U.S. Government Finally Waking Up to Threats Posed by Years of Immigration-Control Failures

INSIGHT magazine ^ | November 2, 2001 | Steven A. Camarota

[Stand Watch Listen]

The president and Congress have begun to realize the importance of immigration control in reducing the terrorist threat. On Oct. 31, Attorney General John Ashcroft announced creation of a task force on foreign terrorism whose job it will be to keep out members of terrorist organizations or those who have supported them. Other changes under consideration include more-vigorous background checks and the gathering of fingerprints from all visa applicants, a system to record all entrances and exits, more Border Patrol agents and a tracking system for foreign students and visitors while they are in the country.

These changes could not have come at a better time. Newly released estimates from the Census Bureau on illegal immigration indicate we have lost control of our borders. The government now estimates that 8 million illegal aliens lived in the United States in 2000. This number is especially troubling given the role that failures in immigration control played in September's attacks.

The findings indicate that during the 1990s the illegal population grew by roughly 500,000 a year. We know this because a draft report given to the House Judiciary subcommittee on Immigration and Claims by the INS estimated that the illegal population was 3.5 million in 1990.

For the illegal population to have reached 8 million by 2000, the net increase had to be 400,000 to 500,000 per year during the 1990s. Moreover, a net increase of this size implies that the total flow of new illegals entering the U.S. each year must be more than 700,000, because the INS estimates that several hundred thousand illegals return home each year or receive legal status as part of the normal "legal" immigration process.

The Census Bureau report with the estimated size of the illegal population can be found at www.census.gov/dmd/www/ReportRec2.htm (Appendix A of Report 1 contains the estimates). Other implications of the new estimates:

• The Census Bureau's estimates clearly demonstrate that amnesties don't solve the illegal-immigration problem. Although 2.7 million of the estimated 5 million illegal aliens living in the country in 1986 were given amnesty (legal permanent residence), new estimates indicate that they have been entirely replaced by new illegal aliens and by last year the illegal population was 3 million larger than before the last amnesty.
  
  
• Although the INS has very serious shortcomings, it is not responsible for this situation. Instead, the problem lies with Congress and previous administrations, Democratic and Republican. All have failed to provide the money or political support the INS needed to enforce the ban on hiring illegals, to track down those who overstay their visas (as was the case with several of the terrorists) and adequately to guard all parts of the nation's land borders.

These new estimates have enormous implications for the security of the United States. If a Mexican day laborer can sneak across the border, so can an al-Qaeda terrorist. While the vast majority of illegals are not terrorists, the fact that hundreds of thousands of people are able to settle in the United States illegally each year indicates that terrorists who wish to do so face few obstacles. We can't protect ourselves from terrorism without dealing with illegal immigration, and selective enforcement would be both immoral and ineffective.

Since the terrorist threat comes almost exclusively from foreign-born individuals, immigration enforcement must be a central part of efforts to reduce the likelihood of future attacks. In fact, according to INS Commissioner James Ziglar, at least three of the terrorists who carried out the attacks of Sept. 11 were illegal aliens, and the INS has no information at all on several others. In addition to concerns about terrorism, the huge number of illegal aliens living in the country also has significant implications for public services as well as for the job prospects of low-wage Americans in the current economic downturn.

The Census Bureau found 8.7 million foreign-born individuals in the 2000 census who appeared not to have legal status. However, because records for some legal immigrants are not available from the INS, the bureau estimates that 1.7 million of the 8.7 million already had legal status or were likely to gain it soon. If these individuals are excluded, then 7 million illegals were counted in 2000. The Census Bureau also estimates that roughly 1 million illegal aliens were likely missed in last year's count, meaning that the total illegal population stood at 8 million in 2000.

Also in the new report on immigrants in the 2000 census:

• The total foreign-born or immigrant population (including legal and most illegal immigrants) grew enormously, from 19.8 million in 1990 to 31.1 million in 2000.
  
