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New Pew Report Shows Enforcement-Only Immigration Policy Is Costly and Unproductive

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As Republican politicians in the House of Representatives try to enforce their way to a better immigration system, a new report from the Pew Hispanic Center underscores the flawed reasoning behind their efforts.

The newly released data shows that, despite unprecedented spending on immigration enforcement efforts, the American undocumented population remains virtually unchanged.

Washington Post editorial writer Lee Hockstader said today:

In the gusher of new data, one thing that struck me was how deeply entrenched undocumented migrants are, not just in communities across the land but in the American economy.  Dislodging them in any meaningful way isn’t just nativist fantasy; it’s economic folly.

In other words, additional enforcement crackdowns under the current enforcement-only approach to immigration policy are tremendously costly and misguided, to say the least. The latest report from Pew illustrates how little these have accomplished, even as they drive the undocumented immigrant population, with deep roots in this country, further underground.

Who loses? Not just immigrant families, but American taxpayers and honest employers who play by the rules.