How should the federal government respond to the problem of illegal immigration?

QUESTION How should the federal
government respond to the problem of illegal immigration?

Note that this question covers only illegal immigration, not the many other issues involved in legal immigration policy. However, the positions taken on those who are undocumented (“illegals”) may be influenced by positions on these other issues.

The main option to be considered IS

• A legalization approach that stresses mainly the use of guest worker programs and themovement of the illegals toward citizenship.

Focus on showing why your option is preferable to the alternativesOf choosing An enforcement approach that stresses mainly the reduction in illegal immigration through improving border security and enforcing laws against employment of the illegals

Address these questions, in approximately this order:

• Problem: What exactly is the problem posed by illegal immigration? State it as precisely as you can. Your will have to narrow the problem posed to keep it manageable.
• Causes: What are the forces behind the problem? What caused it, and, thus, what has to change to overcome it?
• Options: What are the alternatives for solving the problem? Be creative.
• Consequences: What would be the results of choosing each alternative? (Legalization approach and enforcement approach) Explain the strong and weak points of each. One can cover just the strong points of each if the drawbacks are clear from the advantages of the other options.

• Politics: Include in your analysis political or bureaucratic factors that might impede approving or implementing your recommendation. How do you deal with these problems?
• Recommendation: In light of the above, which approach do you favor and why?
Some reform proposals and bills in Congress already exist. While you may allude to these, they should concentrate on understanding the problem and showing why in general their approach is best for overcoming it.