Frequently, What Is Often Called 'Illegal Immigration' Isn't Really Illegal Daniel Connolly - PRI's The World
go to original December 20, 2016

Should U.S. Citizenship be Guaranteed at Birth? If you're born in the U.S., you're an American citizen. It's been the policy for nearly 150 years, but the influx in illegal immigrants and a rise in birth tourism have called into question the long-term sustainability of this policy. (Seeker Daily)

I’m a news reporter and I’ve been writing about Mexican immigration for many years. Last month, I covered an anti-Trump rally in Memphis, Tennessee, where I live.

At one point the protesters chanted, “Let's be loud! Let's be clear! Immigrants are welcome here!”

I tweeted the chant. Responses came back quickly.

Protest now at Cooper Young intersection. Chant: Let's be loud, let's be clear, immigrants are welcome here. pic.twitter.com/Q5yblHqiCP

— Daniel Connolly (@DanielConnolly) November 12, 2016

“Legal immigrants are always welcome here,” one person wrote.

Another person wrote: “The irony? No one ever suggested immigrants weren’t welcome. Just follow the law.”

I often hear this type of comment. Republican presidential candidate Sen. Ted Cruz made similar remarks on the campaign trail: “I think most Americans, when we look at immigration, follow a very basic principle: Legal good, illegal bad,” he said while on a tour of the southern border.

On the surface, that seems to makes sense. But it misses an important point.

What we may think of as “illegal immigration” isn’t actually illegal. At least, not very often.

Away from the borders, the federal government rarely enforces immigration law. Why? For one, businesses want a reliable, low-cost work force. But for years, immigration has been so politically explosive that Congress hasn’t increased the number of legal visas.

The solution: tolerate illegal immigration. Both Republican and Democratic presidential administrations have quietly permitted the continued presence of people — particularly Mexican immigrants — who managed to enter illegally or overstay visas.

“If there is one constant in US border policy, it is hypocrisy,” Princeton University scholar Douglas Massey and colleagues wrote in their 2002 book about Mexican immigration, Beyond Smoke and Mirrors. “Throughout the twentieth century the United States has arranged to import Mexican workers while pretending not to do so.”

Legal scholar Eric Posner refers to the situation as an “illegal immigration system." He says it's wrong to think that unauthorized immigrants live here illegally.

"Little effort is made to stop them from working or to expel them," he wrote in a 2013 essay.

The economy's demand for low-cost labor leads to a hands-off approach. Posner compared the situation to police officers choosing not to enforce traffic laws:

"In other words, the odds of being punished for participating in the illegal immigration economy are something like the odds of being given a ticket for driving 56 mph in a 55 mph zone."

In some cases, unauthorized immigrants can even win legal status, he wrote. And the government focuses most of its attention on unauthorized immigrants who have committed crimes.

Read the rest at PRI's The World

Related: Rise of Far-Right 'Idiots' May Hit Aid and Refugees, Say Laureates, Leaders (Thomson Reuters Foundation)

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