By Kevin Judge | June 20, 2018
Illegal Immigration, a.k.a. undocumented immigration, is a social issue to some and an economic issue to others. In fact, it is both. Even the social issues involved, such as educating newcommers come with economic impact.
Efforts to control illegal immigration almost always focus on reducing the supply by improving border security and enforcement of immigration laws. That can help, but the global supply of people in the world who are willing to violate US immigration laws to enter is clearly huge.
Greater effort needs to be placed on the demand side, so the illegal immigrants cannot expect to earn a living upon entrance. The Reagan immigration reform in the 80’s provided amnesty for millions of illegal immigrants with the promise of a crackdown on employers who hired illegals. Excuse me, the undocumented.
The amnesty was given, but employer enforcement was never significantly implemented. A big help would be making the use of the E-Verify System mandatory for hiring new employees. E-Verify was introduced in 1996 6o prevent illegal aliens from obtaining employment illegally in the United States. Access to E-Verify is available free on the internet and maintained by the Federal Government
The US requires new employees to complete the Employment Eligibility Verification Form I-9. E-Verify compares the form data to available government records to identify mismatches and other issues to ensure the employee is eligible to work in the US. If submission to this system is made mandatory with a requirement to resolve issues before hiring, employers may better be held accountable for retracing only legal workers.
It is not a coincidence that the issue of illegal immigration receded in the public debate after the last recession and subsequent weak economic recovery but has regained prominence in today’s robust economy. A good economy needs more workers, but should not relieve employers of the obligation to obey the law and hire only legal residents to the country.
It is often said that illegal immigrants do work that Americans won’t do. It would be more accurate to say that the illegals do work at wage rates that Americans won’t work at and allow employers to evade paying the minimum wage.
Illegal immigration has eroded the respect for the rule of law. Placing emphasis only on the supply side, the immigrant, does not fully address the issue. Employers need to be sent a clear message that obeying immigration and employment laws is not optional.