I
Illegal immigration
Definition Entry of persons in violation of U.S.
immigration laws
During the decade, approximately half a million persons
entered the United States illegally each year, with many ex-
perts arguing that the countr y needed their labor, in con-
trast to others who asserted that their presence promoted
crime and depressed the wages of working citizens.
The Census Bureau estimated that there were about
3.5 million illegal immigrants residing in the United
States in 1990 and that the number grew to about
8 million by 2000. For this increase to have occurred,
it was necessary for the net increase to have been be-
tween 450,000 and 500,000 each year. About 80 per-
cent of the illegal immigrants were from Latin Amer-
ica, including 57 percent from Mexico. Another
10 percent came from Asia, 6 percent were from Eu-
rope or Canada, and fewer than 4 percent arrived
from Africa. The number of illegal immigrants was
only about half as large as the number of permanent
residents who had entered legally.
Although illegal immigration resulted from a
number of push and pull factors, the overwhelming
majority of immigrants entered the United States for
one reason: to find gainful employment. More than
two-thirds of the illegal workers were holding low-
wage jobs, including cleaning, restaurant labor,
child care, packaging, and the harvesting of food. A
Commission on Immigration Reform presented a
1994 report emphasizing that the only way to reduce
their numbers would be to “turn off the jobs magnet
that attracts them.”
Economists and sociologists disagreed about the
effects of the illegal immigrants. Defenders of illegal
immigrants argued that they generally performed
jobs that citizens were either unwilling or unable to
do. Many farmers and other employers insisted that
migrant labor was essential in order to compete with
imported goods from Mexico and other low-wage
countries. Opponents, however, answered that un-
documented workers were also replacing U.S. citi-
zens in areas like construction and that their willing-
ness to accept lower wages forced citizens to do
the same. Opponents also maintained that illegal
immigrants were disproportionately involved in the
trafficking of illicit drugs, prostitution, and other
crimes. An additional argument was that it was
imperative that the country be able to control its
borders and enforce its laws.Attempts at Reform At the beginning of the de-
cade, the major law relating to illegal immigration
was the Immigration Reform and Control Act of- This act had granted temporary residency and
amnesty to illegal immigrants who had lived in the
United States since 1982. The act made it illegal to
employ undocumented workers and imposed crimi-
nal penalties on employers who knowingly em-
ployed illegal immigrants. It also increased funding
for the difficult task of attempting to control the
U.S.-Mexican border. Despite the law, however, the
number of illegal immigrants continued to grow.
By the early 1990’s, taxpayers in the border states
were increasingly angry and demanding new legisla-
tion. On November 8, 1994, almost 60 percent of
California voters endorsed Proposition 187, stating
that illegal immigrants were ineligible for public ed-
ucation and nonessential health services. Most Lati-
nos, however, bitterly opposed the measure, and
their anger helped the Democratic Party prevail in
the California elections of 1998 and 2000. Federal
courts eventually struck down the proposition’s ma-
jor provisions as unconstitutional. The referendum,
nevertheless, alerted politicians to the intensity of
concern about the issue.
In 1996, the Republican-controlled Congress re-
sponded with the Illegal Immigration Reform and
Immigrant Responsibility Act. In an attempt to gain
some control over the Mexican border, the statute
nearly doubled the size of the Border Patrol and pro-
vided funding for motion sensors and other sophisti-
cated technology. It included stiffer penalties for