The Meaning of the Studies?

The Pew Hispanic Center immigration report is the latest in a series of studies that strongly suggests that the border enforcement build-up beginning in the early 1990s, along with the immigration reforms of 1996, and the tightening of the borders after September 11, 2001, have not reduced undocumented immigration to the United States, and in fact may have inadvertently contributed to an increase in the undocumented population. The REAL ID Act is unlikely to change things much. One is left to wonder what must be done in terms of meaningful reform if the real goal is to regulate and monitor immigration.

KJ