008). The New Case Against Immigration: Both Legal and Illegal. Sentinel. pp. 47–48. ISBN 978-1-59523-035-5.
    Kathleen R. Arnold (2011). Anti-immigration in the United States: A-R. ABC-CLIO. pp. 430–431. ISBN 978-0-313-37521-7.
    Otis L. Graham (January 1, 2006). Unguarded Gates: A History of America's Immigration Crisis. Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 131–133. ISBN 978-0-7425-2229-9.
    Gene W. Heck (2008). The Eclipse of the American Century: An Agenda for Renewal. Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 146–147. ISBN 978-0-7425-6310-0.
  43. ↑ Lina Newton (August 10, 2008). Illegal, Alien, or Immigrant: The Politics of Immigration Reform. NYU Press. p. 25. ISBN 978-0-8147-5856-4.
    Leo Chavez (April 17, 2013). The Latino Threat: Constructing Immigrants, Citizens, and the Nation, Second Edition. Stanford University Press. p. 25. ISBN 978-0-8047-8618-8.
    Peter Schrag (2010). Not Fit for Our Society: Nativism and Immigration. University of California Press. pp. 300–3001. ISBN 978-0-520-25978-2.
  44. ↑ Glenn H. Utter (November 12, 2009). Culture Wars in America: A Documentary and Reference Guide: A Documentary and Reference Guide. ABC-CLIO. pp. 182–183. ISBN 978-0-313-35039-9.
  45. ↑ Teitelbaum, Michael; Winter, Jay. "Low Fertility Rates: Just a Phase". Yale Global Online. Retrieved August 31, 2014.
  46. ↑ Feichtinger, Gustav; Prskawetz, Alexia; Seidl, Andrea; Simon, Christa; Wrzaczek, Stefan (February 2002). "Do Egalitarian Societies Boost Fertility" (PDF). Vienna Institute of Demography. Retrieved August 31, 2014.
  47. ↑ Press Briefing on Comprehensive Immigration Reform by Joel Kaplan, Assistant to the President and Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy Archives.gov, June 25, 2007
  48. ↑ Alonso, Luis (September 24, 2003). "> News > Mexico – Remittances are Mexico's biggest source of income, says Fox". SignOnSanDiego.com. Retrieved January 2, 2012.
  49. ↑ "Migration Can Deliver Welfare Gains, Reduce Poverty, Says Global Economic Prospects 2006". Web.worldbank.org. Retrieved January 2, 2012.
  50. ↑ 50.0 50.1 50.2 50.3 50.4 50.5 50.6 50.7 50.8 50.9 50.10 Judith Gans. "Illegal Immigration to the United States: Causes and Policy Solutions". 3. Udall Center for Studies in Public Policy, Feb. 2007. Web. October 25, 2012.
  51. ↑ 51.0 51.1 51.2 51.3 Chiswick, Barry R. "Illegal Immigration and Immigration Control". The Journal of Economic Perspectives. Vol. 2, No. 3 (Summer, 1988), pp. 101–115.
  52. ↑ 52.0 52.1 52.2 52.3 52.4 Jost, Kenneth. "Immigration Conflict: Should States Crack down on Unlawful Aliens?" The CQ Researcher Online 22.10 (1923): n. pag. CQ Researcher by CQ Press. March 9, 2012. Web. October 25, 2012.
  53. ↑ 53.0 53.1 Louis Uchitelle (February 18, 2007). "Nafta Should Have Stopped Illegal Immigration, Right?". The New York Times. Retrieved May 5, 2010.
  54. ↑ According to the Migration Policy Institute, many analysts believe that alleviating the backlog would significantly reduce the number of illegal immigrants each year.Ramah McKay, Migration Policy Institute. "Family Reunification". Migration Information Source, May 2003
  55. ↑ An Irish Face on the Cause of Citizenship, Nina Bernstein, March 16, 2006, The New York Times.
