Response to Star Reader

My friendly response to a KC Star reader (who will remain anonymous) that took offense at Andrea's editorial on immigration reform, and took the time to email us directly.
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Thanks for your email. It’s refreshing to see an actual name rather than the usual anonymous hate mail we too often receive. As you know, I didn’t write the article you refer to, but I do support its conclusions. But since you copied me on your email, I’ll take the liberty to respond.

An “amnesty” program, although not the term I would use, is not a hare brained idea, but one that has been a fixture in American immigration policy from its earliest days, including the most recent amnesty of 1986, signed by none other than President Reagan. That amnesty was followed by an unprecedented period of prosperity in the country and not a few economists have credited that prosperity, at least in part, to the legalization program. Similarly, as Andrea indicates, the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has estimated significant economic benefits from a legalization program, especially when contrasted with the status quo or an enforcement only program, which you seem to prefer. This economic effect has been confirmed by numerous other studies and economists. I can point to several if you want.

The point is, there are serious economic arguments in favor of legalization.

As for the moral arguments, I think you make too much of the supposed criminality of immigration lawbreakers. It may seem like semantics, but only a little over ½ of the undocumented immigrants here entered without inspection (EWI). Those people can be charged with a crime, but rarely are. It is a matter of prosecutorial discretion. Usually (in probably 99% of the cases or more), they are charged simply with being here without permission (a civil violation – like driving without a license), and are deported on that basis.

Even for the ones that can be charged with a crime for EWI, the result is a “misdemeanor” crime. A second EWI can be a felony. It’s hard for me to compare these “crimes” with truly serious crimes against our society such as murder, rape, theft, etc. In fact, one aspect of the seriousness of these “crimes” in the context of our immigration history is that illegal entries were not even treated as crimes in our law until about 15 years ago (I believe), with an unduly harsh law referred to as IIRAIRA. The penalty for illegal entry has historically been deportation (or amnesty), not incarceration.

But the possibility of being named “criminal” under our law only applies to about ½ of the people here illegally (maybe as much as 60%). The rest entered legally, and then either failed to maintain the conditions of their status or overstayed their approved period of stay. They can’t accurately be referred to as “criminals.”

But perhaps the label isn’t that important. They are still lawbreakers of some sort, right? But why do you assume that a path to legalization is not a valid option? To my thinking, the fact of “illegality” is just one factor in deciding what is best for the U.S., not the only factor. We permit other lawbreakers to “bargain” their punishment to something less than the full application of the law would allow. Why is permanent banishment from the U.S. the only option? What about a fine, or waiting period, or payment of back taxes, or learning English, before receiving legal status? Only 10 years ago, the law was such that persons who had violated status, even EWIs, but who had otherwise the necessary relationships to immigrate, were allowed to still immigrate legally by paying a fine. That option vanished as a casualty of the fears of 911, but we have inherited in its place a weaker, more unjust system because of it.

I know many families that were recipients of the benefits of the 1986 amnesty. They, and their children, are lawyers, doctors, soldiers, and other professionals. Even this week, a Texas state representative indicated that she (Ana Hernandez Luna) had once been “illegal” and had benefitted from the 1986 amnesty program. These amnesty folks are a true credit to their adopted nation, and the same would happen today with some kind of legalization program.

On the other hand, a simple enforcement only program would be devastating economically, as well as to the moral fiber of the country. Did you know that about 1 in 10 of all of the children in the U.S. are in families of mixed status – that is at least one of the parents is here illegally? What would be the effect of mass deportation of those parents without papers? As the President said recently, we should not be in the business of separating families.

Couple this with the fact that about ½ of the undocumented people here have been here at least 10 years, and you realize that a lot of the people here have families, jobs, and long standing ties here, but don’t have, under our present law, the ability to become legal. Our ancestors had that opportunity. Comparing their supposed legality with the “illegality” of today’s immigrants is like comparing apples to oranges. The only real difference between our ancestors and today’s immigrants is that there existed for our ancestors a system to assimilate virtually everyone who arrived in the U.S. legally into the U.S. Even people that slipped in undetected were allowed to become legal simply by registering after proving they had been here for a period of time, such as five years. That’s a far cry from the immensely complicated and restrictive system we have today.

I’m not suggesting that our borders be open or that we return to the Ellis Island days of almost 100% admission, but there are very good reasons for trying to give a path to legalization to many of the people here without papers who have already become de facto members of our society – and their “illegal” or undocumented status should only be one of the factors to consider in drafting a more just law to deal with the situation.

This isn’t an outrageous position. In addition to President Reagan, it was supported by former President Bush, as well as (at one time, at least) such conservatives as John McCain, Sam Brownback, Orrin Hatch, Lindsey Graham, Michael Bloomberg, as well as most leading economists.

Thanks for the opportunity to respond. I went into more detail than I ordinarily would have because of your courtesy in writing directly to us. I don’t expect you will agree with most (or perhaps any) of my conclusions, but I hope you have a better idea of where we are coming from, and trust that we both care about doing the right thing for our country. Thanks.



Andrea, Hi.

I see that you are in the press again with another hair-brained scheme to justify amnesty for illegal immigrants. Streamlining deportation procedures and curtailing meritless legal objections would significantly reduce costs. We could also vigorously help Mexico straighten out/speed up its legal visa application process.

Also, deported illegal immigrants who "soon return to the United States" should face mandatory jail time. Splitting hairs over criminal and non-criminal immigrant behavior is spurious, since illegal immigrants are by definition criminals. And, yes our ancestors all immigrated to America, but they did so legally.