Of course, you know I must be a racist/xenophobe/bad person for wanting to get the illegals out of the United States. As long as illegals are here and coming here, I have not problem with those personal assaults, as it means the other side has no adult, viable argument
The Center for Immigration Studies highlights several findings from a new study
- Our best estimate is that the illegal immigrant population has declined by 11 percent through May 2008 after hitting a peak in August 2007.
- The implied decline in the illegal population is 1.3 million since last summer, from 12.5 million to 11.2 million today.
- The estimated decline of the illegal population is at least seven times larger than the number of illegal aliens removed by the government in the last 10 months, so most of the decline is due to illegal immigrants leaving the country on their own.
- One indication that stepped-up enforcement is responsible for the decline is that only the illegal immigrant population seems to be affected; the legal immigrant population continues to grow.
- Another indication enforcement is causing the decline is that the illegal immigrant population began falling before there was a significant rise in their unemployment rate.
- The importance of enforcement is also suggested by the fact that the current decline is already significantly larger than the decline during the last recession, and officially the country has not yet entered a recession.
- While the decline began before unemployment rose, the evidence indicates that unemployment has increased among illegal immigrants, so the economic slow-down is likely to be at least partly responsible for the decline in the number of illegal immigrants.
So, we can see that illegals are leaving, and one of the two main reasons is employment. Something I have always said, along with others, is that if companies and people will not hire them, they are less likely to come and/or stay. Los Federales should be cracking down harder on employers, making it just to darned expensive and prohibitive to hire illegals. It won’t solve all the problems, particularly for illegals who are in gangs and those with anchor babies, but, it will sure help.
There is good evidence that the illegal population grew last summer while Congress was considering legalizing illegal immigrants. When that legislation failed to pass, the illegal population began to fall almost immediately.
So, when the illegals thought the Feds would give them a path to citizenship, amnesty, if you will, they stayed. When Shamnesty went by the wayside, they started leaving.
If the decline were sustained, it would reduce the illegal population by one-half in the next five years.
Are you listening, Congress? If so, do not try the comprehensive type legislation again. Start with increasing penalties on those who hire illegals, while, at the same time, overhauling the legal immigrant system to make it easier for those who do it the right way, along with creating a better system for migrant/temporary workers and those with visas for other reasons, such as attending school.
Give Congress time. They are bound to screw it up somehow.
