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The Cost of Sanctuary Policies

May 14, 2012 By Jack Martin 2 Comments

A recent criminal case in California highlights the human costs of looking the other way when illegal aliens are apprehended and then turned loose rather than being placed on deportation proceedings.

Marcos Lopez Garcia, an illegal alien, pled guilty to manslaughter in a hit-and-run case that killed a 4-year-old in Santa Rosa, California, in August 2011. He now faces a 5½ year sentence. Lopez had two prior arrests for driving without a license and without insurance, most recently in June 2010. At that time he was given a one-year conditional sentence. (See Sacramento Bee, May 14, 2012, and KSRO News, May 11, 2012)

The news accounts do not explain why Lopez was not reported to the immigration authorities, although the likely explanation is misguided sanctuary policies. But, even if he had been turned over to the authorities, under the current prioritization policy of the administration, Lopez would not have been a priority case, and likely would not have been taken into custody by ICE.

Filed Under: Border, Crime, Law, Local, Politics, Population, Society

A New Border Patrol Strategy?

May 10, 2012 By Jack Martin 11 Comments

Border Patrol Chief Mike Fisher defended in a Congressional hearing on May 8 a new border control strategy plan. According to an Associated Press report, “Fisher was repeatedly asked why the new strategy didn’t include any specific ‘metrics’ that could help members of Congress and the public better understand if the border is secure.”

That was a critical question, because it highlighted this new effort of the administration to change the ground rules for measuring border control effectiveness. The administration has been confounded in its efforts to claim that the border is effectively secure by the current system of metrics which determine operational control – which, according to a 2011 Government Accountability Office report, showed that of the nearly 2,000 miles of our southern border, only 873 were under “operational control” and only 129 miles were under “full control.” The Obama administration’s new strategy is – if the terms of reference interfere with the administration’s rhetoric – change the terms of reference.

The announced new strategy did include other aspects of border control. One was the greater use of drone aircraft. That is not new, but does offer a pretext for lessening reliance on the continued involvement of National Guard units providing logistical assistance to the Border Patrol. Another part of the plan is prosecution of illegal entrants before deporting them. The effect of the prosecution and deportation is to expose a recidivist to imprisonment as a felon for reentering illegally after deportation. This, too, is not new. It is a program that has been operating for a couple of years in Arizona with reported success in deterring recidivist reentry after deportation. It is more expensive than just putting Mexican illegal entrants back across the border, but has long-term promise if it continues to reduce reentry of deported illegal entrants. An exception is made in the new plan for Mexican children and pregnant women who will still be put back across the border because they represent major costs if they are held in the United States, both in terms of detention and the possibility for the delivery of ‘anchor babies’ at U.S. taxpayer expense.

Filed Under: Border, Crime, Law, National, Politics, Population, Society

Public Criticism of the US Refugee Resettlement Program

May 2, 2012 By Jack Martin 4 Comments

The Obama administration (including the Departments of State, Homeland Security, and Health & Human Services) holds an annual meeting for public input on the refugee resettlement program. The attendance has been generally confined to representatives of the organizations that assist in locating refugees, preparing them for travel to the U.S. and are involved in assisting them in resettling in US communities. FAIR has usually been the only dissident voice in these meetings calling for reforms to focus the intake to true refugees. There has been no video or sound recording of these events and no conferencing to allow any broader public awareness or participation in these meetings.

This year the meeting was more raucous than usual. Besides FAIR’s statement calling for reforms to the program, there were 21 written statements from citizens around the country calling for a moratorium on new refugees or a much reduced level of entries. Additionally, three other organizations attending the meeting gave presentations calling for changes in the resettlement program. Both the public written submissions and the increased in-person statements critical of the program were unprecedented.

Especially interesting was a written statement provided by Theodore Gatsas, mayor of Manchester, New Hampshire, calling for a temporary halt in sending new refugees to that city because a saturation point has been reached and further refugees would undermine the ability of the community to properly assist those already there to assimilate into the community. Mr. Gatsas wrote, “it is for these reasons that the Board of Mayor and Aldermen, the local governing body of the City of Manchester, voted on July 5, 2011, to request a moratorium on refugee resettlement in the City of Manchester. This action was taken because, as a City, we feel the need to ‘catch up’.”