  56. ↑ National Council of La Raza, Issues and Programs » Immigration » Immigration Reform, Issues and Programs » Immigration » Immigration Reform, National Council of La Raza. (archived from the original on August 6, 2010)
  57. ↑ "FoxNews.com". FoxNews.com. December 1, 2011. Retrieved January 2, 2012.
  58. ↑ "NEWS.BBC.co.uk". NEWS.BBC.co.uk. January 25, 2006. Retrieved January 2, 2012.
  59. ↑ "Mexican State Issues 'How To' on Border Jumping". Fox News. March 23, 2005.
  60. ↑ 60.0 60.1 Iliff, Laurence (January 7, 2005). "Mexico offers tips for crossing border in comic book". The Seattle Times.
  61. ↑ Daniela Gerson (January 19, 2005). "Long-awaited Document For the Undocumented". New York Sun.
  62. ↑ Bank of America to offer bank accounts, credit cards to illegal immigrants 15 February 2007
  63. ↑ "ID Requirements" (PDF). Sacramento, CA: Bank on California, California State Government. Retrieved February 17, 2009.
  64. ↑ "The New Americans: Economic, Demographic, and Fiscal Effects of Immigration". The National Academies Press. 1997. p. 21.
  65. ↑ "§ 1325. Improper entry by alien". Cornell Law School. Retrieved July 30, 2010.
  66. ↑ 66.0 66.1 Archibold, Randal C. (April 24, 2010). "U.S.'s Toughest Immigration Law Is Signed in Arizona". The New York Times. p. A1.
  67. ↑ Archibold, Randal C. (July 29, 2010). "Judge Blocks Arizona's Immigration Law". The New York Times. p. A1.
  68. ↑ "A Primer on Mexico's Immigration and Emigration Laws", by Barnard R. Thompson, MexiData.info, March 24, 2008
  69. ↑ Mexico to deport Cubans heading illegally to US, International Herald Tribune, October 20, 2008
  70. ↑ For more information on the ways to enter the United States legally see http://www.hannafordimmigration.com/immigration-services/
  71. ↑ 8 U.S.C. § 1621
  72. ↑ Medina, Jennifer (January 2, 2014). "Allowed to Join the Bar, but Not to Take a Job". The New York Times. Retrieved June 1, 2014.
  73. ↑ "Immigration Crackdown With Firings, Not Raids" article by Julia Preston in The New York Times September 29, 2009
  74. ↑ 74.0 74.1 74.2 74.3 74.4 74.5 74.6 Edmonston and Smith, The New Americans, National Academy Press, page 387
  75. ↑ Definition of No-Match Letters August 10, 2007 by the ICE; see also – Safe Harbor ICE.gov, October 31, 2007
  76. ↑ Preston, Julia (October 2, 2007). "Court Orders a New Delay on Illegal Worker Rules". The New York Times. Archived from the original on June 26, 2012. Retrieved June 26, 2012.
  77. ↑ "Illegal Hiring is Rarely Penalized". The Washington Post WashingtonPost.com, June 19, 2006
  78. ↑ Wal-Mart to Pay $11 Million: Chain Settles Illegal-Worker Investigation WashingtonPost.com, March 19, 2005
  79. ↑ Immigration raid linked to ID theft, Chertoff says (USA TODAY) December 13, 2006. Because Swift uses a government Basic Pilot program to confirm whether Social Security numbers are valid, no charges were filed against Swift. Company officials have questioned the program's ability to detect when two people are using the same number.
  80. ↑ Enforcing Corporate Responsibility for Violations of Workplace Immigration Laws: The Case of Meatpacking Harvard.edu, December 22, 2006. Tyson also used its enrollment in the Basic Pilot and EVP Programs (voluntary employment eligibility screening programs) as part of its defense.
  81. ↑ The New York Times, July 9, 2010, by Julia Preston, "Illegal Workers Swept From Jobs in 'Silent Raids'"
  82. ↑ Edmonston and Smith, The New Americans, National Academy Press, page 39-52
  83. ↑ Bernstein, Nina. "In-Custody Deaths". The New York Times. Retrieved May 5, 2010.
