Status quo equals immigration woe

Despite the massive parades of mostly Hispanic immigrants in recent days; despite the congressional disputes over a host of immigration-related bills; despite the expressed compassion of many religious leaders for immigrant families, illegal and legal; despite the widespread use of euphemisms for the harsh-sounding but accurate word "illegal" ("undocumented," "overstayers," "irregular status") and political appeals for the Hispanic vote, the long-term impact of rapid population growth in the US gets short shrift in the national debate.

Some economists worry about what a continued inflow of immigrants will do to commuting times to work, urban sprawl, wear and tear on the environment (including national parks), the nation's religious balance, American culture, and the cost of public services.

One proposed remedy is a fence on the 1,800-mile border with Mexico. India has such a wall along parts of its border to the east to keep out poverty-stricken Bangladeshis and to the west to stop poorer Pakistanis, notes Chamie (who offered the "Knock, knock" riddle.)

A wall, however, would be expensive. Israel has been paying $2 million a mile for its wall blocking off the West Bank. At that rate, a Mexican wall would cost at least $3.6 billion, and probably more.

Steven Camarota, an economist at the Center for Immigration Studies in Washington, figures a fence combined with more border patrol agents could help reduce the inflow of illegal immigrants.

Further, he advocates "attrition" of the approximately 12 million illegals in the US - not mass deportation - through enforcement of existing laws. It took "25 year of neglect" to get to the immigrant situation of today, he says. It will take "a lot of years to get out of it."

Some 170,000 to 200,000 illegals leave voluntarily for home each year. A fence would make it harder for them to return to the US. Mr. Camarota suggests other obstacles: Make it difficult to get a driver's license, open a bank account, get public benefits, or use bogus Social Security numbers to get a job. Employers hiring illegal immigrants should receive serious fines, he says. State and local police should actively enforce existing immigration laws.

It may just be wishful thinking from a think tank advocating reduced immigration - though not an end to immigration.

Camarota's latest research finds that the surging inflow of low-skilled workers has been driving low-skilled native workers out of the labor force. They retire, live with relatives, or just drop out.

Between March 2000 and 2005, unemployment among less-educated adult citizens rose nearly 1 million. Another 1.5 million left the workforce altogether. In the same time frame, 1.6 million adult immigrants with high school or less education were added to the labor force. Immigration hits those at the bottom of the income ladder hardest.

Page: 1 | 2