Filed Under: Law, National, Politics, Population, Society

Going Home

May 1, 2012 By Jack Martin 5 Comments

The Immigration Policy Center (IPC) – apologists for illegal aliens – today released a report intended to counter the growing evidence that attrition through enforcement works. The report by Alexandra Filindra, a professor of behavioral economics, argues that the illegal aliens have too much at stake here to be willing to pull up stakes and go home. They would prefer to take the chance on the unknown of detention and deportation over the known undesirable choice of going home voluntarily where they face privation.

The argument appears reasonable until it is remembered that there is also an attraction to return home that results from the family and friends and culture left behind. That pull is increased when there are improved prospects of finding gainful employment, as currently is the case in Mexico. Furthermore, just as the tide of illegal immigration to the United States surged from a steady stream to a flood tide, the steady stream of illegal aliens now self deporting is also likely to surge if other states follow the model of states like Arizona and Alabama to deny job opportunities and other accommodation of illegal aliens.

The prospect of more states taking steps to discourage illegal immigration will be influenced by the decision of the Supreme Court on Arizona’s SB 1070. Counterbalancing that trend are the continued efforts of the Obama administration to reassure illegal aliens that they will not be deported and policies adopted by others states which protect and reward illegal aliens. Another important factor is job creation in the United States. If our economy turns around, more illegal aliens are likely to remain, absent meaningful enforcement, and more would be enticed to come.

The new study being released by the IPC is not going to influence the decisions of the illegal aliens. The IPC’s objective, rather, is to try to shore up the resolve of policymakers to enact an amnesty. In order to achieve this objective they must convince lawmakers that the current stream of illegal aliens returning home is unlikely to become a flood.

Filed Under: Border, Law, Politics, Population, Society

Mexican Net-Zero Migration?

April 24, 2012 By Jack Martin 13 Comments

Pew Hispanic Center researchers have issued a new report on Mexican migration to the United States in which they say there has been virtually no increase since 2007. They explain this change from Mexico’s previous role of dominating the annual average increase in the foreign-born population in these terms:

“The standstill appears to be the result of many factors, including the weakened U.S. job and housing construction markets, heightened border enforcement, a rise in deportations, the growing dangers associated with illegal border crossings, the long-term decline in Mexico’s birth rates and changing economic conditions in Mexico.”

While it is clear that those factors all have contributed to a decrease in Mexican illegal migration, a further factor is the series of laws adopted in a number of states across the country that collectively send the message to Mexico and other illegal alien sending states that the illegal arrival of their nationals looking for work will not be tolerated from now on. This is a message that will either be reinforced or weakened by the decision of the U.S. Supreme Court when it decides the constitutionality of Arizona’s SB 1070 law. Unless the law discouraging illegal immigration is found to be Constitutional by the Court and that ruling encourages similar measures to be adopted more widely, we would expect the policy of the Obama administration of accommodating non-criminal illegal aliens to result in a resurgence in Mexican illegal immigration if and when jobs in construction and services rebound.

Filed Under: Border, Crime, Law, Population, Society

Foreign Workers Permeating the U.S. Job Market

April 19, 2012 By Jack Martin 4 Comments

A new report on the growing presence of foreign workers in U.S. jobs was recently released by the Brookings Institute. Audrey Singer, the demographer who wrote the report, concludes from the data that, “…our economy is dependent on immigrant labor now and for the future.” She notes that foreign workers now comprise 16.4 percent of the labor force, although they are less than 13 percent of the population. Even more disproportionately, foreign workers represent more than two-fifths (41.5%) of all U.S. labor force growth between 2005 and 2010.

The report’s findings should be looked at with a questioning eye. How much would the recent hiring practices have changed if employers had been required to use the E-Verify system to screen out illegal foreign workers? How would hiring practices have been different if high-tech employers had been required to hire qualified U.S. workers first before hiring foreign workers? How would hiring practices have changed if there were not so many illegal workers available? Would there have been greater recourse to labor-saving technology if not for the presence of so many immigrant workers? These questions are key to deciding whether you agree with Singer’s assertion that our economy is dependent on foreign workers.

Filed Under: Border, Jobs, Law, National, Politics, Population, Society
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