  84. ↑ Anil Kalhan (2010), "Rethinking Immigration Detention", Columbia Law Review Sidebar 110: 42–58, retrieved January 12, 2014
  85. ↑ Nina Bernstein (August 12, 2008). "Ill and in Pain, Detainee Dies in U.S. Hands". The New York Times. Retrieved August 18, 2008.
  86. ↑ "deportation (law) – Britannica Online Encyclopedia". Britannica.com. Retrieved November 5, 2012.
  87. ↑ 87.0 87.1 Morawetz, N. (2000). "Understanding the Impact of the 1996 Deportation Laws and the Limited Scope of Proposed Reforms". Harvard Law Review 113 (8): 1936–1962. doi:10.2307/1342314. JSTOR 1342314.
  88. ↑ Sinnar, S. (2003). "Patriotic or Unconstitutional? The Mandatory Detention of Aliens under the USA Patriot Act". Stanford Law Review 55 (4): 1419–1456. JSTOR 1229608.
  89. ↑ "39 Harvard Journal on Legislation 2002 "USA Patriot Act Recent Developments"". Heinonline.org. Retrieved November 5, 2012.
  90. ↑ Lee, Margaret (May 12, 2006). "U.S. Citizenship of Persons Born in the United States to Alien Parents" (PDF). Congressional Research Service Report for Congress. pp. 10, 17. Retrieved August 16, 2008.
  91. ↑ Passel, Jeffrey (March 7, 2006). "The Size and Characteristics of the Unauthorized Migrant Population in the US" (PDF). Pew Hispanic Center. Retrieved August 20, 2008.
  92. ↑ 92.0 92.1 Preston, Julia (November 17, 2007). "Immigration Quandary: A Mother Torn From Her Baby". The New York Times. Retrieved August 20, 2008.
  93. ↑ Julie Watson (August 24, 2008). "Mexicans deported from US face shattered lives". USA Today. Associated Press.
  94. ↑ Slevin, Peter (July 25, 2010). "Deportation of illegal immigrants increases under Obama administration". The Washington Post. pp. A1.
  95. ↑ Jim Barnett (October 18, 2011). "U.S. deportations reach historic levels". CNN. Retrieved October 18, 2011.
  96. ↑ The New York Times: "Seeing Citizenship Path Near, Activists Push Obama to Slow Deportations" by Michael D. Schear February 22, 2013
  97. ↑ Dinan, Stephen (November 11, 2014). "ICE lawyer's lawsuit exposes how feds release illegals". Washington Times. Retrieved January 28, 2015.
  98. ↑ "55 Stanford Law Review 2002–2003 Patriotic or Unconstitutional – The Mandatory Detention of Aliens under the USA Patriot Act Note". Heinonline.org. Retrieved November 5, 2012.
  99. ↑ For more information please visit http://www.hannafordimmigration.com/immigration-services/humanitarian-visa-types/#DACA
  100. ↑ Hagan, J.; Eschbach, K.; Rodriguez, N. (2008). "U.S. Deportation Policy, Family Separation, and Circular Migration". International Migration Review 42: 64. doi:10.1111/j.1747-7379.2007.00114.x.
  101. ↑ Isacson, Adam and Maureen Meyer. "Dangerous Deportation Practices that put Migrants at Risk." Washington Office on Latin America, June 4, 2013. Retrieved July 31, 2013.
  102. ↑ Schlanger, Margo (November 25, 2014). "A Civil Rights Lawyer Explains Why Obama's Immigration Order Is an Even Bigger Deal Than It Seems". New Republic. Retrieved January 30, 2015.
  103. ↑ Jessica Vaughn (October 2014). "ICE Enforcement Collapses Further in 2014". Backgrounds and Reports. Center for Immigration Studies. Retrieved January 30, 2015.
  104. ↑ Caldwell, Alicia. "Deportations down 20 percent, fewest since 2007". AP. Retrieved September 13, 2014.
