Fed up with the federal government's inability to control the influx of undocumented workers, an increasing number of local communities are taking matters into their own hands.

In Danbury, Conn., the mayor has called for state police to be deputized as immigration officials to cope with the thousands of undocumented workers in this leafy suburb. In New Ipswich, N.H., the police chief has begun charging illegal immigrants with criminal trespass after federal officials released others he'd arrested. And in Elsmere, Del., the town council is considering an ordinance that would fine undocumented workers $100. The landlords who rent to them and the employers who hire them would face $1,000 fines for each offense.

These developments come as concern about undocumented immigration is reaching new heights. A Fox News/ Opinion Dynamics poll released last week found that 91 percent of Americans think that illegal immigration is a very serious or somewhat serious problem.

"What we see is a general failure of the federal government to control undocumented migration into the United States," says Marcelo Suárez-Orozco, co-director of Immigration Studies at New York University. "At the same time, there's a growing momentum at the state level, county level, and in local communities to attempt to manage, in however faulty or problematic way, this elephant in the room in today's migration."

While the US is a nation made up of immigrants, the country is currently in the midst of one of the largest waves of immigration in its history. It's also characterized by an unusually large number who slip in unofficially. That's a product of an inability to control the borders, combined with a lack of resources, and some charge political will, to police the businesses that hire illegals. The result is a shadow system that is mutually beneficial to the employers, who have a stable source of cheap labor, and to the illegal workers, who can make 10 times as much here as they can at home.

Supporters note that these new immigrants bring with them a strict work ethic and a willingness to take jobs that many Americans would not, to say nothing of the rich diversity they bring.

But critics charge that the arrangement is ultimately destructive to the community because large numbers of undocumented workers drive down wages, and thus the standard of living.

They also say that the undocumented workers are victims, rather than "winners." That's because they are routinely paid below the prevailing wage rates and often end up prey to unethical employers.

And then there are tensions wrought by the clash of two very different cultures, the Anglo and Hispanic. While they echo concerns raised in New York as millions of immigrants passed through Ellis Island, they are reaching a boiling point today in many smaller, suburban cities like Danbury. This municipality was the hat capital of the world in the 19th century but is now home to several electronics, plastic, and machinery manufacturers.

Officially, the census estimates that Danbury has 77,000 residents. But the mayor and others say the real number is closer to 92,000 because of an estimated 15,000 undocumented workers, many of whom moved in over the past decade.

Page: 1 | 2