  
• The 11.3 million or 57 percent increase in the total foreign-born population in just one decade is almost without precedent in U.S. history both numerically and proportionately. Even during the great wave of immigration from 1900 to 1910, the foreign-born population grew by only 3.2 million or 31 percent, from 10.3 million to 13.5 million.
  
  
• The immigrant population more than tripled in size during the last three decades, from 9.6 million in 1970 to 31.1 million in 2000. With regard to the overall size of the foreign-born population, the figures the Census Bureau released indicate that we currently are in the midst of an enormous social experiment. No nation in history ever has attempted to incorporate and assimilate 31 million newcomers into its society. And the experiment is by no means over. If policy remains unchanged, at least 13 million legal and illegal immigrants likely will settle in the United States during the next 10 years.

Steven A. Camarota is the director of research for the Center for Immigration Studies in Washington.

[Stand Watch Listen]

bttt

[magoo_70115]

Would love to know if any of the esteemed 19 hijackers had registered to vote pursuant to the Clinton/Gore get out the (illegal) vote campaign. Maybe someone in the aggressive investigative press can run down that issue/question; then again, if the answer came back "yes", the press would never report the results.

[muggs]

I think we have lost the illegal immigration battle. They have no fear of breaking our laws. They know nothing will happen to them if they are caught. I just turned down an application to rent an apartment,less than an hour ago, because her visa expired in November 1998. She had no fear telling me it expired in 1998. I would like to call INS but I feel it would be a waste of my time.

[Stand Watch Listen]

I think we have lost the illegal immigration battle. They have no fear of breaking our laws. They know nothing will happen to them if they are caught.

I quite agree. Also there's the attraction of our culture, our way of life. The present way of life of govenment 'entitlements', of schooling, ER services. These illegal immigrants count on the Democrats/Republicans ignoring US laws, a government amnesty and the lobby power of big business in assuring 'cheap labor'. These illegal immigrants also count on the subject of deportation as the 'third rail' of American politics.

[Alas]

Are you a veteran?

Would you like to join with other vets insuring the saftey of our nation?

www.ChristianPatriot.com/vets.htm

The pay is non existant, but the satifaction is great.

Nukem

[Marine Inspector]

On October 26, President Bush signed into law Public Law 107-56, the United and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism (USA PATRIOT) Act.

This law only address the northern border of the US. It will triple the Border Patrol, INS Inspector and Customs Inspectors on the northern boarder.

While the northern boarder gets more personnel than it needs, the southern boarder is still in need of additional personnel and the interior, were some 8 million illegals are, get nothing.

Nothing will be done to stop the flow of Mexicans into the US or round up the 8 million already here.

[AuntB]

btt

moderator, perhaps you can tell us why this thread was pulled a little earlier? Professor Predicts 'Hispanic Homeland' 

 

[FITZ]

We've lost it for now --- but immigration is overwhelming the taxpayers' ability to pay for the needed services --- at some point it's going to become an issue. For now the government can't mint money fast enough --- but then again the money pouring out of the USA is what is keeping inflation in check. There is no way though that the USA taxpayers can keep up with all the costs of unlimited immigration. The problem is when it collapses --- when free health care and schools are no longer available to a foreign country which has grown to be completely dependent --- then what happens --- will they attack us? Will that country go into chaos and anarchy? Will their revolution involve much of the USA?

[AuntB]

"Will their revolution involve much of the USA?"

Well, since millions of illegals are in the US, I assume it will. According to La Raza, the "revolution" is to take part of the USA.
They're not dumb. They realize it's easier to take our rights away than to fight for their own rights in their own home.

This is going to sound really harsh, but we keep hearing that hundreds of people die crossing the desert/border. We know they die crammed into vehicles. Many more get here and get sent back to do it again. That must be heartbreaking for them, all that for nothing. If armed guards were put on the border and illegals knew they'd get shot trying to cross, this nonsense would stop and it would save lives. At Area 51 and other government facilities there are signs that say, "attempted entry will be met with deadly force".
That must mean only tax paying citizens.....

