Abstract
Illegal immigration along the Southwest border has dropped to levels
last seen during the 1970s, yet the focus on stopping it has reached
unprecedented intensity, culminating in February in a national emergency
declaration. Meanwhile, the unauthorized immigrant population has been
falling for at least a decade, and Mexico is no longer the source of
most unauthorized immigrants. Over half of new unauthorized immigrants
are visa overstayers who entered legally. A historically high number of
people attempting to enter along the Southwest border are asylum
seekers—unaccompanied minors and families from Central America. Both of
these groups are unlikely to be deterred by tougher border enforcement.
Meanwhile, the number of unauthorized immigrant workers has been
falling, leading to heightened employer interest in using the H-2A and
H-2B visa programs to hire temporary foreign workers. However, those
programs are unlikely to fully meet employer demand for less-skilled
workers. This demand will only grow as the number of less-educated
US-born workers falls. Instead of building a wall, the US needs to build
programs that ensure enough workers are available.....
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