Published: 03.15.2007
Kimble: Illegal immigrant roundup a fantasy
MARK KIMBLE
Tucson Citizen
So now it's 10 down and 11,999,990 to go. Or maybe it's 10 down and 19,999,990 to go.
No one really knows. But for those who say we should just round up all illegal immigrants and ship them home, last week's highly publicized raid in Sierra Vista should be proof that such a comprehensive roundup is impossible.
Yes, maybe we could do it. But at the rate we're going, it's likely that global warming will turn this entire planet into a steaming, lifeless lump of coal before we can find and deport everyone who is in the United States illegally.
Jim Kolbe, who during 22 years in Congress heard it all, says the raid illustrates how difficult and expensive it is to track and arrest employed illegal immigrants.
And the owner of a local pecan company says this is proof that the United States must rethink the entire issue.
Friday's raid at a Sierra Vista drywall company was clearly meant to generate headlines that would scare employers out of hiring illegal immigrants.
The numbers were epic:
The investigation took 16 months. It involved Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Border Patrol, the Cochise County Sheriff's Office and the Sierra Vista Police Department.
When the raid occurred, nearly 200 law enforcement officers took part. They served 11 federal search warrants at 37 locations.
Eight people were arrested, including the president and some managers of the company.
And the illegal immigrants at the center of the investigation? Ten were arrested. Ten.
It probably went smoothly with 20 cops available to escort each of those illegal immigrants.
The Pew Hispanic Research Center estimates that 10 percent of all workers in Arizona are illegal immigrants.
According to 2005 census figures, that would be 445,000 illegal immigrants in the state. Federal officials say that's conservative.
How many illegal immigrants are there in the United States? Pick a number. The most commonly accepted one is 12 million, but that's a year or so old. Others say 20 million. No one knows.
Let's say it's "only" 12 million. This raid resulted in the arrest and deportation of 0.000083 percent of the illegal immigrants.
By my calculations, at this rate, it's going to take an incredibly long time to track down all of them.
Meanwhile, how many people entered the United States illegally during that 16-month investigation? How many entered on the day of the raid? I bet that on Friday, the inflow greatly outpaced the outflow.
And this raid seemed like picking the low-hanging fruit. Raiding a construction subcontractor working within a few miles of the Arizona-Mexico border and finding illegal immigrants? Who would have thunk it?
I'm sure the men and women who work for Immigration and Customs Enforcement are fine people. But their job is impossible. They are hopelessly outnumbered.
"Just round them up and deport them." How often did we hear that during last fall's political campaigns? Hard-liners in every race said the immigration issue is easy to solve: Just find all the illegal immigrants and arrest them.
That's impossible.
"Look at all the resources and the thousands of man-hours," said Kolbe, who retired two months ago after 22 years representing southern Arizona in the U.S. House. He heard many people urge the arrest of all illegal immigrants.
"This just illustrates the incredible difficulty of doing that," Kolbe added. "What you need is some reform that is comprehensive in nature."
Dick Walden, owner of Green Valley Pecan Co., looks at it from another point of view - as an employer who struggles to find legal workers. But he has come to the same conclusion as Kolbe.
"We need to create a pathway for those who are here without proper documentation so they can becomes responsible citizen partners in our country, holding jobs and become part of the above-ground economy," Walden said.
"Our economy, our standard of living and our lifestyles would change dramatically if we pull 12 million people out of our economy."
Looking at the "huge amount of money" spent on the Sierra Vista investigation, Walden said, "I don't think we can afford it. . . . We're going to kill the economy if we keep this up."
Indeed, we would. Last week's raids prove that this round-'em-up-and-deport-'em mantra is nothing but an expensive fantasy.
Mark Kimble appears at 6:30 p.m. and midnight Fridays on the Roundtable segment of "Arizona Illustrated" on KUAT-TV, Channel 6. He may be reached at mkimble@tucsoncitizen.com or 573-4662.
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