Few images tug at our heartstrings more than those of sleeping
children. Such pictures have been prominent in illustrating
newspaper stories about the surge of children across our southern
border. The stories themselves generally appeal to our parental
instincts. There is talk about the hazardous journeys of those
children, desperately fleeing from frightening conditions in Central
America.
How barbaric it would be, any humane person might conclude from the
stories, to send them back to a place such as Tegucigalpa. So, goes
this argument, every effort should be made to unite them with their
parents who left them behind when they illegally came to the US, or
to find other people here to care for them.
But it is important to look at the situation more carefully,
considering the well-being of others besides the young sleepers, and
to think more about what is really in the best interest of children
such as these. For the most part, the impression given by
conventional news media is that the US government is trying to do
the right thing in a difficult situation. Is that really so?
What precipitated the surge?
The principal countries of origin, Honduras, El Salvador, and
Guatemala, would not rank high in a list of the happiest
nations. Most of the people there are very poor. All three countries
have been dangerous for decades with violence levels varying, but
high. Cocaine plays an important role. But, until late in 2013,
there had never been any significant exodus of children from these
countries heading for the US. What
changed [1]?
President Obama, without consulting congress, issued an executive
order in June, 2012, to the effect that those who came to the United
States illegally before age 16, would no longer be subject to
deportation [2]. Over
800,000 people were in this category. Homeland Security Secretary
Janet Napolitano followed up by announcing that work permits would
be given to many young illegal
immigrants [3]. This
clear message was obviously received by people all over the world as
an invitation to come here. The number of children caught every
month crossing our southern border illegally has risen recently to
over 10,000.
In a sense, mixed signals are being sent in that, every day, many
illegal immigrants, often with criminal records, are deported. But
many other illegal immigrants are encouraged to remain by admitting
them to colleges, allowing them to get drivers licenses, doing
little or nothing to stop employers from hiring them, and, in
general, not trying very hard to catch and deport
them [4],
or even to find them. Local police, are, in most places,
discouraged, or even prohibited, from stopping and questioning
people who seem likely to be illegal immigrants.
Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson said, (Apr 27, 2014) "...we
need to encourage the 11.5 million undocumented immigrants in this
country to come out of the shadows, become accountable and get on an
earned path to
citizenship." [5]. As
of May 2014, over 560,000 young illegals had been shielded by the
Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program,
[6], which has
recently been renewed.
Clearly, the change that precipitated the exodus was the news
indicating that the US government is permitting large numbers of
children who came here illegally to remain. This encouraged parents
in poor countries to try to come here with their children, or to
send their children here. There are also some teenagers who are
deciding on their own to make the trip. The 1986 amnesty for almost
3 million illegals led to a great increase in illegal immigration,
and all the current talk, proposed legislation, and executive
actions, especially with regard to children, has made it reasonable
to assume that, if they come, the likelihood is that, one way or
another, they will be allowed to remain.
This has created a demand for the services of people who can
facilitate the necessary travel and border crossing. Many
drug-smugglers are finding people-smuggling to be a lucrative
sideline. Depending on where the trip begins, charges range from a
few thousand dollars to perhaps $7000 per person from Central
America. From China, the charge may be as high as
$40,000 [7].
Incidentally there is some doubt that fear of violence is the main
force driving children to the US. There is evidence that the major
motivation is the prospect of getting a good job
[8].
Is migration an appropriate solution
Front-page stories in the NY Times tell us about traumatic
experiences of specific children from Honduras coming to the US via
Mexico [9]. The
stories, with pictures, carry the message that the decent thing to
do is to welcome these children to the US, uniting them with parents
if they are already here (legally or illegally). Presumably, if the
parents are not already here, they should be invited to come
so that families can be re-united.
Billions of people, all over the world, are leading miserable
lives. Many often go hungry, lack adequate shelter, and are victims
of intimidation and violence. Any one of them would most likely be
better off in the US. But focussing on heart rendering cases of
individuals, especially children, while ignoring the bigger picture,
can lead to very bad decision making.
This attitude is sending a clear message to people in the Americas,
and elsewhere in the world, that our doors are wide open. Indeed a
message to this effect has already been received and is the basis
for the flood of illegal immigrants now pouring into the
country. While the main source of illegal immigrants was originally
Mexico, it has shifted to certain Central American countries, and
increasing numbers are now coming from elsewhere, mainly Asia.