  105. ↑ Darryl Fears (July 26, 2005). "$41 Billion Cost Projected To Remove Illegal Entrants". Washington Times.
  106. ↑ 106.0 106.1 106.2 U.S. urged to apologize for 1930s deportations Wendy Koch, USA TODAY, May 4, 2006
  107. ↑ 107.0 107.1 Timeline: 1953 Operation Wetback: The U.S. Immigration Service deports more than 3.8 million people of Mexican heritage. The Border, PBS
  108. ↑ Posse Comitatus Act Not Dated
  109. ↑ Border Skirmish Time.com, August 25, 1997
  110. ↑ "On the Border". Hartford Advocate. June 30, 2008. Archived from the original on July 15, 2008. Retrieved July 11, 2008.
  111. ↑ "About the Film The Ballad of Esequiel Hernández". PBS. July 7, 2008. Retrieved July 11, 2008.
  112. ↑ The Myth of Posse Comitatus October 2000
  113. ↑ House panel plans probe of S. Texas border killing DPFT.org, July 17, 1997
  114. ↑ Pentagon Pulls Troops Off Drug Patrols Action Comes as Grand Jury Weighs Indictment of Marine DPFT.org, July 30, 1997
  115. ↑ National Guard presence cutting number of illegal US-Mexico border crossings PITT.edu, June 12, 2006
  116. ↑ Bush Set To Send Guard to Border WashingtonPost.com, May 15, 2006
  117. ↑ President Bush Addresses the Nation on Immigration Reform Archives.gov, May 2006
  118. ↑ Mexico Threatens Lawsuits Over U.S. Guard Patrols NewsMax.com, May 17, 2006
  119. ↑ ACLU Calls on President Not to Deploy Military Troops to Deter Immigrants at the Mexican Border ACLU.org, May 5, 2006
  120. ↑ President Bush's Plan For Comprehensive Immigration Reform 2007 State of the Union
  121. ↑ Comprehensive Immigration Reform Not Dated
  122. ↑ National Guard works the border SFgate.com, October 23, 2006
  123. ↑ City and County of San Francisco, Office of the Mayor, "Mayor Newsom launches sanctuary city outreach program", , April 2, 2008. Retrieved October 10, 2009.
  124. ↑ Enforcing Immigration Law: The Role of State and Local Law Enforcement, Congressional Research Service report, August 14, 2006 page 26
  125. ↑ U.S. Cities Provide Sanctuary to Illegals FoxNew.com, July 25, 2003
  126. ↑ "Extremists Declare 'Open Season' on Immigrants". Anti-Defamation League. April 26, 2006.
  127. ↑ No More Deaths homepage Home Page
  128. ↑ "'Dreamer Moms' fast near White House, hoping Obama will grant them legal status". The Washington Post. November 12, 2014.
  129. ↑ NationalReview.com
  130. ↑ Miller, Debra A. "Illegal Immigration" (2007). Reference Point Press. 20–23
  131. ↑ Unger, Stephen H. "Immigration: Who wins? Who Loses?". Retrieved March 5, 2012.
  132. ↑ 132.0 132.1 132.2 "Crime, Corrections, and California" (PDF). Public Policy Institute of California.
  133. ↑ Immigration and African-American Employment Opportunities: The Response of Wages, Employment, and Incarceration to Labor Supply Shocks NBER.org, September 2006
  134. ↑ "Realty Rates Follow Population". China Daily.
  135. ↑ Eduardo Porter (April 5, 2005). "Illegal Immigrants Are Bolstering Social Security With Billions". The New York Times.
  136. ↑ J. Lipman, Francine, J. (Spring 2006). "Taxing Undocumented Immigrants: Separate, Unequal and Without Representation". The Tax Lawyer. Also published in Harvard Latino Law Review, Spring 2006. Harvard.edu
  137. ↑ "The Impact of Unauthorized Immigrants on the Budgets of State and Local Governments" (PDF). The Congress of the United States – Congressional Budget Office. December 2007.
