Immigration

Border Enforcement Makes Illegal Workers Stay Put -- In U.S.

Stepped-up enforcement along the U.S.-Mexico border may have the unintended effect of increasing the number of illegal immigrants who settle permanently in the United States, according to a new study from the Urban Institute which confirms previous research.

In the past decade, the U.S. has more than doubled its Border Patrol forces, increased funding and improved surveillance hardware. Yet, the Urban Institute researchers found, for instance, that the number of illegal aliens in the California farm work force have skyrocketed from less than 10 percent in 1990 -- following the amnesty program of the late 1980s -- to 40 percent today, and is still climbing.

Economists explain the effect this way:

  • Stepped up enforcement has pushed the undocumented traffic away from well-policed hubs such as San Diego and into the deserts and mountains where there are fewer agents.

  • The longer trip and increased danger have increased the prices charged by smugglers -- for instance a trip from Tijuana, Mexico, to Los Angeles, Calif., has gone from a reported $300 just 10 years ago to $1,000 or more today.

  • Although employers have faced civil and criminal penalties for hiring illegal workers since 1986, studies have shown that loopholes in the law allow the practice to continue largely unabated.

Thus because of the increased price, difficulty and uncertainty of making a successful round-trip journey to Mexico and back again, an increasing percentage of illegal workers are staying. Some experts say this is a consequence of depending solely on border enforcement to discourage so-called undocumented workers without corresponding efforts against employers who hire them.

Source: Patrick J. McDonnell (Los Angles Times), "Stepped-up Border Enforcement Having Adverse Effect, Study Says," Dallas Morning News, October 11, 1997.

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