Thread: The problem is illegal immigration

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The problem is illegal immigration
Tuesday, October 4, 2005

By ROGER HERNANDEZ


Immigration to the United States first broke the million mark in 1905. It did so again five more times before 1914. In total, some 15 million immigrants arrived on American shores in the two decades between 1901 and 1920. It was the heaviest immigration period in history. Until now.

These days, says a report from the Pew Hispanic Center, it took only a single decade to reach a similar figure. Nearly 14 million people came between 1991 and 2000, according to the study. Its authors expect an additional 16 million between 2001 and 2010.

What is more, Pew also says that over the past two years new illegal immigrants have outnumbered those who arrived as legal permanent residents, 1.013 million to 872,000. It can sound like the "invasion" that keeps nativists up at night. One: It isn't. Two: There is still something broken that must be fixed.

First things first. Those xenophobes might have less trouble sleeping if they knew enough American history to realize the country has been through this before - only more so. When almost 9 million immigrants arrived in the first decade of the 20th century, the United States had a population of 76 million people. When nearly 14 million arrived between 1991 and 2000, the population was 249 million. In other words, immigrants today are a smaller percentage of the total population than they were 100 years ago, and even 150 years ago.

Today immigrants make up 5.7 percent of the population as counted in the 2000 Census. But in the 1840s and 1850s, as the country was filling with German and Irish immigrants, immigrants made up more than 10 percent of the population counted at the start of each of those decades.

Then in 1901-1910, when the predominant groups were Italians, Jews and Poles, the figure reached 11.8 percent of the population measured by the 1900 Census. Of course, those immigrants were as feared back then as Hispanic immigrants are now. But today nobody complains that the descendants of those immigrants are un-American or bad for the country.

Given a couple of generations, the kids and grandkids of immigrants today will become American, too. The genius of American culture, then and now, is that it is powerful enough to irreversibly assimilate immigrants yet flexible enough to accept the contributions immigrants bring. But the inevitability of assimilation does not alter the reality that the system of immigration laws is broken.

And there is no historical parallel for that. Although immigration laws got progressively stricter in the late 1800s and early 1900s, just about every foreigner who got past the gates at Ellis Island was a legal immigrant. In the decades that followed, as immigration was virtually banned, a few jumped ship. Still, illegal immigration was hardly a problem then. Now? There are perhaps 11 million illegals in the country, and the Pew report predicts 9.5 million more will come to the United States without authorization between 2001 and 2010. That cannot be permitted.

There is the matter of terrorists sneaking in. There is the matter of the rule of law. Tougher patrol of the borders should be part of any plan, but so should providing more opportunities for legal immigration. If more people get visas, fewer people will attempt illegal crossings. The job of the border patrol becomes easier. And even if the total number of immigrants remains the same, the percentage of those who enter without permission will be smaller.

That, along with a reasonable plan to allow illegal immigrants with jobs and community roots to stay instead of being deported, is part of the McCain-Kennedy bill. The administration has shown itself friendly to the same general principles, if not necessarily the mechanics.

But with Iraq, Katrina and gas prices weakening President Bush's political muscle, nothing may get done for a while.

Until then, it's smart to remember the problem isn't immigration - we've been through that before. The problem is illegal immigration, and that's a new one on us.

If more people get visas, fewer people will attempt illegal crossings.

I'd like to see the evidence for this. Or does he mean that we'll just give a visa to everyone who asks for one?

In other words, immigrants today are a smaller percentage of the total population than they were 100 years ago, and even 150 years ago.

Apparently, this author believes that we have infinite capacity to absorb as many people as possible into the country.

There are perhaps 11 million illegals in the country, and the Pew report predicts 9.5 million more will come to the United States without authorization between 2001 and 2010. That cannot be permitted.
...
hat, along with a reasonable plan to allow illegal immigrants with jobs and community roots to stay instead of being deported, is part of the McCain-Kennedy bill. The administration has shown itself friendly to the same general principles, if not necessarily the mechanics.

Of course, the McCain-Kennedy is a defacto amnesty for all those already here. So the author's statement that illegal immigration "cannot be permitted" is bogus. Not only will it permitted, it will be rewarded with legal status, as well.

Meanwhile, the people who are doing the right thing by trying to immigrate legally are treated like suckers and sent to the rear of the line.