immigration status.

The major exception is, of course, any

provision which would penalize employers of illegal aliens.
The budgetary impact for such a provision is a matter of record
in congressional testimony. It may be more appropriate to deal
with some disincentive concepts by regulation or executive
order, rather than by seeking legislation. On the other hand,
it may be desirable to bolster the food stamp prohibition,
which is currently governed by regulation, with the force of
law. Moreover, various federal benefit programs should be
studied and clarified in the overall context of aliens' rights.
Whatever the means, there is a clear need for introducing
greater rationality into the immigration laws which often
work at cross purposes, or in ways never envisioned.

6. Changes Having An Indirect Impact

Any major revision of our immigration and naturalization laws must include consideration of the extent to which these laws no longer reflect contemporary standards and thinking. As current conditions exist, immigration investigators may spend considerable time investigating allegations involving the use of marijuana or moral turpitude for an applicant for naturalization. These efforts are counterproductive and detract from more important enforcement tasks. Thus, consideration must also be given to those changes which would streamline the immigration process of its anachronistic provisions and thereby free manpower and resources. Some examples would be: the elimination of mandatory excludability and deportability for possession of small amounts of

marijuana, a statute of limitations in deportation, and

the restriction of the Attorney General's authority to waive inadmissibility because of technical defects in immigrant

visas.

E.

CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Immigration law enforcement today is directed almost totally at the problem of illegal immigration. The agencies with primary responsibility for enforcing the law, the Immigration and Naturalization Service and the Department of State, have a long history of involvement with the problems of the United States - Mexico border and illegal immigration in that context. The newer illegal migration from other nations requires different tactics and methods.

Our enforcement efforts are not sufficiently effective to undermine the push-pull forces which create and sustain illegal immigration. Significant improvements must be made in several areas.

1.

RECOMMENDATIONS

Prevention of entry should remain the foremost enforcement

goal of both the INS and the Department of State from

a cost, a legal, and a community impact point of view.
To achieve an acceptable level of prevention will
require additional resources for both agencies, and

2.

3.

4.

improved management techniques (see pages 98-102
and 107-109), and higher priority for the visa
function with the Department of State.

Several federal agencies share varying degrees
of responsibility in illegal alien enforcement.
Enforcement efforts would be significantly
strengthened by continuing and expanding the
cooperative interagency efforts underway.

Specific, detailed recommendations are discussed
above in pages 93-106.

Additional resources and improved coordination must
be augmented with substantial legislative action.
in five important areas: sanctions on employers,
combating dilatory tactics, sanctions on illegal
aliens, denying social benefits and enhancing
enforcement. Discussed on pages 111-120, these
changes would rationalize the current penalty
structure directed at illegal entry to reflect

a goal of slowing the flow of illegal aliens.

In the longer run the Immigration and Nationality Act should be fundamentally reviewed in order to examine the extent to which the current law and its enforcement meets policies and values of the society in which it exists today.

Law enforcement is the first line of domestic response

to illegal immigration. However, sizeable illegal immigration raises additional questions for the society which merit consideration. To postulate the implications of a significant illegal population in our society requires information derived from research.

Current studies of the illegal alien can be compared to a series of preliminary sketches. Each is drawn from a different perspective on the subject and none can stand by itself as a valid representation of the whole.

The intent of this chapter is to examine existing data from many sources in an effort to develop the foundations for assessing their effects on our society. In this way we can determine which of the elements are missing, incomplete,

misplaced or of questionable value.

The task forces concerned with assessing the domestic impact of illegal aliens reviewed a wide range of information which has been developed about the impact of the illega Much of this information is based on opinion rather than hard data. Writers, researchers, and officials who have been close to the issue may be very perceptive in their analyses but it is impossible to confirm independently the accuracy of their

judgments. Attached as an Appendix A to this report is a comprehensive listing and summary of the topic areas and sources of information which is available on the impact of the illegal.* We make no value judgment on the relative validity of these sources. Among them, however, are several studies which represent sound research efforts and which we believe, despite the serious problems described below, provide some objective basis for setting forth a "soft portrait" of the illegal alien given the data available to date.

The data and therefore the portrait is severely handicapped by the enormous methodological problems inherent in any attempt to count and describe a clandestine population. Every attempt will be made by the individual to mask his illegal status. Proof of legal status would have to be volunteered and no researcher can demand such information of an

uncooperative subject.

Moreover, substantial numbers of

illegals may be highly mobile and may not have one fixed address for a long period of time. Therefore, even locating

a random sample of this population poses almost insurmountable difficulties.

A second problem is the absence of a suitable interview environment. Two of the studies reviewed were based on interviews conducted at INS detention centers with groups of

apprehended illegal aliens.

*Prepared and submitted by the Immigration and Naturalization Service.