Contents Foreword 13 Introduction 16 Chapter 1: Is Immigration a Serious Problem in the United States? Chapter Preface 21 Yes: Immigration Is a Serious Problem in the United States Poor Illegal Immigrants Are a Drain 24 on the U.S. Economy Byron York Nearly two-thirds of the illegal immigrants in the United States are low-skill, low-education, and low-income residents who receive significantly more public benefits than they pay in taxes. The economic benefits brought by these immigrants do not outweigh their costs. Illegal Immigration Threatens U.S. Security 29 Tim Kane and Kirk A. Johnson The presence of millions of illegal immigrants in the United States illustrates how dangerously open the country s borders are and creates a cover for both terrorists and criminals. The real problem created by illegal immigration is the threat to U.S. security. Continuing to Allow Mass 36 Legal Immigration Will Exhaust U.S. Natural Resources Frosty Wooldridge Continuing the current level of legal immigration into the United States 1.2 million immigrants per year will add 100 million people to the population by 2035. For all U.S. citizens, this level of population growth will exhaust natural resources and result in a future filled with crises such as water and energy shortages, increased pollution, and species extinction.
Legal Immigration Is More of a Problem 41 than Illegal Immigration Edwin S. Rubenstein There are more legal immigrants than illegal immigrants coming into the United States, and their numbers are growing faster due largely to various loopholes in a 1990 cap on total legal immigration numbers. No: Immigration Is Not a Serious Problem in the United States Both Legal and Illegal Immigrants Help 45 the U.S. Economy Alan Greenspan Illegal immigration has contributed significantly to the growth of the U.S. economy in recent years; these immigrants serve as a flexible component of our workforce that can be quickly hired during good times and discharged when the economy slows. The economy would also benefit from increasing the number of skilled legal immigrants allowed into the country. Markets Solve the Immigration Problem 49 John Tamny The United States does not have an immigration problem. The influx of foreign workers seeking both legal and illegal entry to the country is merely an indication that the nation has a booming economy with plenty of jobs; the fluctuations in the U.S. economy already regulate this inflow of immigrants. Xenophobia Is a Bigger Problem than 53 Illegal Immigration Michael Brandon Harris-Peyton Neither fences nor deportations will solve the problem of illegal immigrants, who are really economic refugees. With our declining birthrate, America needs all the people it can get to compete economically with China and India, and those who are anti-immigrant are really just xenophobic hypocrites.
Most Americans Do Not View Legal Immigration as a Pressing Concern Pew Research Center for the People & the Press Most Americans do not see immigration as a major concern either for the nation or for their local communities. Those who do worry about immigration focus on illegal immigration, and issues such as loss of jobs, erosion of American values, costs to local governments, and threats of terrorism and crime. Chapter 2: Are Illegal Immigrants Treated Fairly? Chapter Preface 67 Yes: Illegal Immigrants Are Treated Fairly Illegal Immigrants Are Often Treated 70 More Fairly than U.S. Citizens Arlene Jones Illegal immigrants are holding marches to complain that they are not being treated fairly, but as millions of Americans are losing their jobs in an economic recession and being treated in many cases less favorably than immigrants, where is the fairness for American citizens? Illegal Immigrants Have No Right to Be 73 Treated as Equals to Citizens Dennis Byrne People who are illegally in the United States have human rights, such as life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, but as for civil rights protections and privileges of freedom given by a nation s laws to its citizens illegal immigrants possess only those civil rights that we grant to them. No: Illegal Immigrants Are Not Treated Fairly Illegal Immigrant Workers Can Be Exploited 76 Jesse Walker Illegal immigrants find themselves in a double bind when they are unfairly exploited working at businesses that are run like sweatshops. Many work long hours and earn low wages, yet, this option can be the better one since many illegal immigrants are deported back to their native countries and face harsher conditions. 58
The Increased Use of Detention as Part of U.S. Immigration Enforcement Violates Human Rights Amnesty International Increased immigration enforcement by the United States in recent years has resulted in a dramatic rise in the numbers of persons detained for months or even years as they await deportation procedures. These detentions are often arbitrary and violate migrants human rights. Chapter 3: How Should the U.S. Government Respond to Illegal Immigration? Chapter Preface 88 The United States Should Adopt a More 91 Humane Border Policy Border Network for Human Rights, Border Action Network, and U.S.-Mexico Border and Immigration Task Force Millions of people live and work in U.S. border communities, therefore U.S. border and immigration policies must be created and implemented in a way that respects the rights and needs of these border residents. Policies must shift from an enforcement-only strategy to one that ensures the safety of border communities. The Government Should Rethink the Idea 97 of Granting Amnesty to Illegal Immigrants Bradley Vasoli Studies show that immigration enforcement has resulted in increased wages and the hiring of native-born and legal immigrant workers, thus eliminating the need for cheap illegal workers to fill jobs that Americans will not. The U.S. government, therefore, should rethink the plan to provide amnesty to the vast majority of illegal aliens currently residing in the United States. 80
