Let’s not fool ourselves into thinking that illegal immigration would have ended if Judge Bolton had allowed the Arizona immigration law to take effect in its entirety. The law, SB 1070, aims to drive unauthorized immigrants out of Arizona. It may yet succeed in doing so, but mostly by spurring them to move to neighboring states.
Unauthorized immigration is problematic, and it is understandable why Arizona acted. By definition, unauthorized immigration defies the rule of law. Although unauthorized immigrants impose few fiscal costs because they are ineligible for virtually every government program, their citizen children are eligible for the same benefits as everyone else. Living in the shadows slows assimilation and risks creating a permanent underclass. An influx of low-skilled immigrant workers reduces wages for low-skilled natives, although the effect is much smaller than most critics claim.
But if the United States truly wants to curtail unauthorized immigration, it needs to address the main reason they come: jobs. As Pia Orrenius and I argue in our recently released book, Beside the Golden Door: U.S. Immigration Reform in a New Era of Globalization, the United States needs to move beyond stepped-up border enforcement in its attempt to reduce unauthorized immigration. It needs to require employers to verify workers’ legal status and impose penalties on those who fail to do so.
Recent moves by the Obama administration in this direction are a good idea. But they need to be accompanied by a fast and easy way for employers to do this verification, such as a biometric national identity card or another accurate means of establishing individuals’ right to work in the United States.
Immigration reform also needs to create a way for some workers who otherwise would enter illegally to come legally. U.S. immigration policy should focus on admitting the workers employers want. Many of these are the high-skilled immigrants who work in labs and offices, but others are low-skilled immigrants who do jobs natives are not willing to do. The U.S. should auction off to employers the right to hire foreign workers and create a pathway to permanent residence and naturalized citizenship for people who are willing to work hard for the American dream.
An auction system would maximize immigration’s benefits to the U.S. economy. Currently, employers get permission to hire foreign workers on a first-come, first-served (or a lottery) basis. Priority is not given to employers with the greatest need for foreign workers. As we explain in our book, auctioning off provisional work visas for skilled and unskilled workers would ensure that employers are able to bring in the workers who will add the most to the U.S. economy. And the revenue from the auctions can be used to help offset any costs immigration creates.
Many Americans support Arizona’s new law. They are beguiled by the sexy simplicity of a law that says “illegals have no right to be here.” But it is too late for such facile attempts at immigration policy. We have allowed three decades of mass unauthorized immigration. This cannot be undone by local law enforcement in one of 50 states. The plan outlined in our book may be radical, but it is a better solution than Arizona’s, and would go a long way toward fixing the broken current system.
Madeline Zavodny is a professor of economics at Agnes Scott College.
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