Border Enforcement Is Not Enough

Professor Gordon H. Hanson of the University of California, San Diego, and Antonio Spilimbergo of the International Monetary Fund found that price increases in low-skilled sectors are associated with decreases in the amount of "linewatch" hours devoted to watching the U.S.-Mexico border by Border Patrol agents. Specifically, when the price of fruits, vegetables and livestock rises, the number of linewatch hours declines. Similarly, when these prices fall, linewatch hours increase. A similar relationship between housing starts in the West and linewatch hours exists as well.

Clearly, a crackdown in border enforcement is not enough to solve the problem of illegal immigration. Immigration reform must also:

 Address the "demand" side of the equation, by cracking down on employers who hire illegal migrants.

 Simplify procedures to accommodate an expanded guest-worker program, so that immigrants may legally fill temporary jobs and easily return their country of origin.

 Encourage economic reforms in countries of origin.

In short, we need to consider far more than the largely symbolic act of hiring thousands of new Border Patrol agents and building fences.

If America wishes to significantly reduce the number of people living here illegally, we must adopt an immigration strategy that encompasses border security, interior enforcement and a lawful temporary work program. Unfortunately, Congress appears enamored of a "border first" approach that sounds tough, but will likely do little to reduce illegal immigration.

David B. Muhlhausen, Ph.D., is a senior policy analyst in the Center for Data Analysis at The Heritage Foundation.