Illegal Immigration
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What are the solutions to illegal immigration in America?
What are the solutions to illegal immigration in America?
With over 11 million immigrants in the United States illegally (as of 2011), the issue of illegal immigration continues to divide Americans.

Some people say that illegal immigration benefits the US economy through additional tax revenue, expansion of the low-cost labor pool, and increased money in circulation. They contend that immigrants bring good values, have motivations consistent with the American dream, perform jobs that Americans won’t take, and that opposition to immigration stems from racism.

Opponents of illegal immigration say that people who break the law by crossing the US border without proper documentation or by overstaying their visas should be deported and not rewarded with a path to citizenship and access to social services. They argue that people in the country illegally are criminals and social and economic burdens to law-abiding, tax-paying Americans.

Core Question
Top 10 Pros & Cons
Did You Know?
Historical Timeline
Comments


Immigration ProCon.org is a nonpartisan, nonprofit website that presents facts, studies, and pro and con statements on questions related to illegal immigration in the United States. We use "illegal immigration" to refer to the act of immigrating illegally. We refer to people who have entered the United States without proper legal documentation and who are deportable if apprehended, and people who have entered the United States legally but who have fallen "out of status" and are also deportable as "people who are in the United States illegally," "people who have immigrated illegally," or "people in the country illegally." Read more about the terminology here.

Pros & Cons by Category
CORE QUESTION
  What are the solutions to illegal immigration in America?

Definitions
  What is illegal immigration?
  What is legal immigration?
  Should the term "illegal alien" be used to define persons in violation of immigration law?

Immigration Quotas
  Should immigration quotas be increased?
  Would an increase of immigration quotas reduce illegal immigration?

Cuban Refugees
  Should Cubans who are intercepted at sea while trying to reach the United States be sent back to Cuba?

Economic Impact
  Is illegal immigration an economic burden to America?
  How are illegal immigration and globalization related?

Immigrants' Rights and Access to Services
  Should immigrants in the United States illegally have constitutional rights and protections when on American soil?
  Should immigrants in the United States illegally have access to social services such as health care and public education?
  Should immigrants in the United States illegally be allowed to buy or rent homes in the United States?
  Should immigrants in the United States illegally be allowed to obtain a driver's license?

Taxes
  Are immigrants in the United States illegally paying their "fair share" of taxes?

Labor Market - American Workers and Employers
  Does illegal immigration harm American workers (for example, through job displacement or lower wages)?
  Should employers who unknowingly hire immigrants who are in the United States illegally receive lighter penalties?
  Should E-Verify, the federal government's electronic employment verification system, be mandatory for all employers?

Amnesty and Legalization Debate
  What is an immigration amnesty?
  Is amnesty a good solution to illegal immigration?
  Is the legalization of immigrants in the country illegally a good solution to illegal immigration in America?
  Should labor unions support an immigration amnesty?

Deportation Debate
  What is deportation?
  Is deportation a good solution to illegal immigration?
  Should immigrants in the United States illegally who are parents of US citizen minors be deported?

Borders
  Should the US military patrol the borders?
  Should volunteer civilian groups such as the Minutemen patrol the borders?
  Was a fence along the US Mexico Border a good solution to illegal immigration?

Federal Immigration Law Enforcement
  Is the enforcement of existing immigration laws alone a good solution to illegal immigration in America?
  Does immigration law discourage legal immigration?

State and Local Law Enforcement
  Should state or local governments enforce federal immigration laws?

Crime
  Should overstaying a visa be considered a federal crime (vs. a civil offense)?
  Does illegal immigration relate to higher crime incidence?
  How does illegal immigration affect the US prison system?
  What happens (deportation, prison transfer, incarceration, etc.) to immigrants who are in the United States illegally who commit crimes in the United States?
  Should immigrants in the United States illegally who are convicted of a crime be deported from the United States?

Terrorism
  Does illegal immigration pose a terrorist threat to the United States?

National Identification Card
  Should the United States implement a national identification card to help control illegal immigration?

Legislation, 2000 - 2007
  Is the Secure America Through Verification and Enforcement (SAVE) Act of 2007 (H.R. 4088) a good piece of legislation?
  Is the 2006 Kennedy-McCain Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act (CIRA) a good piece of legislation?
  Is President Bush's Secure Border Initiative a good plan?
  Is the 2005 Sensenbrenner-King Border Protection, Anti-terrorism, and Illegal Immigration Control Act a good piece of legislation?
  What was the 2000 Legal Immigration Family Equity (LIFE) Act?

Historic Legislation, 1790 - 1996
  What was the 1996 Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility (IIRIRA) Act?
  Was the 1994 Californian Proposition 187 a good piece of legislation?
  What was the 1990 Immigration Act (IMMACT 90)?
  Was the 1986 Simpson-Mazzoli Immigration Act a good piece of legislation?
  What was the 1965 Hart-Cellar Immigration Act?
  What was the 1952 McCarran-Walter Immigration Act?
  What was the 1943 Magnuson Immigration Act?
  What was the 1924 Johnson-Reed Immigration Act?
  What was the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act?
  What was the 1790 Alien Naturalization Act?

Share your thoughts on illegal immigration and read, vote on, and reply to existing comments. Join the debate.


ProCon.org Notices (archived after 30 days)

5/15/2013  - Illegal Immigration Around the World: 13 Countries Compared to the United States – While the United States had 2.7% - 3.9% of its population living in the country illegally between 2000 - 2010, 13 other countries we reviewed had illegal immigration rates averaging 0.5% - 1.3% during the same period. See illegal immigration stats for France, Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom, and 9 other countries plus related info about how the data are gathered.

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Archived Notices (archived after 30 days)

 

Last updated on 5/15/2013 1:15:43 PM PST

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