[texastoo]

Could you explain "Area 51"?

[AuntB]

I don't remember what else it's called. It's a military compound in Nevada.

[FITZ]

We're only stalling the revolution by allowing anyone who wants to just pick up and move over here -- and if they can't get out of poverty on their own we're just handing them all kinds of money but money doesn't solve the underlying problems. Someone at work the other day --- herself from Mexico but the type who has learned English well and assimilated -- was complaining how her part of town is filling up with many super-rich from Mexico. Many are leaving Mexico because of the drug-lord wars -- they've created a huge mess and now think their families will be safer under American taxpayer provided police protection. They buy their kids new BMWs and the latest most expensive sports cars, they surround themselves with maids and gardeners --- nothing has changed, they're only here because they feel safer. So we've got the super rich from there and the super poor from there moving over only there isn't going to be another safety valve like the USA has been.

It seems we're importing all the problems of Mexico and we're going to end up paying big-time for it. The day the welfare checks and food stamps don't show up on time could just be the day the next Mexican Revolution begins.

[AuntB]

Your post reminded me of something. A few years ago I was at the Grange. A Mexican-American gentleman beside me was buying fence posts. He started a conversation about having to build a taller fence to keep away from the #@!@@! "whebags"....I said, What??? He was trying to say the common slur for illegals crossing the border...He said he came here, got citizenship, and tries to keep his neighborhood and home nice, but the illegals have moved in and encroached upon his property. He said if he wanted to live like that, he'd have stayed in Mexico. I gave him a hug and said I was sorry.

[FITZ]

That's very common --- around here that is often said. Many of the old hispanic neighborhoods were pretty much crime free --- no one locked their doors but with the crime from Mexico moving over all you see now are fences and iron bars over all the windows and doors. It's starting to look more and more like Mexico with the high fences --- so far you don't see too much barbed wire or broken glass cemented in on top of the fences --- but that's coming.

[FITZ]

The other thing that's kind of interesting --- it's the hispanic kids who are most often attacked by the Mexican gangs. I'm not sure the reason for that.

[AuntB]

"it's the hispanic kids who are most often attacked by the Mexican gangs. I'm not sure the reason for that."

Oh, yes. I wish I could remember who was recently speaking about that. The reason seems to be that these kids are trying to break out of the poverty, ignorance line of thinking and the gangs and activists don't like it. People are easier to control when they are poor and ignorant.

[AuntB]

Have you ever read this oath that new citizens must take? The saddest thing about illegals is that they are required to take no oath. As for La Raza and the other activists that are "citizens", I believe they are in clear violation of that oath.


 http://uscis.gov/graphics/services/natz/oath.htm

The oath of allegiance is:

"I hereby declare, on oath, that I absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty of whom or which I have heretofore been a subject or citizen; that I will support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I will bear arms on behalf of the United States when required by the law; that I will perform noncombatant service in the Armed Forces of the United States when required by the law; that I will perform work of national importance under civilian direction when required by the law; and that I take this obligation freely without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; so help me God."

In some cases, INS allows the oath to be taken without the clauses:

". . .that I will bear arms on behalf of the United States when required by law; that I will perform noncombatant service in the Armed Forces of the United States when required by law. . ."

[AuntB]

Chris Durant The Times-Standard
Saturday, November 06, 2004 -

It was another record-breaking season for the Campaign Against Marijuana Planting and Humboldt County contributed with nearly twice the plants confiscated this year than last.

The California Attorney General's Office said there were 621,315 pot plants found and destroyed statewide this year, about 155,000 more than last.

About 80 percent of all the plants destroyed were linked to Mexican drug organizations, the office said.

More than half, 58 percent, of the plants were found on public lands, such as national parks and forests.


http://www.times-standard.com/Stories/0,1413,127~2896~2518351,00.html