Immigration bills concern some experts

Legalization plans pose big problems, they warn
By Marcus Stern and Jerry Kammer
COPLEY NEWS SERVICE
May 7, 2006

WASHINGTON – Massive demonstrations nationwide have helped propel legislation to legalize millions of undocumented immigrants. But immigration experts and critics caution that the legislation, if enacted, could generate a legacy of unintended consequences.

“The policy isn't driven by a big-picture look at what is in the national interest; it's driven by the short-term political gains that politicians think they can reap,” said James Gimpel, a professor of government at the University of Maryland.

The nation's only experience with a similar program was 20 years ago. Congress intended the 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act to shut the door on illegal immigration while creating a path to citizenship for many of the estimated 6 million illegal immigrants then living in the country.

Amnesty eventually was granted to 2.7 million of the 3 million people who applied. But the effort to halt illegal immigration never gained traction, and the illegal population ballooned to 12 million.

A major component of the program – designed for seasonal agricultural workers – was riddled with fraud. Some of those whose bids for amnesty were rejected filed a class-action lawsuit that was resolved only recently. And the crush of immigrants legalized under the 1986 act swamped the hapless Immigration and Naturalization Service in the mid-1990s, when many of them applied for citizenship.