The reasons for illegal immigration are complex. Following is an overview of some of the factors that contribute to this issue.
The fact illegal immigration has been so politicized for selfish purposes with xenophobic rhetoric and misinformation makes a rational discussion and solutions nearly impossible.
Let’s not forget that we need immigrants to do important jobs, we are dependent on them and will become more so in the future and even illegal immigrants make a positive economic contribution.
The large number coming to our border is overwhelming no matter what actions are taken. Part of the solution must start at the countries of origin.
Economic Factors
- Poverty and lack of opportunity in home countries: Economic hardship in many countries drives people to seek a better life elsewhere. The United States, with its perceived economic opportunities, attracts individuals looking for work.
- Wage disparities: The significant difference in wages between the US and some other countries can be a powerful incentive for people to enter the US illegally to find higher-paying work.
Political Factors
- Violence and instability: People fleeing war, political persecution, or gang violence in their home countries might attempt to enter the US illegally as a desperate means of survival.
- Lack of legal pathways: Limitations in the existing legal immigration system make it difficult or impossible for some people to immigrate legally, leading them to seek alternative, illegal routes into the country.
Family and Social Factors
- Family reunification: The desire to reunite with family members who are already in the United States can drive some people to enter illegally.
Border Security and Enforcement
- Porous borders: The vastness of the US border, especially the southern border with Mexico, makes it difficult to completely prevent illegal crossings.
- Ineffective enforcement: Limited resources, complex laws, and changing priorities can lead to inconsistent or ineffective enforcement of immigration laws.
The Debate
The debate around “illegal immigration” centers on how to find a balance between:
- National security: Concerns about how illegal immigration might make a country vulnerable to crime and exploitation.
- Economic impact: Arguments vary about whether illegal immigration depresses wages and strains public resources or contributes positively to the economy.
- Humanitarian concerns: The desire to provide a safe haven for refugees and those fleeing desperate situations, versus the rule of law.
It’s important to note:
- There’s no single cause of illegal immigration.
- The issue is highly politicized, with a wide spectrum of opinions on solutions, making it a very complex topic.
For further information, you can consider visiting the following sources:
- Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR): Argues for stricter enforcement and reduction of illegal immigration (https://www.fairus.org/issue/illegal-immigration/whats-wrong-illegal-immigration)
- New American Economy: Argues for the positive economic contributions of immigrants (https://www.newamericaneconomy.org/issues/undocumented-immigrants/)
- Pew Research Center: Provides non-partisan data and analysis (https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2019/06/12/5-facts-about-illegal-immigration-in-the-u-s/)
QUINNSCOMMENTARY 
I’m sorry. All of the above makes no sense when the individual argues that:
“… Lack of legal pathways: Limitations in the existing legal immigration system make it difficult or impossible for some people to immigrate legally, leading them to seek alternative, illegal routes into the country. …”
With only a handful of exceptions for small European countries, and areas where individuals free conflict America is among the most welcoming place on earth – for legal, peaceful immigration – even after the 1924 legislation. And, it has been since anyone started keeping count – now 14% of its citizens and legal residents (one of every seven people you meet).
https://www.npr.org/2023/09/14/1199417599/immigrant-population-us-foreign-born-census-bureau
Is there some reason why we can’t enforce our laws and international agreements?
In May 2019, Mexico and the United States negotiated an agreement expanding enforcement along Mexico’s southern border in response to President Trump’s threats of tariffs on Mexican goods. The deal left open the possibility of developing a bilateral asylum plan that would mirror other “country of first-entry” asylum resettlement agreements like the U.S.-Canada Safe Third Agreement and the European Union’s (EU) Dublin III Regulation, which requires asylum seekers to apply for protection in the first country they enter that has signed the agreement.
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Everyone seeking to enter here knows to claim asylum. It’s their ticket in and they won’t be processed for years or maybe never. They know not to say I just want a better pay job.
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We understand why they want to come here, but illegal is illegal. Period. What other laws in this country are optional?