  138. ↑ Banks help illegal immigrants own their own home, CNN/Money
  139. ↑ Cornelius, Wayne A.. "Controlling 'Unwanted' Immigration: Lessons from the United States, 1993–2004" Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies 31.4 (2005). EBSCOhost.com, October 29, 2007
  140. ↑ (Pipa, 2006)
  141. ↑ 141.0 141.1 (Blazer, 2008)
  142. ↑ Scott, Jim. "Drop in Violent Crime Tied to Immigration?". Futurity.
  143. ↑ http://www.sacbee.com/110/story/738822.html Opinion – Editorial: Immigrant threat? Hardly – sacbee.com
  144. ↑ Immigration and Crime: Assessing a Conflicted Issue, Steven A. Camarota and Jessica M. Vaughan, November 2009
  145. ↑ Slevin, Peter (July 26, 2010). "Deportation of illegal immigrants increases under Obama administration". The Washington Post.
  146. ↑ Tanis J. Salant and others, Illegal Immigrants in U.S./Mexico Border Counties: The Costs for Law Enforcement, Criminal Justice, and Emergency Medical Services (report prepared for the United States/Mexico Border Counties Coalition, February 2001).
  147. ↑ The impact of illegal immigration and enforcement on border crime rates, Federal reserve bank of Dallas. DallasFedBackup.org, March 2003
  148. ↑ Gordon, Tony (September 18, 2008). "Lake Co. sheriff says 21.5% of jail inmates illegal immigrants". Daily Herald. Retrieved September 19, 2008.
  149. ↑ CBS News: "Undocumented Immigrants Increasingly Filling Arizona Prisons" July 22, 2010.
  150. ↑ 150.0 150.1 "National Gang Threat Assessment 2009" National Gang Intelligence Center FBI retrieved June 19, 2012
  151. ↑ Testimony of Heather MacDonald, Senior Fellow, Manhattan Institute for Policy Research, before the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration, Border Security, and Claims April 13, 2005.
  152. ↑ 152.0 152.1 152.2 Center for Immigration Studies: "Immigration Enforcement Disrupts Criminal Gangs in Virginia" January 2008.
  153. ↑ "Northern Virginia Regional Gang Task Force – Northern Virginia Comprehensive Gang Assessment 2003–2008" (PDF). Retrieved January 2, 2012.
  154. ↑ Washington Examiner: "Gangs flee N.Va.for havens in Md" October 27, 2009
  155. ↑ Mortensen, Ronald W. (June 2009). "Illegal, but Not Undocumented". Center for Immigration Studies. Retrieved January 28, 2015.
    "Kansas case puts face on growing problem of 'total identity theft' by illegal immigrants". Fox News. Associated Press. October 23, 2012. Retrieved January 28, 2015.
    Hegeman, Roxana (January 8, 2008). "Illegal immigrants turn to identity theft". NBC News. Associated Press. Retrieved January 28, 2015.
  156. ↑ Liptak, Adam; Preston, Julia (May 4, 2009). "Justices Limit Use of Identity Theft Law in Immigration Cases". New York Times. Retrieved January 28, 2015.
  157. ↑ House of Representatives, Subcommittee on Immigration and Claims, Committee on the Judiciary, Border Security and Deterring Illegal Entry Into the United States House.gov, April 23, 1997
  158. ↑ Foxman, Adam. "VenturaCountyStar.com". VenturaCountyStar.com. Retrieved January 2, 2012.
  159. ↑ "Transcripts.cnn.com". Transcripts.cnn.com. June 16, 2009. Retrieved January 2, 2012.
  160. ↑ Margot Roosevelt, "Busted!", Time, July 27, 2003.
  161. ↑ "Illegal immigrant arrested at marijuana garden on Six Rivers", Eureka Times-Standard, October 2, 2008.
  162. ↑ Tina Ferrell, Monumental outlook over the horizon, PDF file, Sequoia National Forest news release, August 19, 2009.
