A prominent canard in the debate over illegal immigration is the claim that, should we begin to enforce our immigration laws, we would be faced with the prospect of deporting 10 million or more illegals–an impossible logistical task, according to many pro-illegal immigration commentators. The conservative response has always been that no such deportation would be necessary; that if we enforced our laws, illegals would return across the border the same way they came.
So I noted with interest this headline: U.S. illegal immigrants ‘self deport’ as woes mount. Exactly as we and many others have suggested, even a minimal effort to enforce immigration laws has set off a migration across the border:
[A] growing number of illegal immigrants across the United States … are starting to pack their bags and move on as a crackdown on undocumented immigrants widens and the U.S. economy slows, turning a traditional Christmas trek home into a one-way trip.
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There is no tally of the number of illegal immigrants who have already left the United States, many of whom simply head south over the border with their belongings packed into a car during the annual Christmas exodus, or board scheduled flights for other destinations.
Increased enforcement would result in increased self-deportation–an obvious point which it may now be hard for pro-illegal immigration advocates to deny.
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