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Not necessarily…
Under both U.S. and international law, people who face danger in their homelands have the right to go to other nations to seek safety and to have their requests for asylum considered.
To apply for asylum In the United States, a person must be physically present either in the country or at a port of entry.
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Yes, but you know that 99 % of them do not meet the requirements for asylum. They are economic refugees.
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However, international agreements confirm that they are supposed to apply for asylum in the first “safe” country. That isn’t the US – except for Mexico or Canada – and no one claims asylum from those countries except the Mexican folks who are fleeing from the same cartels our border failure is enabling, empowering and enriching.
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Legal immigration is great–illegal immigration like anything else that violates the law needs to be dealt with. Nobody is above the law say our friends on the left–unless it can help turn a state blue.
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Of course you are right, but i wonder if Americans would see it that way if the influx in the last several years were processed legally?
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It’s possible our fellow citizens would have an issue or two. I assume you are familiar with the term “gentrification”. In my city that has caused issues as white folks with means have moved into areas that have been historically black. The complaints range from racial to changing the culture. So, as an example, if we see folks you are citizens having issues with different cultures, habits, and ways of life, it’s more than possible that a legal influx like we have had would raise concerns.
Remember back when you much younger and you went to Europe. What did some call you and me; “ugly Americans”. We wanted cold Coke–we wanted ice with every drink–we asked about air conditioning–we were loud and obnoxious–wanted automatic transmission not stick shift. Bringing our culture to folks who did not really want it.
All over Europe folks are are having issues with refugees as they, like their grandparents worry about changing the culture. And folks in most countries do not want their traditions to be changed or have to make adjustments.
Want to bet those coming across at Eagle Pass would not want you and I to invade their country–maybe change their culture–introduce new traditions. Seems to me it’s human nature.
Just think “gentrification” and the push and pull we see in this country to understand that people worldwide could very well have issues with millions streaming across their border.
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If they entered legally there wouldn’t have been 6,200,000 permitted to enter in just under 3 years.
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Only if it’s true!
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Illegal immigrants should be deported. Period. We cannot be a country where laws don’t matter.
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All 11 million? We cannot because country without their labor either
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More like 15+ million these days.
However, only 76% of Americans age 25 – 54 are working, and 13% of the 76% are only working part time. 5% of the 24% who aren’t working are sitting on the couch and not looking for work. 5% say they are looking for work but can’t find it. The others aren’t working and they aren’t looking for work, either. About 5% aren’t working – asserting they are caregiving. Another 5% say they can’t work due to illness or disability. There are 132 million Americans ages 25 – 54, so, about 32 Million prime age Americans aren’t working. There are another 60 million Americans ages 55 – 69 – many of whom could be in the workforce.
So, there would be more than enough labor if we stopped paying people not to work. And, if there wasn’t enough labor, not sure why we would not want to restrict immigration into the US to those who have skills that match the positions where available American workers lack those skills. That said, I would prefer to develop those skills among current Americans – before bringing in immigrants.
Again, legal immigration, where there is no welfare, no debit cards, no free medical care, etc. Legal immigration, where the breadwinner is filling a specific opening American’s are unable to fill.
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What would you have us do? Give them a new car and an AmEx card, and then Joe can cancel the debt.
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And that is one reason why we have (lime them or not) immigration laws!
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Hein de Haas is the author of the book “How Migration Really Works: The Facts About the Most Divisive Issue in Politics”. He wrote an essay published in the Wall Street Journal on 3/02/2024. This essay is an excellent discussion of this topic and I recommend it to Dick and the other commenters!
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Good essay.
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Read the essay – thanks:
Yes, today, 1/3rd of American adults age 25+ have a college education. 40% of millennial workers aged 25 to 29 had a bachelor’s degree in 2016, compared to 32% of Gen Xers in 2000 and 26% of baby boomers in 1985.