  163. ↑ Final National Forest marijuana cultivator sentenced to 144 months infederal prison, PDF file, Office of the United States Attorney, District of Arizona, December 22, 2008.
  164. ↑ Marijuana: Cultivation US Department of Justice, National Drug Intelligence Center, February 2005.
  165. ↑ Dennis Webb, "Marijuana farms sprouting up across state", Grand Junction (Colo.) Sentinel, September 16, 2009.
  166. ↑ Whitehouse.gov, Sheet: Securing America Through Immigration Reform Archives.gov, November 28, 2005
  167. ↑ Immigration and the Alien Gang Epidemic: Problems and Solutions Manhattan-institute.org, April 13, 2005
  168. ↑ Report: MS-13 gang hired to murder Border Patrol DailyBulletin.com, January 9, 2006
  169. ↑ 169.0 169.1 Immigration Taking Toll on Parks, Refuges Near U.S.-Mexico Border By April Reese, Land Letter, Environment and Energy Publishing, LLC, Public Lands, Vol. 10, No. 9, February 13, 2003
  170. ↑ Dumping of Trash, Waste, Endemic in State with Flood of Illegal Immigration Arthur H. Rotstein, Associated Press Newswires, Dateline Coronado National Memorial, Arizona July 12, 2004
  171. ↑ Illegal Entrants' Residue; Trash Woes Piling Up By Tony Davis, The Arizona Daily Star (Tucson) August 24, 2005
  172. ↑ Illegal Immigrants Tied to Costly Wildfires Associated Press, Dateline Tucson, Arizona, September 9, 2002 19 Jul 2004
  173. ↑ "Six months after Sept. 11, hijackers' visa approval letters received". CNN. March 13, 2002. Retrieved May 5, 2010.
  174. ↑ Visa Overstays: Can We Bar the Terrorist Door? 109th Congress House.gov, May 11, 2006
  175. ↑ Prepared Statement of Vice Chair Lee Hamilton and Commissioner Slade Gorton National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States before the Senate Committee on the Judiciary August 19, 2004 The 9/11 Commission Report. 9-11pdp.org, August 19, 2004
  176. ↑ Six months after September 11, hijackers' visa approval letters received CNN.com, March 13, 2002
  177. ↑ "US activist found guilty of not disclosing conviction in fatal Jerusalem bombing". The Guardian.
  178. ↑ "Palestinian activist convicted of immigration fraud in Detroit". Reuters.
  179. ↑ 179.0 179.1 Roberto Martinez (In Motion Magazine), "Operation Gatekeeper" InMotionMagazine.com, Retrieved: July 4, 2008.
  180. ↑ 180.0 180.1 City News Service, Staff (June 2, 2010). "Coroner: Meth played role in Mexican border stun gun death". San Diego News Network. Retrieved June 6, 2010.
  181. ↑ "PBS Need to Know, Crossing the Line". Retrieved July 22, 2012.
  182. ↑ Brian Epstein (April 20, 2012). "Crossing the line at the border". PBS Need to Know. Retrieved April 24, 2012.
  183. ↑ "Death on the Border: Shocking Video Shows Mexican Immigrant Beaten and Tased by Border Patrol Agents". Democracy Now!. April 24, 2012. Retrieved April 24, 2012.
  184. ↑ Archibold, Randal C. (February 28, 2008). "Border Patrol Agent's Trial in Killing of Illegal Immigrant Starts in Arizona". The New York Times. Retrieved May 5, 2010.
  185. ↑ Meyer, Maureen. "Are migrants routinely abused by Customs and Border Protection agents?". Border Fact Check. Washington Office on Latin America. Retrieved September 24, 2012.
  186. ↑ Many of these women are forced in to heavy labor to pay for their passage into the U.S. PBS Report on Illegal Immigrant Slavery in the US
  187. ↑ Modern slavery thriving in the U.S. Retrieved: March 5, 2008
  188. ↑ Fox News Latino: "US 'Network of Pimps' Indicted for Enslaving Dozens of Latina Immigrants January 18, 2013
  189. ↑ Coalition Against Trafficking in Women for Prostitution Retrieved: March 5, 2008.
