Preliminary Report Domestic Council Committee on Illegal Aliens Executive Summary Introduction Apprehensions of illegal aliens each year are almost double the number of people who enter the United States legally. Illegal aliens, traditionally from Mexico and concentrated in the Southwest, are from many nations and are found in many areas of the country. The Domestic Council committee was established to undertake a comprehensive review of the issue and its implications. This preliminary report provides an overview of the policy questions, assesses current programs and knowledge and presents recommendations for further action. Chapter I - U.S. Immigration Law and Policy During the early years of our history immigration was unrestricted. In the late 1800's certain classes, such as convicts, or national groups, such as Chinese, were excluded. In 1921 numerical limits were introduced based on the concept of national origin quotas. A major recodification in 1952 established three basic premises for immigration: family reunification, protection of jobs for the domestic labor force, and control of alien visitors. However the national origin V quota was maintained until 1965 when amendments replaced it with numerical hemispheric ceilings and introduced a fourth premise, that of asylum for refugees. Immigration from the Eastern Hemisphere is held at 170,000 per year with a 20,000 per country limit. Admission is granted through a preference system which grants 74% or per country limits. Labor certification by the Department groups. The worker importation provisions of the law apply to both immigrants and temporary workers but they play a minimal role in the present policy scheme. Canada and Australia, the two nations most similar to the U.S. in immigration matters, weigh employment impact considerations heavily in their criteria for granting immigrant status. *P.L. 94-571, signed on October 20, 1976, alters these provisions by applying the current preferance system of selection for the Eastern Hemisphere to the Western Hemisphere as well. This report was written and approved prior to that action. vi Chapter II Illegal Immigration: The Global Picture The principal source of immigration to the United States currently is Mexico, Jamaica, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Korea, the Philippines, Thailand, and China. Demand for immigration is intense in these countries and several have waiting lists of 2 years or more. These countries are also among the major illegal alien source countries. The source countries have similar characteristics in three respects: rapid economic The phenomenon of migration occurs in streams according to certain principles among which the difficulty of intervening obstacles and development of counter streams are prominent. The process is not responsive to legal limits but rather to its own self-sustaining momentum. will have to address the fundamental principles of push-pull and migration to be successful. Policy Illegal immigration is from many countries but Mexico is a major source for reasons of both history and geography. vii The governments of the U.S. and Mexico have established bilateral discussions on the issue. However, the illegal migration issue has not been a priority concern to policymakers in the governance of our relations with other source nations. Actions discouraging illegal entry may compete with other foreign policy goals, e.g. tourism. However, illegal immigration merits a far higher and more generalized level of attention in our conduct of foreign affairs. There is a long history of U.S.-Mexico border enforcement in immigration matters. Thus the majority of our enforcement effort is directed at this aspect of illegal immigration. Illegal entrants from other nations are a relatively recent development that requires significantly different techniques. The Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) has primary responsibility for immigration enforcement. It is aided by the Department of State which issues visas overseas. Prevention of illegal entry is the agency priority and is done through inspection of individuals at ports of entry and policing our land and borders between ports. INS also carries on investigative activities within our borders viii against illegals who escape detection at entry or overstay authorized entry. Recent court decisions have limited INS' latitude in the interior, making prevention more important. Several other agencies have enforcement roles which are related to illegal immigration. They are the Social Security Administration, Internal Revenue Service, U.S. Customs Service, and the Wage and Hour division of the Department of Labor. The Committee has evaluated current and proposed additional means of interagency cooperation among them and INS and the Department of State. Experience has shown that cooperation on enforcement matters is difficult when the agency is service. oriented such as the Social Security Administration. However, much can be done to increase the effectiveness of enforcement with the tools presently available both among and within the agencies concerned. In addition to improved interagency efforts, certain disincentives to illegal migration are needed which require legislation. The disincentives are designed to lessen the economic pull which draws illegals to the U.S., discourage the use of the law to gain time and establish equity for immigration benefits, increase enforcement authorities to aid in capturing smugglers and the like, and streamline the law of anachronistic provisions which detract from more important tasks. ix |