Wayne Cornelius: Why Immigrants Won’t Self Deport
In this thoughtful op/ed in the Los Angeles Times, immigration expert Wayne Cornelius explains why the self-deportation strategy endorsed by President-Elect Donald Trump and Kris Kobach will not work. As he concludes,
“When my research team asked hundreds of immigrants working illegally in California how they obtained their most recent U.S. job, more than three out of five reported that their employer probably knew, or knew for sure, that they were not authorized to work in the United States. Absent a significant increase in worksite investigations and criminal prosecutions, such employers will not change their hiring practices.
Mass self-deportation is destined to remain a fantasy of immigration hawks. Turning the U.S. into a police state to get rid of a large chunk of the labor force that most citizens consider indispensable is not politically sustainable, let alone economically sensible.”
KJ