  190. ↑ La Prensa – 45 mil niños centroamericanos emigran a EUA al año / 04 / 03 / 2008 / Ediciones / La Prensa
  191. ↑ Fox News: "Feds say Mexican women were forced into sex trade in NY, NJ, some had sex 25 times a day May 1, 2013
  192. ↑ American Family Association Journal: "Malevolent Bargains – Slavery Continues in the Form of Forced Prostitution" April 2004
  193. ↑ The New York Times: "The Girls Next Door" By Peter Landesman January 25, 2004
  194. ↑ Nieves, Evelyn (August 6, 2002). "Illegal Immigrant Death Rate Rises Sharply in Barren Areas". The New York Times. Retrieved June 29, 2009.
  195. ↑ Crossing Over: A Mexican Family on the Migrant Trail, review by Carol Amoruso.
  196. ↑ "'Train of death' drives migrant American dreamers". CNN. June 25, 2010.
  197. ↑ 197.0 197.1 197.2 Nill, Andrea Christina (2011). "Latinos and S.B. 1070: Demonization, Dehumanization, and Disenfranchisement". Harvard Latino Law Review 14: 35–66.
  198. ↑ Espenshade, Thomas J. and Belanger, Maryanne (1998) "Immigration and Public Opinion". In Marcelo M. Suarez-Orozco, ed. Crossings: Mexican Immigration in Interdisciplinary Perspectives. Cambridge, Mass.: David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies and Harvard University Press, pages 365–403
  199. ↑ The State of American Public Opinion on Immigration in Spring 2006: A Review of Major Surveys, pew Hispanic center PewHispanic.org, May 17, 2006
  200. ↑ 200.0 200.1 200.2 Jacobe, Dennis. "Investors Believe Illegal Immigration Is Hurting The U.S. Economic Climate: Eight In 10 Investors Say The Government Should Do More To Stop Illegal Immigration." Gallup Poll Briefing (2006): 1–4. Business Source Complete. Web. October 25, 2012.
  201. ↑ "Murder of Arizona Rancher Roils Immigration Debate". Fox News. Associated Press. April 10, 2010. Retrieved April 30, 2010.
  202. ↑ J.D. Wallace (May 18, 2005). "Illegal Immigration Costly for Southeastern Arizona Ranchers". KOLD News 13. Retrieved April 30, 2010.
  203. ↑ Leo W. Banks (April 29, 2010). "The Krentz Bonfire". Tucson Weekly. Retrieved April 30, 2010.
  204. ↑ Howard Fischer (April 28, 2010). "Arizona now has toughest immigration law state". Capitol Media Services. Retrieved April 30, 2010.
  205. ↑ "Press Briefing with Public Safety Manager Jack Harris". May 6, 2010.
  206. ↑ Arizona Republic: Police weighing Arizona's immigration bill's impact April 22, 2010.
  207. ↑ "Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu shares his perspective on enforcing Arizona's new immigration law.". Horizon (PBS). May 18, 2010.
  208. ↑ "Arizona's SB-1070: the Battle for Immigrant's Rights" Making Contact, produced by National Radio Project. November 16, 2010.
  209. ↑ Kristin F. Butcher and Anne Morrison Piehl, Public Policy Institute of California. "Crime, Corrections and California" (PDF). February 2008
  210. ↑ Neil Munro (August 9, 2012). "Arrested illegals who were released charged with 16,226 subsequent crimes". Daily Caller. Retrieved August 10, 2012.
