The Only Way To Stop Illegal Immigration

This Bloomberg article explains why the government doesn’t enforce our immigration laws.   Too many business owners employ illegals.   That is why the US Chamber of Commerce is pushing for amnesty.     We need laws that require employers to use e-Verify to screen out illegals.    That won’t happen under the Democrats or current Republicans.

"The Only Way to Stop Illegal Immigration," from the editors at Bloomberg.

Excerpts:

"As many as 8 million undocumented immigrants hold jobs in the U.S. In fact, they account for more than 5 percent of the U.S. labor force. Their unemployment rate might even be lower than that of the nation's black citizens.

"And, stereotypes aside, the undocumented are hardly relegated to agriculture and domestic service. Construction, manufacturing and retail are among their biggest employers, according to the Migration Policy Institute. So, either quite a few of the nation's 6 million employers have welcomed undocumented workers into their factories and stores, or a smaller number of employers have hired an awful lot of them.

"Either way, little is being done to stop the practice. Workplace enforcement is minimal. Fines are small. Amid all the political bellowing about the border, no one in Washington pays much attention to employers' practices....

"....The only way to make meaningful progress is to end the lure of employment....

"....This would not please some of the business interests that fund both political parties. Nor would it placate those for whom any extravagance is justified by a cry of "Secure the border!" But it would weaken the magnet that draws undocumented immigrants to the U.S. in the first place...."

Over 500,000 employers use E-Verify today and 24 million new hires passed through E-Verify in Fiscal Year 2013. Additionally, several new features to reduce E-Verify's susceptibility to identity theft have been introduced since the 2008 study the editors relied on for this editorial, including a photo matching tool and a program to "lock" Social Security numbers that appear to have been used fraudulently.