New York Times (by Julia Preston): When Mitt Romney said in the Republican debate on Monday night that he favored “self-deportation” as a solution to illegal immigration, it seemed to come out of the blue, perhaps an effort, as the race moves to Florida, to soften the hard line he has staked out on immigration.
In fact, that position has been advocated for years by restrictionist and conservative groups and is central to tough laws passed in Arizona, Alabama and South Carolina, among other states. Mr. Romney’s embrace of a strategy that would induce illegal immigrants to leave voluntarily places him squarely on the side of groups that want to reduce legal immigration and vigorously oppose any plan to give legal status to illegal immigrants, which they reject as amnesty.
The idea arose from a recognition by those groups that no administration was going to conduct mass roundups to deport an estimated 11 million immigrants now living in the United States. Instead, the idea is to make it so difficult for illegal immigrants to live in this country — by denying them work, driver’s licenses and any public benefits and by stepping up enforcement — that they will give up and go home.
“Obviously, you can’t deport your way out of the problem,” said Ira Mehlman, a spokesman for the Federation for American Immigration Reform, a leading restrictionist group. “You have to convince people who came on their own to leave on their own.”
Illegal immigrants “are very rational people,” Mr. Mehlman said. “They come here to get access to jobs and a lot of services. If you remove those incentives, they will respond rationally and leave.”
Mr. Romney’s plan is to issue a card identifying legal workers, which they would submit to a national verification system at the time of hiring. After a transition period, Mr. Romney said Monday, illegal immigrants who have no cards would not find work, and “they’re going to self-deport.”
The same strategy, under the name attrition through enforcement, was at the heart of laws adopted in Arizona in 2010 and last year in Alabama, causing a furor in both states. While the laws were generally popular, they were angrily protested by Latinos and immigrants and drew legal challenges from the federal government. An author of both laws was Kris Kobach, a lawyer who is now secretary of state in Kansas. Mr. Romney has touted Mr. Kobach’s Jan. 11 endorsement.
Both Arizona and Alabama saw some declines in numbers of illegal immigrants after the laws took effect. But it not clear from census data that illegal immigrants have voluntarily left the United States, despite five years of tough enforcement, with more deportations under the Obama administration than at any time since the 1950s. While far fewer immigrants are coming to the United States illegally, the Pew Hispanic Center has found, there is no evidence of an exodus.
In fact, that position has been advocated for years by restrictionist and conservative groups and is central to tough laws passed in Arizona, Alabama and South Carolina, among other states. Mr. Romney’s embrace of a strategy that would induce illegal immigrants to leave voluntarily places him squarely on the side of groups that want to reduce legal immigration and vigorously oppose any plan to give legal status to illegal immigrants, which they reject as amnesty.
The idea arose from a recognition by those groups that no administration was going to conduct mass roundups to deport an estimated 11 million immigrants now living in the United States. Instead, the idea is to make it so difficult for illegal immigrants to live in this country — by denying them work, driver’s licenses and any public benefits and by stepping up enforcement — that they will give up and go home.
“Obviously, you can’t deport your way out of the problem,” said Ira Mehlman, a spokesman for the Federation for American Immigration Reform, a leading restrictionist group. “You have to convince people who came on their own to leave on their own.”
Illegal immigrants “are very rational people,” Mr. Mehlman said. “They come here to get access to jobs and a lot of services. If you remove those incentives, they will respond rationally and leave.”
Mr. Romney’s plan is to issue a card identifying legal workers, which they would submit to a national verification system at the time of hiring. After a transition period, Mr. Romney said Monday, illegal immigrants who have no cards would not find work, and “they’re going to self-deport.”
The same strategy, under the name attrition through enforcement, was at the heart of laws adopted in Arizona in 2010 and last year in Alabama, causing a furor in both states. While the laws were generally popular, they were angrily protested by Latinos and immigrants and drew legal challenges from the federal government. An author of both laws was Kris Kobach, a lawyer who is now secretary of state in Kansas. Mr. Romney has touted Mr. Kobach’s Jan. 11 endorsement.
Both Arizona and Alabama saw some declines in numbers of illegal immigrants after the laws took effect. But it not clear from census data that illegal immigrants have voluntarily left the United States, despite five years of tough enforcement, with more deportations under the Obama administration than at any time since the 1950s. While far fewer immigrants are coming to the United States illegally, the Pew Hispanic Center has found, there is no evidence of an exodus.
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