Thread: Report: Laws don't make illegal immigrants ‘self-deport'

yumasun.com
by DUSTIN VOLZ - CRONKITE NEWS SERVICE
February 25, 2012 9:58 PM

WASHINGTON — Strong family ties, the cost of returning to their native countries and fewer economic opportunities back home have kept illegal immigrants in the U.S., despite strict immigration laws here, a new report claims.

The report, released this week by the Center for American Progress, said tough laws like Arizona's SB 1070 do not prompt illegal immigrants to “self-deport.” Instead, those people either stay where they are, but “in the shadows,” or they move to neighboring cities, counties or states, it said.

“There is really no evidence to show that people go back to Mexico when their states or localities pass anti-immigration laws,” said Leah Muse-Orlinoff, a doctoral student at the University of California-San Diego and the author of the report. “In the most extreme cases, they move to another jurisdiction.”

But Kris Kobach, the Kansas secretary of state who co-authored SB 1070 and a similar law passed last year in Alabama, questioned findings of the report, “Staying Put but Still in the Shadows.”

“It's a shoddy report because they haven't considered all the evidence,” Kobach said.

He pointed to lawmakers in the Mexican state of Sonora who expressed concern about illegal immigrants returning home and being jobless after Arizona's E-Verify law took effect in 2008. That law requires employers to check the immigration status of any prospective employee.

“When Mexican public officials are telling us that illegal aliens are self-deporting, we should take that information and consider it as true,” he said.

Muse-Orlinoff said fewer immigrants are coming in to the country now because of increased border security, coupled with higher costs of crossing and less economic opportunity in the U.S. But those who are already here are staying put because the “mental arithmetic” of leaving doesn't add up, she said.

She called the policy of “attrition through enforcement” irrational and said that laws like SB 1070, Arizona's omnibus immigration law, make policing more difficult.

“The biggest detriment by far with these state and local laws is that it creates tremendous distrust and fear between migrant communities and law enforcement,” Muse-Orlinoff said.

Muse-Orlinoff's report is based primarily on surveys and interviews conducted in Oklahoma City between 2009 and 2010. Oklahoma passed laws cracking down on illegal immigration in 2007 and 2009, before Arizona passed SB 1070 in April 2010.

Lt. Paco Balderrama of the Oklahoma City Police Department said the laws passed in his state made Hispanics afraid to call authorities when violent crimes were committed, because they feared deportation. He said criminals now target the Hispanic community because people there were thought to be less likely to report the crime.

“We'll never have the numbers of people who didn't call,” Balderrama said. “It doesn't benefit anyone for Hispanics to not call the police ... the fact is those crimes are going to spread.”

Kobach agreed with at least part of the report, that illegal immigrants do sometimes relocate to states with lesser immigration laws, and suggested that some in Arizona may have moved to California.

But he said there are no numbers suggesting immigrants do not also return to their home countries, especially in a border state like Arizona.

Read more: Report: Laws don’t make illegal immigrants ‘self-deport’, laws, report, illegal - News - YumaSun

“When Mexican public officials are telling us that illegal aliens are self-deporting, we should take that information and consider it as true,” he said.

I'd believe them before what our own government wants us to believe. More will self deport if other States stop catering to them.

Originally Posted by Kiara

“When Mexican public officials are telling us that illegal aliens are self-deporting, we should take that information and consider it as true,” he said.

I'd believe them before what our own government wants us to believe. More will self deport if other States stop catering to them.

You are right Kiara! If EVERY state turns off the jobs and benefits, they will have no choice but to leave! Sure would be cheaper than having to put them all on buses...

It's the welfare benefits to citizen children of illegals that keeps them here. The parents can make more money here, collecting welfare to the kiddies, than they can at home.

Center for American Progress? Isnt that a George Soros funded illegal alien amnesty supporting group? If so, why should anything they put out be given the classification of a "report"?

