The problem of illegal immigration in America is only getting worse as the years go by. And as those on both sides of the aisle pitch their solutions" its become all too clear that too often they arent addressing one of the root causes of the problem to begin with. Its true our borders are not secure at all despite what the Obama administration would like you to believe. But why the mad dash to enter the States? Simply put there are jobs to be hadeven though were a nation struggling with high unemployment.
A recent Op-Ed from the editorial staff at Bloomberg View making this point puts the problem in perspective in a very eye-opening way (emphasis mine):
As many as 8 million undocumented immigrants hold jobs in the U.S. In fact they account for more than 5 percent of the U.S. labor force. Their unemployment rate might even be lower than that of the nations black citizens.
And stereotypes aside the undocumented are hardly relegated to agriculture and domestic service. Construction manufacturing and retail are among their biggest employers according to the Migration Policy Institute. So either quite a few of the nations 6 million employers have welcomed undocumented workers into their factories and stores or a smaller number of employers have hired an awful lot of them.
Either way little is being done to stop the practice. Workplace enforcement is minimal. Fines are small. Amid all the political bellowing about the border no one in Washington pays much attention to employers practices.
Yet with 95000 miles of shoreline 500 commercial airports and a northern border thats twice as long as its southern one the U.S. could transform its Southwest into North Korea and still not stem the flow of undocumented immigrants seeking work many of whom simply overstay legitimate visas.
Essentially if a foreigner knew they would not be able to find work in the U.S. wed not only see less illegal immigration but unemployment rates among U.S. citizens would also decrease. What about E-Verify you ask?
E-Verify can still be gamed. One independent study found that during a three-month period in 2008 about half the unauthorized workers whose backgrounds it checked were nonetheless approved for work. But DHS has been upgrading the system so that it can access additional databases and more carefully filter applications.
As the system improves of course the demand for high-quality identity fraud stands to increase commensurately -- as does off-the-books employment of undocumented workers. If Congress is serious about turning off the flow of undocumented immigrants it will have to give DHS the resources it needs for workplace enforcement including on-site inspections.
There has to be a will to make these policy changes of course which is more than half the battle.
Leah Barkoukis is the Assistant Editor at Townhall.com/Townhall Magazine.
The problem of illegal immigration in America is only getting worse as the years go by. And as those on both sides of the aisle pitch their solutions" its become all too clear that too often they arent addressing one of the root causes of the problem to begin with. Its true our borders are not secure at all despite what the Obama administration would like you to believe. But why the mad dash to enter the States? Simply put there are jobs to be hadeven though were a nation struggling with high unemployment.
A recent Op-Ed from the editorial staff at Bloomberg View making this point puts the problem in perspective in a very eye-opening way (emphasis mine):
As many as 8 million undocumented immigrants hold jobs in the U.S. In fact they account for more than 5 percent of the U.S. labor force. Their unemployment rate might even be lower than that of the nations black citizens.
And stereotypes aside the undocumented are hardly relegated to agriculture and domestic service. Construction manufacturing and retail are among their biggest employers according to the Migration Policy Institute. So either quite a few of the nations 6 million employers have welcomed undocumented workers into their factories and stores or a smaller number of employers have hired an awful lot of them.
Either way little is being done to stop the practice. Workplace enforcement is minimal. Fines are small. Amid all the political bellowing about the border no one in Washington pays much attention to employers practices.
Yet with 95000 miles of shoreline 500 commercial airports and a northern border thats twice as long as its southern one the U.S. could transform its Southwest into North Korea and still not stem the flow of undocumented immigrants seeking work many of whom simply overstay legitimate visas.
Essentially if a foreigner knew they would not be able to find work in the U.S. wed not only see less illegal immigration but unemployment rates among U.S. citizens would also decrease. What about E-Verify you ask?
E-Verify can still be gamed. One independent study found that during a three-month period in 2008 about half the unauthorized workers whose backgrounds it checked were nonetheless approved for work. But DHS has been upgrading the system so that it can access additional databases and more carefully filter applications.
As the system improves of course the demand for high-quality identity fraud stands to increase commensurately -- as does off-the-books employment of undocumented workers. If Congress is serious about turning off the flow of undocumented immigrants it will have to give DHS the resources it needs for workplace enforcement including on-site inspections.
There has to be a will to make these policy changes of course which is more than half the battle.
Leah Barkoukis is the Assistant Editor at Townhall.com/Townhall Magazine.
