Thread: Myths mar efforts to solve nation's immigration woes

Our view on Arizona law: Myths mar efforts to solve nation's immigration woes

Federal Judge Susan Bolton's ruling this week blocking Arizona's new immigration law added fuel to the overheated debate that the law ignited.

Now, the appeals process seems destined to push the argument into the fall campaigns, so perhaps it's worth taking a moment to separate fact from fiction about immigration more broadly. Two common assumptions just don't hold up.

OPPOSING VIEW: The crisis is real

Myth #1: Violence along the border is spiraling out of control.

In April, a dozen members of Congress, of both parties, argued for stricter border security because "the level of violence along the border continues to increase." That was followed by Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer's claim that authorities had found headless bodies in the desert, which turned out to be urban legend.

Perhaps such assumptions are logical given the drug violence raging in Mexico and the stresses of a weak economy. But the facts don't support the claims. For instance, FBI reports and Arizona police statistics show crime rates in the three largest Arizona cities along the Mexican border — Yuma, Nogales and Douglas — have remained essentially flat for the past decade, The Arizona Republic reported in May. According to FBI crime reports reviewed by the Associated Press, violent crimes in Southwest border counties dropped more than 30% in the past two decades.

Further, the nation's four safest big cities are San Diego, Phoenix, El Paso and Austin —all in border states.

Myth #2: Illegal immigration is surging to record numbers.

In fact, the number of illegal immigrants crossing the southern border has steadily dropped this decade. According to the Pew Hispanic Center, estimated Mexican migration declined from 605,000 in 2000 to 175,000 in 2008.

The number of illegal immigrants in the USA is also down, from nearly 12 million in 2007 to less than 11 million last year, according to the Homeland Security Department, mostly because the recession has wiped out jobs that draw immigrants.

None of this is to say that illegal immigration isn't a big problem. It is. Many industries continue to depend on illegal labor. And after previous recessions, illegal border crossings have quickly returned to previous levels.

Such persistent failure to take the problem seriously is why today's mood is so hostile and why Arizona passed a law committing its own enforcement resources to do what the federal government has not.

Unfortunately, it did so in a clumsy way that seems certain to invite racial profiling. The federal government then over-reached, suing to block the law before any actual offense occurred. Judge Bolton bought the federal argument, and now the appeals process is off and running, probably toward the Supreme Court.

In the best case, the ultimate ruling would inspire the kind of cool-headed, balanced solution that difficult problems demand. Unlike previous reforms, it would include credible border and workplace enforcement. That, in turn, should be enough to justify a guest-worker program, and a rigorous path to legality for those already here who stay out of trouble and pay fines and back taxes.

Someday that will happen, regardless of the Arizona law's fate. Overheated political rhetoric and fear rooted in fiction just prolong the unhappy status quo.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/ed ... 0_ST_N.htm
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Opposing view on Arizona law: The crisis is real

By Dan Stein

There is a concerted effort on the part of advocates for illegal aliens to dismiss the widespread public outrage over unchecked illegal immigration as irrational. The illegal immigration crisis is not a myth, and the American people have not succumbed to mass hysteria. The problems are real: They affect Americans' lives, jobs and pocketbooks, while the Obama administration intentionally refuses to enforce most immigration laws.
These realities are precisely why Arizona enacted SB 1070.

OUR VIEW: Myths mar efforts to solve nation's immigration woes

According to a new study by FAIR, illegal immigration now costs U.S. taxpayers $113 billion a year — about $1,117 for every native-headed household. Arizona, which like most states is facing a severe fiscal crisis, spends $2.5 billion a year on illegal aliens. In addition, lawful residents see a daily impact on schools, hospitals and, yes, crime as a consequence of the federal government's refusal to enforce immigration laws.

Fixing our broken immigration system is an urgent priority. True reform must begin with the recognition that the American people are the most important stakeholders in U.S. immigration policy. However, the "cure" that President Obama insists upon — mass amnesty for millions of illegal aliens — would further undermine the interests of ordinary Americans.

Ironically, before it even went into effect, SB 1070 proved illegal immigration can be addressed without mass amnesty. Since Arizona first began getting tough on illegal immigration in 2004, the federal government estimates that the number of illegal aliens in the state has declined by some 100,000. Since Gov. Jan Brewer signed SB 1070 in April, there have been countless reports of illegal aliens packing up and leaving Arizona in large numbers. Replicated at the national level, a serious enforcement policy would inexorably lead to significant reductions in the illegal population.

Americans who demand enforcement of immigration laws are responding to reality. Rather, it is the people who insist that we again grant amnesty to illegal aliens in exchange for government promises of future enforcement — and expect different results — who believe in myths.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/ed ... _ST1_N.htm

Myth #1: Violence along the border is spiraling out of control.

There are all sorts of ways to spin this issue. Non-violent crimes, like ID theft, can be even more destructive than crimes classified as violent. Being robbed at gunpoint doesn't actually result in physical harm for example and a mugging may or may not result in much damage. ID theft can cause months of damage and may lead to other serious, disasters for a person. And where do crimes like uninsured collisions or hit and run accidents fit in this scale?

And it is true that as violence south of the border increases there is a very real, future danger of it coming into the US----especially when it is connected with "non-violent crimes" like drug dealing.

Myth #2.Myth #2: Illegal immigration is surging to record numbers.

Once again, fuel for the spinmeisters. These number can also go up again, depending upon the political climate in the US. But we also have the demographical impact of illegal immigration which will affect policy and planning decisions for decades, even if illegal immigration was halted now.

Giant lie (myth) #1
Illegal aliens are "immigrants", actually they are foreign invaders and criminals.

What is there to debate ? The truth is Illegal Aliens are invading our country and citizens want it stopped ASAP.

Beyond the fact that our laws are being broken and we demand they be enforced no other discussion is needed nor wanted by the majority of voters.