How the Illegal Immigrant Number Mushroomed

Before retiring from NPR, Robert Siegel described how the number of “unauthorized immigrants” grew to approximately 11 million, of which approximately 800,000 are children who had no choice in the matter. They are now called “Dreamers.”

To make a long story succinct, America departed from an open door policy in 1920 after which immigration controls were imposed. Different laws were made to adjust how to regulate the influx of immigrants. In my analysis, the nation has failed to answer basic questions:

1.     What is the optimal population for the US with respect to optimizing the return on national resources? Presuming the there is an ideal relationship between population size and natural resources.

2.     What is the optimal demographic mix with regard to skill, knowledge, and experience profiles for the nation and its communities? This determination must be made in a global competitive context.

3.     What is the optimal demographic mix as to age and the number of people working versus retired persons? That determination must be made in context with people living longer.

4.     What do corporations need in the form of human resources skill, knowledge, experience, and proficiency profiles?

5.     What is the US working population competitive position now and trending with regard to known and emerging opportunities? Where is the potential for upward mobility over rolling lifecycles?

Establishing answers to these questions allows policy makers, legislators, and executives to determine the number, frequency, and rate of migrants from a strategic point of view. Complicating this further is attending the global need to help rescue people from dangerous and repressive conditions ranging from hostile governments to natural disasters. What is the nation’s capacity to address global humanitarian needs?

The current laws and regulations are woefully simplistic and poorly managed. One reason is that Congress fails to adequately fund and support the laws and their enforcement. Another is that the laws are incredibly arbitrary such as having an immigration lottery mechanism that undermines deliberate management.

The increase in the size of the people affected results from deficient governance and executive management. The people are not intentionally lawbreakers. They came for work and employers hired them. They stayed, had families, and pay taxes.

The way ahead is the provide amnesty for the affected population and to legislate smarter management systems for immigration and security.

“How Did We Get To 11 Million Unauthorized Immigrants?
 March 7, 20175:55 PM ET
Robert Siegel 2010
 An estimated 11 million immigrants live and work in the United States illegally. Their fate is one of the big policy questions facing the country. The story of how that population grew so large is a long one that's mostly about Mexico, and full of unintended consequences.
 Prior to the 1920s, the U.S. had few restrictions on immigration, save for a few notable exclusions.
 "Basically, people could show up," says Jeffrey Passel, of the Pew Research Center.
 For workers in Mexico, crossing into the U.S. made a lot of economic sense, then and now.
 "That person can make seven, eight, perhaps even 10 times more than they make in Mexico," says Jorge Castañeda, Mexico's former foreign minister.
 As more people came into the U.S. to find work, Mexicans became a larger percentage of the workforce.
 "Mexican immigration is something from our grandparents' era," says Michael Clemens, an economist at the Center for Global Development. "The fraction of the labor force in Kansas that was Mexican in 1929 was higher than it was in 1990. The same is true of Arizona. The same is true of New Mexico."
 A legal worker program
 During World War II, the federal government created a legal system for Mexican farmworkers to come work in the U.S. It was called the Bracero program, and its advocates were growers who wanted a ready supply of farm labor. In its peak year, it brought in 400,000 legal workers nationwide.
 Critics said the Bracero program cost American farmworkers jobs. It was problematic in other ways, too. For one, workers were bound to one employer.
 "That person had total control over your life," says Doris Meissner, former commissioner for the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service. "And that leads to a very unequal relationship, and it's a recipe for exploitation."
 (Read the rest at the link)
 https://www.npr.org/2017/03/07/518201210/how-did-we-get-to-11-million-unauthorized-immigrants

DACA recipients and supporters outside Disneyland in Anaheim, Calif., on Monday. CreditLucy Nicholson/Reuters