W

Originally Posted by ALIPAC

Center for American Progress? Isnt that a George Soros funded illegal alien amnesty supporting group? If so, why should anything they put out be given the classification of a "report"?

W

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Yes, Soros funds it. Consider the source.

These are the same media machines that pervert the simple words 'illegal alien' to 'undocumented worker.'

Originally Posted by ReggieMay

It's the welfare benefits to citizen children of illegals that keeps them here. The parents can make more money here, collecting welfare to the kiddies, than they can at home.

That's definitely a benefit that should be cut off. We need to correct the misinterpretation of the 14th Amendment!

Its the Lack of Laws being ENFORCED that keeps them here/allows them to be here...And "loopholes in current laws that Illegals spend time digging up to "protest" and try to "excuse" themselves.

Not only do our Laws NEED to be Enforced, but the Loopholes Must be Eliminated!

Take away welfare, free education, free housing, free food etc, Take away any and all hand-outs and free programs to ANYONE who CANNOT PROVE they themselves, ARE in Fact LEGALIZED American Citizens!
Anchor babies is NOT proof of such!

These programs are set up to assist Needy AMERICANS, Not "Needy" LAW BREAKERS!

Assistance Should ONLY be offered to AMERICANS, NOT in Any Way, Shape or form offered to ILLEGALS.
That IS the BOTTOM Line.

Absolutely, it is the lack of enforcement that makes this country comfortable for illegals. But "self-deportation" also encourages illegal immigration, it encourages the attitude among illegals that they should be able to come and go whenever they please. They shouldn't be allowed to come illegally and they shouldn't be allowed to leave illegally. Enforcement means controlling traffic both ways across our border.

Wed, 02/22/2012 - 15:46

Center for American Progress unwittingly admits attrition works (Leah Muse-Orlinoff, immigration, self deport)

The Center for American Progress has released a study in which they attempt to claim that immigration attrition (see the link) doesn't work. What they do instead is unwittingly admit that it does work, it just needs to be nationwide.

Leah Muse-Orlinoff [1] offers "Staying Put but Still in the Shadows: Undocumented Immigrants Remain in the Country Despite Strict Laws" [1]:

With more than 11 million unauthorized immigrants currently living in the country, a consensus has emerged that the current immigration system is broken and badly needs mending. In the absence of federal legislation providing a coherent immigration policy, states have taken it upon themselves to enforce their way to a solution. Arizona, Georgia, and Alabama recently took matters into their own hands by passing laws designed to criminalize virtually all activity engaged in by undocumented immigrants. This patchwork of state and local laws is driven by a strategy known by immigration restrictionists as “attrition through enforcement.” The goal is to create a climate of fear and make life so difficult for immigrants that they will self-deport...

...we find that:

1. Most unauthorized immigrants make the decision to stay in the country despite attempts to drive them out. The proliferation of state-level anti- immigrant laws has not changed the calculus for immigrants when it comes to choosing to stay here or return home.

2. At best, anti-immigrant laws simply drive immigrants from one area to another—say from one county to the next, or from one state to the next— rather than from the country. At worst, they further isolate immigrants from the communities they live in and from local law enforcement, while driving families deeper into the shadows.

In other words, attrition does work for those localities that try it: illegal aliens leave of their own accord. Illegal aliens pick up and leave for more welcoming destinations. It stands to reason that if attrition were a nationwide program - and not just restricted to some states or cities - illegal aliens would decide to leave the U.S. for their home countries. Those who want to profit from illegal immigration in one way or another will say different, but this study isn't going to help them: it shows that illegal aliens do make the rational decision to leave areas that don't support illegal immigration. The only way to be sure would be to try attrition on a nationwide basis for a few years and see what happens, which is the last thing illegal immigration supporters want: they know it would work. That's why they fight so hard against laws like those in Arizona.

Note that, in addition to offering a "study" that contains the seeds of its own destruction, Muse-Orlinoff is using the living in the shadows, system is broken, and anti immigrant canards.

http://24ahead.com/center-american-p...ttrition-works