Still 2/3rds of American adults do not have a college degree. We have about 122 MM Americans age 25+ who are in the labor force. We have about 225 MM Americans age 25+. Even if you leave out the 52MM Americans age 65+, that still leaves about 50 MM Americans, ages 25 – 64 who are NOT in the labor force (labor force = those who are employed or looking for work).
He mentions about 7 MM border apprehensions over the past three fiscal years. Add another 1+MM since October 1, 2023. About 3 – 4 MM of those folks were allowed entry. Add in the ~11+MM already hear prior to the Biden Administration and you have maybe 14MM.
He states the real reason for the crisis is an “… immigration system that refuses to acknowledge the U.S. economy’s persistent need for lower-skilled labor. …”
He says: “Over the past few decades, a combination of demographic and economic factors in the U.S.—increasing education, an aging population, the rise of double-income families—has fueled a growing demand for migrant workers in sectors such as agriculture, slaughtering and meatpacking, construction, cleaning, child and eldercare, hospitality, warehousing, distribution and transport. Migrants have flocked to such jobs as the supply of local workers willing and able to do them has shrunk.”
I agree. But, it is the “willing” not the “able”, and it surely isn’t the “available”. And, why are tens of millions “unwilling” to take such employment? Simply, they have no reason to – our federal, state and local governments require us to finance their preference not to work (and via deficits, generations too young to vote and those yet unborn).
He says: “The fact is that in today’s U.S. economy, the most vilified categories of migrants do all sorts of essential jobs. It’s an open secret, but politicians lack the courage to admit it, damning an influx that they have shown themselves unwilling to stop where it matters most, not on the border but in the workplace.”
I agree. Enforce the laws about who you can employ. Put the board members, supervisors, bosses and hiring managers on trial for violating the laws. Have businesses forfeit assets via financial penalties that make headlines. When hiring illegals becomes more risky, in financial and prison terms than it is potentially profitable, there will be no jobs for illegals, and they will voluntarily leave – unless we give them money, health care, etc. to keep them here. That is, they will leave – if we let them.
They can go back and stand in line or find a sponsor.
Then, curtail the welfare state – go to the Bill Clinton school – End Welfare As We Know It. For example, 1 in 7 (14+%) of the total population receives SNAP. Over 25% of Americans were covered by Medicaid in 2023,
And, employers will have to pay the wages and provide health coverage necessary to gain workers – and pay even more to gain the “right” workers.
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There certainly was a time when those jobs now done primarily by illegals were done by citizens. Many of them were immigrants (legal).
Many proposing we enforce the existing laws. While I agree with enforcing laws, I doubt that will be enough to fix the problem. Benefit Jack proposes a realistic plan which includes three separate but intertwined approaches. First, enforce the laws, but not merely at the border. Focusing on those who defy the law by employing illegals, typically at low labor costs would eliminate a major draw for those who now cross illegally. Second, welfare reform might incentivize those who now choose to remain unemployed to go to work. Third, the employers will also need to improve the wages and benefits they offer to fill those jobs which are currently done by illegals. I think this combination of actions might actually help to solve the problem.
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I am curious if this is an AI generated article?
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I live much closer to where Laken Riley met her fate than you do. I suppose my question is how was she made better off with the illegal immigration now permitted?
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immigrants , both legal and illegal, commit crimes at lesser rates than native born Americans. This has been well documented. I live near Augusta where this young woman is from. Her murder is a tragedy, but the circumstances are not unique to this administration.
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I guess we disagree on some points. The fact that immigrants, illegal or legal, commit crimes at a lower rate is cold comfort to victims of their crimes. I would expect them to be at zero criminal behavior if they are deemed worthy to be here. The fact that native born commit at a higher rate is on us to correct. We need not accept the expense of more crime.
I wasn’t directing the question about the young lady in terms of this administration but since you brought it up, this administration is not looking after the interests of the people by ignoring this border problem. So yes, it happened on the watch of Joe Biden and the culprit was let in on the watch of Joe Biden so it is unique to him.
Accepting whatever comes across the border because “we need workers” is a poor excuse for what we’re getting.
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