Deter illegal entry through meaningful enforcement

– Guest columnist Ira Mehlman argues enforcing laws will deter immigrants from entering or staying illegally.

– Columnist Ira Mehlman says the U.S. economy will not collapse without unauthorized immigrants.

The most important thing to recognize when considering the problem of mass illegal immigration is that unauthorized immigrants are rational people who make rational decisions.

For decades, the United States has failed to enforce its immigration laws, and under the current administration the federal government is openly refusing to enforce most of those laws. In addition, an increasing number of state and local governments are bestowing significant benefits and protections on people who violate our nation's immigration laws.

Under the circumstances, we should not be surprised that up to 12 million people are living here illegally. We should probably be surprised that there aren't more.

A second thing to consider is the reason why we have immigration laws in the first place. While immigration always benefits immigrants — they would not be here if it didn't — it often has an adverse impact on large numbers of people in the receiving nation.

Our immigration laws exist to protect vital interests of the American people such as jobs, wages, how tax dollars are spent, access to quality public services and to limit runaway population growth, to name just a few.Dealing with mass illegal immigration requires that we deter as many people as possible from entering or remaining in the United States illegally, coupled with a meaningful threat of enforcement against those who are not deterred.

First and foremost, we need to convince unauthorized immigrants that they are unlikely to find employment in this country. E-Verify, an electronic database that allows employers to verify the employment eligibility of the people they hire, must become mandatory for all employers, and meaningful penalties must be imposed against those caught skirting the requirement.

Faced with a diminishing number of employers prepared to hire them, unauthorized immigrants will likely make rational decisions. Fewer will come here and, over time, many who are here will make the decision to return home.

Despite the dire warnings of business lobbyists and advocates for unauthorized immigrants, our economy would not collapse. Just as our economy adjusted to the presence of large numbers of people working illegally, it will adjust to their absence. The economic output of those workers will not be lost; it will be replaced, likely at higher wages, by some of the 90 million working-age adults in this country who by circumstance or choice are not currently participating in the formal labor market.

Other federal and local incentives to illegal immigration must similarly be terminated. In many places, unauthorized immigrants can receive taxpayer-subsidized college educations (including Florida), drivers licenses, professional licenses and assurances that local governments, including law enforcement, will shield them from identification and removal.

Deterrence must be backed up by the meaningful threat of enforcement. Under policies adopted unilaterally by the Obama administration, 87 percent of unauthorized immigrants in the United States face no credible threat of removal. While it is reasonable to prioritize the removal of criminal aliens (although the administration is even doing a poor job of that), it is self-defeating to assure the vast majority of unauthorized immigrants that laws will not be enforced against them.

Deterrence coupled with the threat of meaningful penalties for violation is the way all civil laws are enforced — whether it is the IRS ensuring tax compliance, or the highway patrol enforcing speed limits. It is fair, it is humane and it is necessary to protect the public interest.

The same strategy can and should be applied to controlling illegal immigration so that our laws can achieve their primary mission: serving the economic, social and security interests of the American people.

Ira Mehlman is media director for the Federation for American Immigration Reform, a nonprofit that promotes stronger border security and stricter immigration limits.