  211. ↑ Larence, Eileen R. (September 2013). "Sex Offenders: ICE Could Better Inform Offenders It Supervises of Registration Responsibilities and Notify Jurisdictions when Offenders Are Removed" (PDF). Report to Congressional Requesters. Government Accountability Office. Retrieved March 14, 2015. According to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), of the 59,347 aliens under an order of supervision as of September 2012, 2,837 (5 percent) of them had been convicted of a sex offense
  212. ↑ Dinan, Stephen (14 April 2015). "Feds releasing hundreds of illegal immigrant rapists, murderers: report". Washington Times. Retrieved 23 April 2015. The data, released by House Judiciary Committee Chairman Robert W. Goodlatte at the beginning of a hearing with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director Sarah Saldana, also showed that the 30,558 criminal aliens ICE knowingly released back into the community in 2014 had amassed nearly 80,000 convictions, including 250 homicides, 186 kidnappings and 373 sexual assaults.
    Salgado, Liliana (15 April 2015). "U.S. House panel says ICE released 30,000 convicted criminals in 2014". Arizona Capitol Times. Cronkite News. Retrieved 23 April 2015. He pointed to numbers from ICE that showed it had released 30,558 people in 2014 who had been of more than 79,000 crimes, from homicides to traffic offenses. That followed the release of 36,000 detainees with criminal convictions in fiscal 2013, Goodlatte said.
  213. ↑ ABC News Poll. Sept. 27–30, 2007
  214. ↑ 214.0 214.1 CBS News/New York Times Poll. May 18–23, 2007
  215. ↑ Segovia, Francine, and Renatta Defever. "The Polls – Trends: American Public Opinion On Immigrants And Immigration Policy". Public Opinion Quarterly 74.2 (2010): 375–394. ReferenceSearch. Web. October 25, 2012.
  216. ↑ Keeling, Drew (2014), "Republicans' "Principles"," Migration as a travel business
  217. ↑ "Court injunction against executive actions". Migration as a travel business. Retrieved February 20, 2015.
  218. ↑ CNN/Opinion Research Corporation Poll. Oct. 12–14, 2007
  219. ↑ "Field.com" (PDF). Retrieved January 2, 2012.
  220. ↑ Driver's Licenses For Undocumented Aliens in California
  221. ↑ 221.0 221.1 Quinnipiac University Poll. Nov. 13–19, 2006.
  222. ↑ Kevin, Buckler, Swatt Marc L., and Salinas Patti. "Public Views Of Illegal Migration Policy And Control Strategies: A Test Of The Core Hypotheses". Journal Of Criminal Justice 37.(n.d.): 317–327. ScienceDirect. Web. October 25, 2012.
  223. ↑ United States secured against the unlawful and unauthorized entry of all individuals, contraband, and foreign military. We will employ all means of civil protest, demonstration, and political lobbying to accomplish this goal."
  224. ↑ Fimrite, Peter (April 23, 2007). "Newsom says S.F. won't help with raids". San Francisco Chronicle.
  225. ↑ "Sanctuary Cities, USA". Ohio Jobs & Justice Political Action Committee (Salvi Communications).
  226. ↑ Barletta's sanctuary cities bill popular, May 13, Jonathan Riskind, The Times Leader.
  227. ↑ Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg Poll. November 30 – December 3, 2007
  228. ↑ "Immigration". Pollingreport.com. Retrieved January 2, 2012.
  229. ↑ NBC News/Wall Street Journal Poll conducted by the polling organizations of Peter Hart (D) and Neil Newhouse (R). June 8–11, 2007
  230. ↑ "The most comprehensive public opinion coverage ever provided for a presidential election". Rasmussen Reports. May 25, 2007. Retrieved January 2, 2012.
  231. ↑ "Immigration Poll". Manhattan Institute. Retrieved January 2, 2012.
  232. ↑ Nationally, 60% Favor Letting Local Police Stop and Verify Immigration Status, Rasmussen Reports
  233. ↑ Poll Shows Most in U.S. Want Overhaul of Immigration Laws, The New York Times
  234. ↑ May 3, 2010 in Current Affairs, Film (May 3, 2010). "Immigrationprof Blog: Acclaimed Political Documentary Series 'How Democracy Works Now' Announces Washington D.C. Screenings". Lawprofessors.typepad.com. Retrieved September 22, 2011.

Further reading

External links