Illegals

• No easy answers• Ambivalence and unintended consequences• New patterns in the last decade

Citizenship in the U.S.

• By birth (even if parents are illegal, or here for a short period of time)

• By birth abroad if parents are citizens• By adoption• By naturalization if they comply with

conditions specified by law

Legal Rights of Legal Immigrants

In the Past:

• States had laws saying non citizens could not own land. State Restrictions on employment and education.

• States had rules that noncitizens could not practice law or medicine.

• Struck down because of the 14th amendment . The word “person” not “citizen” is used.

Undocumented people have a few rights

• Subject to equal protection laws– Protected against unreasonable searches and seizures– Protected by Fair Labor Standards. Minimum wage

protection.– Not entitled to free medical care or college attendance.

Illegal alien children are entitled to schooling.– Series of laws starting in 1990s and including the 2001

Patriots Act made further distinctions between immigrants, both legal and illegal and citizens.

Smoke and Mirrors

• Bracero program and history of integration of the US southwest and Mexico led to strong social ties and a circular movement back and forth across the border.

• 1965 law abruptly made that circulation illegal• 1965 law did not make it illegal to employ an

undocumented person. U.S. Employers continued to recruit Mexican laborers and employ them in great numbers.

• First attempt to deal with this: 1986 IRCA

IRCA 1986

• General Legalization– Been unauthorized since 1982 and present in the

US– Not convicted of a felony or more than 3

misdemeanors– Demonstrate “minimal understanding of ordinary

English”– Granted one year of temporary authorization

followed by LPR or green card

IRCA

• Special Agricultural Workers– People who entered legally or illegally and worked

at least 90 days in agriculture 1985-86. – Granted two years of temporary status and then

LPR or green card.

IRCA Results

• 91% of pre-1986 illegal residents, mostly Mexicans were legalized (60% in California).

• Made it illegal to hire an illegal alien, introduced I-9 forms.

• From 1986 until 1996 there were also many ways people could adjust their status from illegal to legal.

IRCA also created pressure for immigration

• The backlog of visas for legal immigration grew as more people immediately became eligible.

• Backlash against undocumented immigrants grew.

Ideology of 187Letter to New York Times

By flooding the state with 2 million illegal aliens to date, and increasing that figure each of the following ten years, Mexicans in California would number 15 to 20 million by 2004. During those ten years about 5 to 8 million Californians would have emigrated to other states. If those trends continued, a Mexico controlled

187 Letter to New York Times

California could vote to establish Spanish as the sole language of California, 10 million more English speaking Californians could flee and there could be statewide vote to leave the union and annex California to Mexico.

Letter to Editor New York Times, media director of Prop 187

Two Critical Dates in New Era• 1986

– Under pressure from U.S. Mexico Joins GATT• Opens Economy to Global Trade and Investment

– U.S. Congress Passes IRCA• Grants Legal Status to 2.3 Million Mexicans• Criminalizes Undocumented Hiring• Begins Militarization of Border

• 1994– Mexico and US Join Together in NAFTA

• Lowers barriers to cross-border movements of goods, capital, resources, information, services, and certain classes of people

– US Launches Operation Gatekeeper in San Diego• All-out Effort to Stop the Inflow of Mexican labor• Erects Steel Wall from Pacific Ocean to Sierra Madre Mountains

Indicators of Cross-Border Economic Integration

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

1980 1982 1984 1986 1988 1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002

Year

Val

ue

Rel

ativ

e to

198

6

Total Trade Business Visitors Intercompany Transferees Exchange Visitors

Mexico Joins GATT

NAFTA Takes Effect

Indicators of Border Enforcement 1980-2002

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

1980 1982 1984 1986 1988 1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002Year

Val

ue

Rel

ativ

e to

198

6

Border Patrol Officers Linewatch Hours Border Patrol Budget

IRCA Enacted

Operation GatekeeperLaunched in San Diego

Costs of Contradiction• Transforms Mexican Immigration from a Regional to

a National Phenomenon• Raises Death Rate Among Border Crossers• Lowers the Probability of Border Apprehension• Reduces Rate of Return Migration• Increases the Rate of Settlement• Increase Net Rate of Undocumented Migration• Shifts Composition from Workers to Families• Puts Downward Pressure on US Wages and

Undermines Working Conditions for US Workers

Changes in Border Enforcement• Average Length of Stay

– 1.7 years in 1986– 3.5 years in 2005

• Rise in deaths– 472 people died in 2005, 827 in 2007

• Nontraditional border sites 29% in 1988, 64% in 2002• Apprehension fell from 33% in 1980s to 5% in 2002.• Cost of one arrest went from $300.00 in 1992 to

$1700 in 2002.

Proportion Going to New Crossing Points and Destinations

0

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

0.6

0.7

1980 1982 1984 1986 1988 1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002

Year

Pro

po

rtio

n o

f M

igra

nts

New Destination New Crossing

IRCA Enacted

Operation BlockadeLaunched in El Paso

Death rate from suffocation, drowning, heat exhaustion, exposure, and unknown causes along border 1986-98

0

0.01

0.02

0.03

0.04

0.05

0.06

0.07

1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998

Year

Rat

e p

er 1

,000

En

trie

s

Operation Blockade Launched In El Paso

Probability of Apprehension 1980-2001

0

0.05

0.1

0.15

0.2

0.25

0.3

0.35

0.4

1980 1982 1984 1986 1988 1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002

Year

Pro

bab

ility

IRCA Enacted

Operation BlockadeLaunched in El Paso

Average Cost of Hiring a Coyote

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1400

1980 1982 1984 1986 1988 1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002

Year

Do

llars

IRCA Enacted

Operation BlockadeLaunched in El Paso

Probability of First Undocumented Migration and Return 1980-2001

0

0.05

0.1

0.15

0.2

0.25

0.3

0.35

0.4

0.45

0.5

1980 1982 1984 1986 1988 1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002

Year

An

nu

al P

rob

abili

ty

Males Females Return

IRCA Enacted

Operation BlockadeLaunched in El Paso

Number of Mexicans in the United States 1980-2002

0

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

6000

7000

8000

9000

10000

1980 1982 1984 1986 1988 1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002

Year

Nu

mb

er in

Th

ou

san

ds

IRCA Enacted

Operation BlockadeLaunched in El Paso

Border Patrol

The budget has increased 714% from 1992 to 2009

Border agents have increased 390%

1996

1996

1996

Aftermath

• Dan Kanstroom, Law Professor at Boston College Law School

• Documents the effects of deportation as a mechanism of dealing with immigration problems.