http://globalpublicsquare.blogs.cnn.com/2011/07/07/its-time-for-immigration-reform/
July 7th, 2011
CNN.com [Blogs]
It's time for immigration reform
By Douglas S. Massey - Special to CNN
Editor's Note: Douglas S. Massey is the Henry G. Bryant Professor of
Sociology and Public Affairs at Princeton University
For years, conservatives and many liberals have stated their
unwillingness to consider comprehensive immigration reform until
"America regained control of its borders." That moment has arrived.
According to estimates from the Mexican Migration Project, which I
co-direct, the rate of new undocumented migration from Mexico dropped
to zero in 2008 for the first time in 50 years.
This remarkable event partly reflects the drop in labor demand in the
context of a deep economic recession, but it also stems from a massive
increase in border enforcement. Since 1990, the size of the Border
Patrol has increased by a factor of five and its budget by a factor of
13.
Although this escalation surely helped to reduce the inflow of
undocumented migrants, however, it also discouraged the outflow of
those already here. The probability that an undocumented migrant
returned to Mexico within 12 months of entering reached a record low
value of around 8% in 2007. Among those who did return, most did not
seek reentry, with the likelihood of attempting a return trip to the
United States standing at just 5%.
At present, therefore, new undocumented migrants are not heading
northward; former undocumented migrants are coming back in very small
numbers; and settled undocumented residents are staying put. As a
result of these trends, the population of undocumented U.S. residents
peaked at 12.6 million persons in 2008 and fell to 10.8 million in
2009, according to the latest estimates from the U.S. Department of
Homeland Security. Net undocumented migration is now slightly
negative.
The advent of net out-migration does not reflect a significant move
toward "self-deportation" among undocumented residents present in the
United States, however. As already noted, long-term undocumented
residents are less likely than ever to leave. Some of the decline
stems from an unappreciated shift to guest worker migration. From 1990
to 2008 the number of Mexicans admitted with temporary work visas grew
from 17,000 to 361,000 per year.
Other former undocumented migrants are legalizing through actions taken
by legal family members. The number of legal Mexican immigrants
attaining U.S. citizenship surged from 18,000 in 1990 to 232,000 in
2008. U.S. citizens are allowed to sponsor the entry of their spouses,
minor children, and parents without numerical limitation and since 1990
a record two million Mexicans have naturalized. As result, whereas
just 5% of all Mexicans entering the Untied States as legal immigrants
were relatives of citizens, 59% fell into this category in 2008, a
total of 112,000 persons.
In sum, of the four principal components of comprehensive immigration
reform, three have already been substantially achieved. The border is
now under control and net-undocumented migration has fallen below zero;
a guest worker program has been created to bring in more than 360,000
temporary Mexican migrants per year; and legal immigrants have
increasingly taken it upon themselves to "expand" the quotas by
naturalizing and sponsoring the entry of immediate relatives outside of
the numerical quotas.
In practical terms, there is really only one thing that remains to be
accomplished: the creation of a pathway to legalization for long-term
undocumented residents. Somewhere around three million of these people
entered the country as minors. They did not make the decision to
violate U.S. immigration law and should not be held responsibilities
for choices made by their parents. In the absence of a criminal record
or other disqualifying circumstances, those who entered as minors
should be given an immediate and unconditional amnesty and be allowed
to proceed with their lives in the only country that most of them know.
For their part, undocumented migrants who entered as adults should be
offered a temporary legalization that confers the right to live and
work in the United States for some extended period, during which they
would be able to accumulate points ultimately to qualify them for legal
permanent residence. Points would be awarded for socially desirable
behaviors such as paying taxes, learning English, studying civics,
holding a steady job, owning a home, parenting U.S. citizen children
and generally staying out of trouble. Once a certain minimum threshold
of points is achieved, migrants would be allowed to pay a fine as
restitution for violating the law and then, having paid their debt to
society, get on with their lives as legal permanent residents of the
United States. We are much closer to the ultimate goals of immigration
reform than most people realize.
The views expressed in this article are solely those of Douglas S.
Massey.