Illegal Immigrants Should Be Offered Second-Class Citizenship Michael Vass Because it is unrealistic to think that the United States can remove every illegal immigrant from the country, and because it would be wrong to grant citizenship to illegal immigrants simply based on payment of a fine, the government should create a legal status of second-class citizenship. Illegal immigrants can either accept this status, reject it and suffer the consequences, or go home. The U.S. Government Should Prosecute Employers Who Hire Illegal Immigrants Eric Von Haessler To solve the problem of illegal immigration, the United States does not need a fence, large-scale deportations, or a massive amnesty program. The federal government needs to take away the jobs that attract illegal immigrants by arresting and prosecuting businesses that violate immigration law. President Barack Obama Should Focus Immigration Enforcement on Employers and Criminals America s Voice The George W. Bush administration focused on workplace raids and punishing illegal immigrant workers, while ignoring the culpability of employers. President Barack Obama should redirect priorities to focus on unscrupulous employers who violate labor and immigration laws and on other bad actors such as drug cartels and weapons smugglers. The United States Should Enforce Labor Rights for Illegal Immigrants Bill Ong Hing and David Bacon The Barack Obama administration is continuing to emphasize enforcement of immigration laws against illegal immigrants even though workplace raids and employer sanctions have always failed to stop the flow of workers into the country. The alternative is to enforce labor rights such as the right to organize, minimum wage, overtime, and other worker protection laws to raise wages and improve conditions for all workers. 100 105 108 117
Chapter 4: How Should U.S. Immigration Policy Be Reformed? Chapter Preface 123 Congress Should Stem Both Illegal 127 and Legal Immigration Federation for American Immigration Reform Illegal and mass immigration are harming the country and imposing substantial fiscal costs during a time of economic distress. The U.S. Congress has an obligation to address these problems by enforcing existing immigration enforcement laws to stem illegal immigration and by enacting new legislation to secure our borders and reduce legal immigration numbers. The United States Should Create More 139 Opportunities for Legal Immigration Jason L. Riley Past immigration reforms have not worked because illegal immigration to the United States is largely a result of the current policy of offering only five thousand visas annually for low-skilled workers. To reduce illegal immigration, therefore, the government should provide more legal ways for people to work in America. Immigration Reform Must Contain 144 a Temporary Worker Program Daniel Griswold Immigration policies must be reformed so that foreign workers can enter legally to fill jobs that U.S. workers do not want. Since the U.S. economy is expected to create four hundred thousand or more low-skilled jobs annually in service sectors such as food preparation, cleaning, construction, landscaping, and retail, Congress should create a temporary worker program with a larger cap. Immigration Policy Should Be Overhauled 147 to Take National Identity Seriously Amy Chua Immigrants are critical to the nation s success, but at the same time, increasing diversity has the potential to slowly erode the nation s national identity. The best strategy is to continue to provide opportunity to immigrants, but to enact tough reforms designed to maintain the nation s economy, laws, ethnic neutrality, and values.
The Barack Obama Administration 154 Should De-emphasize the Link Between Illegal Immigrants and Terrorists Tom Barry In the aftermath of the terroristic attacks of September 11, 2001, the war on terrorism became linked with immigration policy and led to a fearful, enforcement-only, anti-immigrant approach to immigration. The Barack Obama administration should reshape immigration policy to remove the association of immigrants with terrorists and base policy on an assessment of the costs and benefits of immigrant labor to the U.S. economy. Congress Should Pass Comprehensive 161 Immigration Reform Simon Rosenberg Congress should quickly pass comprehensive immigration reform to solve the vexing problem of illegal immigration. Comprehensive reform will legalize the illegal workforce to prevent the downward pull on wages, bring more money into the federal treasury, calm border violence, improve U.S.-Latin America relations, allow for an effective census, and stop racist attacks on Hispanics and illegal immigrants. The Barack Obama Administration 166 Should Forget About Comprehensive Immigration Reform and Push Reforms One Step at a Time Errol Louis The Barack Obama administration should not repeat the mistake of trying to pass comprehensive immigration reform basically an all-in-one solution to the country s immigration problems. Instead, the administration should start with steps that most people would agree on such as tighter border security and sensible curbs on immigrant raids, and slowly seek to build a national consensus to create a better, fairer immigration system. Organizations to Contact 169 Bibliography 178 Index 183