Economics Deterring Undocumented Immigrants
Economics Deterring Undocumented Immigrants
New studies have found that the undocumented population has recently declined, and most researchers agree that the driving force behind this phenomenon is economics.
Sunday September 7th, 2008
(NewsUSA) - Hardly surprising, given that the majority of undocumented immigrants come from nations where opportunities are scarce. Migrants would not leave their families if good opportunities for economic security existed in their home countries.
Some argue that heightened immigration enforcement, rather than economic downturn, has caused a decrease in undocumented immigration over the past year. But all evidence points to the contrary.
According to a June 2008 report by Wayne Cornelius of the Center for Comparative Immigration Studies, "The pattern of undocumented migrants responding to economic conditions rather than policy decisions has continued during the border enforcement build-up that began in 1993." Cornelius also points out in a 2006 paper that since 1993, "We have spent more than $20 billion on this project -; the population of unauthorized immigrants living in the U.S. has more than doubled." During these years, the magnet of economic prosperity was stronger than the threat of border enforcement.
Data from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis show that the economic downturn in many of the industries where undocumented immigrants tend to be employed began well before August 2007. For instance, the construction industry started to shed jobs in the first quarter of 2007. Job growth in the service sector also began to slow during the early months of 2007, showing a direct correlation with economic decline and decreased undocumented immigration.
The only solution some politicians and think tanks offer to stop undocumented immigration is an amped-up deportation-only agenda. These critics claim that if the recent decline in the undocumented population were sustained, it could cut the illegal population in half within just five years. But consider that in FY 2007 alone, over 275,000 undocumented immigrants were removed from the U.S. This hardly puts a dent in the estimated undocumented population of 12 million.
The U.S. cannot deport its way out of this problem. Where economic opportunity knocks, willing workers, documented or not, will always answer.
For more information, visit www.aila.org.
http://tinyurl.com/5n7jdr