- WASHINGTON -- On January
31 the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) released its latest
estimates of the illegal alien population in the United States. While
several media outlets have reported the overall findings that 7 million
illegal aliens lived in the United States in 2000, other information buried
in the report indicates that the problem is far larger and more serious
than even this huge number implies. The Center for Immigration Studies
has conducted a detailed examination of the INS report.
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- The INS report can be found at: www.ins.usdoj.gov/graphics/aboutins/statistics/Illegals.htm
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- Among the findings:
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- * Media accounts have focused on the total of 7 million,
but the INS report also shows that there were at least 78,000 illegal aliens
from countries who are of special concern in the war on terrorism. Visitors
from these countries are now required to register with the INS.
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- * According to the report, during the 1990s, 700,000
illegal aliens on average entered each year. And that number increased
to 817,000 by 1998 and to nearly 1 million in 1999. The total number of
illegals living in the country does not grow by this amount because each
year some illegals already in the country are given legal status, while
others return home on their own or get deported. As a result, the illegal
population grew on average by 350,000 for much of the 1990s and by the
end of the decade it was growing by 500,000 year. (See Chart 2, p. 2 in
report)
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- * The report states that 1.5 million illegal aliens got
legal status by one means or another during the 1990s. By rewarding illegal
aliens with legal status, current policy encourages more people to come
illegally in the hopes that they too will one day get legal status. The
1.5 million does not include the 2.7 million illegals given legal status
as part of the 1986 IRCA amnesty.
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- * The new INS report clearly demonstrates that amnesties
do not solve the problem of illegal immigration. Although 2.7 million of
the estimated 5 million illegal aliens in the country in 1986 were legalized
under IRCA, the new INS report shows that they had been entirely replaced
by new illegal aliens and the number again stood at 5 million by 1994.
(See Table C, p. 10)
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- * The 1.5 million green cards given out to illegals in
the 1990s dwarf immigration enforcement efforts. According to the report,
only 412,000 illegals were removed by the INS during the decade. (See
Table C, p. 10)
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- "These new estimates are extremely troubling and
confirm what many Americans already know -- the scale of illegal immigration
is truly enormous. The disregard for the rule of law, the impact on public
coffers, and the effect on Americans in low-wage jobs are all matters of
grave concern," said Steven Camarota, Director of Research at the
Center for Immigration Studies. "Perhaps even more troubling are the
implications for national security. 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 shows
that terrorists who wish to do so face few obstacles. We can't protect
ourselves from terrorism without dealing with illegal immigration."
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- Mark Krikorian, executive director
- Center for Immigration Studies
- 1522 K Street N.W., Suite 820
- Washington, DC 20005
- (202) 466-8185 fax: (202) 466-8076
- msk@cis.org http://www.cis.org
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