Thread: Immigrants: Illegal, But Not Irrational

Immigrants: Illegal, But Not Irrational

The Border: Illegal immigration, once hailed as unstoppable, isn’t proving so inevitable after all. As tougher enforcement raises costs, thousands of illegals are now self-deporting. This just shows that incentives matter.

Contrary to what the open-borders lobby claims about the impossibility of stopping millions of illegals from crossing the Rio Grande, a new seriousness about enforcing immigration laws has started to turn the tide.

In Arizona, a particularly tough law set to take effect Jan. 1 sanctions businesses that knowingly hire illegals. Business licenses will be suspended for 10 days on the first offense and revoked on the second.

Harsh, yes, but it’s not the only place. In Carpentersville, Ill., and neighboring towns, local officials appealed to the U.S. government for help in enforcing immigration laws. Now they are seeing an exodus of illegals well before the federal cavalry arrives.

In the resort towns of coastal Massachusetts, the realization that there will be no amnesty for lawbreaking has given illegals reason to also pull up stakes and head home — in this case, to Brazil.

In every case, it’s the ramrod insistence on rule of law from communities in the U.S. that is forcing illegal immigrants to confront hard decisions about their futures.

Thousands are weighing whether the relatively high salaries they earn here are worth the anxiety of being apprehended, deported and often banned from the U.S. for life. For many, staying home looks more and more attractive.

Just as sanctuary cities serve as magnets for illegal immigrants, tough laws penalizing illegal immigration serve as a deterrent.

This belies the patronizing claim that illegals are wildlife that migrate without regard to borders. In reality, illegals are people who make rational economic decisions based on their available options.

In the past, slack enforcement and lots of free charity benefits drew them here. Now, citizen insistence that immigration laws mean something is having an opposite effect on illegal immigration.

Not only has growing public emphasis on rule of law in the U.S. given many illegals incentives to return home, it’s driven others to states where immigration laws remain lax. It has incentivized many to become legal, with sharp rises in applications for citizenship and green cards. Green-card applications doubled to 2.5 million in the 12 months ended in September due to stiffer law enforcement and a coming fee increase. Citizenship applications nearly tripled to 562,000.

As word gets out — and in Latin America these immigration apprehensions are watched closely — fewer are even starting to cross over from the Mexican border side.

Apprehensions in fiscal 2007 fell 20% to 800,000, the lowest in five years despite higher U.S. manpower patrolling the border that theoretically would increase the number. In some parts of Arizona, where laws are getting tough, apprehensions dropped 45%.

Smuggling fees, moreover, have tripled. For many, the cost and risk just aren’t worth it.

Meanwhile, some incentives actually are positive. As more Latin American economies are exposed to international trade, many would-be illegals are opting to embrace new opportunity at home.

Mexico this year drew $23 billion in foreign investment, topping overseas remittances that came in at only $20 billion. The 2007 increase amounted to an increase of just 1.4% vs. earlier rises of 20%.

The maquiladora industry recovered this year, creating 900,000 new jobs. Wages are rising sharply in northern Mexico, making life there more attractive. Brazil’s economy is strong, too, drawing locals homeward with more jobs.

The president of Honduras’ central bank has noted that Honduran illegals in the U.S. also have made U-turns home to take advantage of opportunities created by the Central American Free Trade Agreement.

It happens this way every time. People make decisions based on marginal advantages, whether they involve taxes or the prospect of being detained and deported. When a chicken-processing plant is raided and dozens of people are sent home, decision-making is influenced wide and far.

The immigration debate still roiling the U.S. has never been about one specific nationality or whose history entitles whom to what land. It is simply about the rule of law. A new seriousness about enforcing that law is proving to be key in cleaning up 20 years of lax enforcement.
http://oneoldvet.com/?p=4288#more-4288

Hi Zeezil. FYI, I posted this previously here:

http://www.alipac.us/ftopict-95719.html