The population of the US could easily be doubled by such an influx
without making a dent in the number of needy people all over the
world. It should be obvious that the problems of oppressed people
all over the world can't be solved by inviting them to move to the
US. The consequences of such an inflow would be devastating to most
Americans. The first victims would be those in the lowest income
brackets, but the effects would be severe for all but the wealthy
[10].
Advocates of opening our borders seem to ignore the fact that
Americans are by no means immune to oppressive conditions. Many
millions of Americans live in poverty, and are often menaced or
attacked by hoodlums. E.g., the murder rate in Camden, NJ exceeds
that of Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala. The kind-hearted
people moved by the plight of the children now coming here seem to
be forgetting about American children suffering in similar
ways. More important, they do not seem to realize that opening our
borders to large numbers of poor people from other countries is
directly worsening the situation of poor Americans. The detrimental
effects of immigration on black people in particular, has been
pointed out by several members of The United States Commission on
Civil
Rights [11].
This is happening in several ways.
The newcomers, escaping from deep poverty, take jobs at pay rates,
and under conditions, well below ordinary US standards, thus
displacing poor Americans from many
jobs [12].
Even if Americans can get the kinds of jobs being taken by
the immigrants, they must accept the same miserable conditions.
Public and private money being spent to assist the newcomers in
various ways is money not available to help poor Americans.
Bringing in large numbers of poor people inevitably burdens tax
payers with all kinds of costs, such as welfare payments, school and
health-care costs, and costs associated with the justice
system. This influx is playing an important role in the process
whereby American workers have been rendered virtually powerless in
negotiating for proper wages and working conditions. The principal
beneficiaries are the owners of such enterprises as factory farms,
big hotels, and meat-packing plants, whose profits are swelled by
reduced labor costs.
What is our government doing about this problem?
Rather than beefing up programs to deal with the growing problems
of impoverished Americans, and taking strong action to stop the
illegal immigration that contributes to those problems, the Obama
administration is calling for several billion dollars in
appropriations to help youngsters who are coming here illegally. An
indication of that approach is an ad, placed this past January by
the Department of Homeland Security, soliciting responses from
companies interested in providing, "Escort Services for
Unaccompanied Alien Children"
(UAC) [13]. The
ad states that "There will be approximately 65000 UAC". Note that
this ad was placed well before the extent of the inflow was
evident. So the government cannot claim that the UAC surge was a big
surprise.
Many illegals are being caught and deported, but they often come
back, and many others are not caught. Once past the vicinity of the
border, there is no serious effort to apprehend them. We can only
guess at the number who get into the country without being
caught. Those apprehended are often quickly released and told to
report to some court at a later
date [14]. It
is not publicly known how many people are processed this way, and,
of these, how many actually do show up in court.
What should be done?
The simplest way to shut down illegal immigration is to ensure that
illegal immigrants can't get jobs here. Requiring proof of legal
status at hiring time is an obvious way to accomplish
this. Employers, particularly big companies, such as poultry
processing plants, violating such laws should be severely penalized.
Mexico plays a special role in this problem, since the great
majority of people entering the US illegally come thru Mexico. Those
from Central America have to cross Mexico's Southern border, travel
at least a thousand miles in Mexico, and then exit via its Northern
border. So Mexico has ample opportunity to to intercept them. Its
efforts to date along these lines have been grossly inadequate. The
greatest single contingent of people illegally crossing into the US
from Mexico consists of Mexicans.
The US is the world's most powerful nation, both economically, and
militarily. It routinely bullies nations such as France, Germany,
Sweden, and, of course, all the nations in the Western
Hemisphere. The idea that the US can't get Mexico to shut off the
huge flow of people, including children, flowing over its northern
border into the US is not credible.
Why not simply return to Mexico all captured illegals who had
crossed the Mexican-US border, charging transportation costs to
Mexico, and insist that those who are not Mexican be returned to
their countries of origin? It would be appropriate to penalize
repeat offenders. In order to expedite this process, the 2008 law
that requires full court hearings before deporting a person to a
country other than Mexico or Canada must be revised to allow prompt
action in all but exceptional
cases [15].
Helping a small fraction of the world's poor at the expense of poor
Americans (and for the benefit of rich Americans) may make some
people who haven't considered the issue carefully feel good. But we
could do much better. First, we could stop supporting governments
that oppress their
citizens [16]. Then,
rather than sending arms to bolster autocratic governments, the US
could develop constructive foreign aid programs to help poor people
directly in their own countries.
Note-1 (added 11/10/15): A translation, by Anastasia Benesh, of this
essay into Russian can be
found [here]
Note-2 (added 4/19/19): A translation, by Philipp
Egger, of this essay into German can be found
[here]