A Layman's Guide to the Illegal Immigration Problem

Even by conservative estimates, the annual illegal immigrant inflows into the United States are now many times what they were in the 1970's or 1980's. This is a consequence of the lack of enforcement of our nation's immigration laws by the administrations of all of our recent Presidents. As a result, large numbers of poor and little educated illegal immigrants have entered our country by evading the Border Patrol or with legal visas which were subsequently overstayed. Once inside our country, very few illegal immigrants have been forced to leave unless convicted of a crime. This book explains why we have had an illegal immigration policy of benign neglect and why this policy should be changed. In the process it documents the long-term social and economic costs which arise from the present policy. In addition, it advances suggestions regarding possible ways out of our present difficulties.