In his 2010 State of the Union address, President Obama emphasized the need to “tell hard truths” when it comes to the nation’s affairs. His own comments on immigration during the address, however, glossed over the realities of America’s growing immigration problem and failed to offer a solution that would protect the rule of law, strengthen the economy, and keep America secure. In other words, he said a lot and said nothing.
Instead of using such an important platform to present talking points meant to placate the pro-amnesty lobby, he should have emphasized the need to avoid amnesty while securing the border and enforcing laws inside the United States. These actions—along with reforms in visa services, a pilot temporary worker program, and greater cooperation with Mexico on security concerns and free market reforms. Adopting these points would be real progress toward solving the problem.
One of the President’s campaign promises was to push for amnesty for the 10.8 million illegal immigrants inside the United States. Faced with an unenthusiastic Congress with little appetite for taking on immigration, much less an amnesty, the President has taken actions that slowly erode immigration enforcement in the United States. The President’s remarks during the address are an indication that he will continue in these efforts and continue to press for amnesty.
As of March 2010, 11.2 million unauthorized immigrants were living in the United States, virtually unchanged from a year earlier, according to new estimates from the Pew Hispanic Center, a project of the Pew Research Center. The number of unauthorized immigrants in the nation’s workforce, 8 million in March 2010, also did not differ from the Pew Hispanic Center estimate for 2009. As with the population total, the number of unauthorized immigrants in the labor force had decreased in 2009, from its peak of 8.4 million in 2007. The number of children born to at least one unauthorized-immigrant parent in 2009 was 350,000.
The Pew statistics have been challenged by many in this country as being well below the number of illegals actually residing within our borders. Pew also does not address their affect in unemployment. While 1 in 10 U.S. citizens remains unemployed, an estimated 11 million to 18 million illegal aliens hold jobs in the United States. The estimated unemployment rate for black males is 17.6 percent and for black males 16-20 years of age, it is 45 percent. Unemployment for persons with less than a high school diploma is 15.6 percent and 10.5 for those with a high school diploma.
How many of these are illegal aliens, whose impact on the workforce cannot be overlooked? The cost of the illegal-alien workforce in the United States begins with salaries lost by U.S. citizens thus unemployed. Add to these, their unemployment benefits and the loss of payments to Social Security, Medicare, and the Internal Revenue Service.
This year may be the first in which Social Security pay-outs exceed worker contributions. The argument offered by immigration advocates that illegal aliens pay their fair share of social and income tax payments does not fly.
A 2010 report by the U.S. Civil Rights Commission states that illegal immigration tends to depress both wages and employment for low-skilled U.S. citizens and that among them, black men are disproportionately impacted. In the present economic hard times, illegal aliens are filling many jobs in the low-skilled, service-oriented fields, and farm areas. Many illegal aliens are paid in cash, and as they say in the business world, represent an “off-the-books” cost.
What the President’s actions fail to recognize is the fiscal strain, security threats, and social effects of a weak immigration system. The following are five hard truths about the current immigration problem:
- Illegal immigration continues. While there has been a decrease in the illegal immigrant population in the U.S. since the economic recession began, there are still an estimated 10.8 million illegal immigrants inside the United States. As soon as the economy improves, this number will undoubtedly grow again. Illegal immigration has cost state and local governments and the federal government billions of dollars in education, health care, and government services—fiscal burdens that fall on the American taxpayer.
- The border is not secure. The border continues to be plagued by cartel violence, drugs, and other forms of illegal smuggling as well as illegal immigration. Some reforms over the past decade have helped the federal government increase its operational control over the border; however, the border is still lacking vital technologies that can help finish the job. Recently, the Administration cancelled a key border technology program, SBInet, without announcing a replacement program. The Administration will need to articulate within its next budget a plan for moving forward with border security.
- Enforcement has decreased. Since the Obama Administration began, it has constantly sought ways to evade or completely ignore immigration laws on the books. For example, it has made detrimental changes to the 287(g) program, which empowers state and local law enforcement to enforce federal immigration law; at the same time, it has altogether abandoned Social Security No-Match. Later, it was uncovered that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has begun to review and dismiss cases of non-criminal illegal immigrants, allowing them to remain in the United States.
- The current system discourages legal immigration. America’s immigration system sends the message that legal workers are not welcome. Work visas are often underused because of cumbersome bureaucratic requirements or illogical caps on the number of applicants for specific types of visas. The U.S. Customs and Immigration Service (USCIS) remains incapable of handling its own workload because of a faulty budget model, and the country lacks a vibrant temporary worker program that would allow legal immigrants to come to the U.S. and work.
- Amnesty would make the problem worse. In 1986, the United States offered amnesty to the illegal immigrants inside the country as a means of solving the illegal immigration problem. Yet decades later, the problem is even worse. The lesson is that another amnesty would encourage more illegal immigration and fail to solve the problem.
President Obama is the President. He is responsible for this mess. Obama needs to accept the recommendations of Republican governors and members of Congress and work with them to institute reforms aimed at the following:
- Securing the border. Finish the job of securing the southern border, including the deployment of technologies that can supplement the work of the U.S. Border Patrol.
- Enforcing the law. The Administration’s direct refusal to enforce immigration laws on the books cannot be tolerated. Laws should be enforced to encourage those who came here illegally to return to their home countries and instead apply for legal entry into the United States.
- Reforming visa services. Reforms are needed in several visa categories—including H-1Bs, H-2As, and H-2Bs—as well as in the USCIS budget model to ensure that employers can get the workers they need to do business.
- Piloting a temporary worker program. Starting with a piloted temporary worker program, the U.S. could design a system where employers and employees benefit without becoming another avenue for illegal immigration.
- Working with Latin America. The lack of job opportunities in Latin America drives many desperate for work to come to the U.S. illegally. Encouraging Latin American countries to implement free-market economic reforms would greatly reduce the incentives for their citizens to enter the United States illegally. It is also vital that the U.S. work with the Mexican government to combat the drug cartels that are trying to destabilize the country.
Common Mister Obama, stop spending so much of your time playing golf and betting on college basketball. YOU are the President of the United States. Starting acting like it.
