Is Deportation a Reasonable Solution

Is Deportation a Reasonable Solution

No issue defines the dysfunctionality of the current political situation in Washington, D.C. as does immigration reform. The two political parties use the same term for entirely different goals – border security. And the only commonality is for increased funding. For President Joe Biden (D) and the majority of the Democrat members of Congress increased funding is not for repelling the growing hoard of illegal aliens* crossing our southern border, rather it is for streamlining the means by which they process the increasing numbers of illegal aliens and smooth their way to dispersal throughout the United States. For the Republicans, the increased funds are for building and maintaining barriers that repel would be illegal aliens, hiring additional enforcement officials to capture, detain and deport those who have entered the country illegally. Neither of these actions constitute immigration reform. One encourages illegal entry and the other is a complete barrier regardless of circumstances.

There are now somewhere between twenty and thirty million illegal aliens currently residing in the United States. That staggering number is one of chief stumbling blocks to reaching a consensus on immigration reform. Mr. Biden and the Democrats are witnessing the souring of relationships with the Black and Hispanic communities in large part because of their radical social agenda – it turns out that Blacks and Hispanics share many of the same views as Whites when it comes to social issues such as abortions, gender confusion (fluidity), law and order and public safety. In large part they are done listening to the race hustlers who have assisted the Democrat elites and provided blind political support. They will support those with whom they agree. And because that relationship is becoming increasingly tenuous, the Democrats are hoping to replace those who defect from reflexive voting. To do so they have thrown open the border doors, showered them with welfare payments and are already working on means by which those here illegally can participate in the electoral process – even if at just the local level.

So here we are with a massive problem. The Democrats, having assisted in creating the problem, hope to benefit from the solution. They hope to hasten the process of creating a new voting bloc by forcing full amnesty and automatic citizenship for those already here based on what they perceive as an “impossible” situation created by the vast numbers. But we’ve done that before under former President Ronald Reagan who accepted the promises of the Democrats to strengthen border security in exchange for such amnesty thirty years ago. As usual it was a promise the Democrats had no intention of keeping. And subsequent Republican presidents including Presidents George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush failed to take the necessary steps to stem the then-rising wave of illegal aliens. That shouldn’t have surprised the Republicans. By that I mean, first, that the Democrats lied to them, and second, that rewarding people who violated the law with amnesty would encourage others to do likewise.

And the Republicans, while they support securing the border have no solution for those already here illegally.

This is not a difficult problem and it does not require any changes to current immigration law. Let’s be blunt. It is the deportation of those who have entered illegally and the re-imposition of the “remain in Mexico” requirement for those seeking to enter based on claims of asylum. We already know that the latter process works as demonstrated by former President Donald Trump who first implemented it. So let’s examine the former.

A February 2, 2024 article in Newsweek detailed the “cost” imposed by the massive number of illegal aliens:

“An ongoing border crisis that saw 5,000 illegal aliens being released into the United States per day in December of last year is a microcosm of a much larger issue as President Joe Biden aims to recapture the White House in a crucial election year.

“The issue is a $150.7 billion one, shared between federal and state governments, and that’s just one year.

“Since the inauguration of President Biden on January 20, 2021, over 3.3 million illegal immigrants have been released into the U.S., according to the Committee on the Judiciary and Subcommittee on Immigration Integrity, Security, and Enforcement, which is costing taxpayers billions at the federal and state levels.

“A report issued by the committee in mid-January says that the Biden administration has, among other things, “dismantled interior immigration enforcement to allow illegal aliens to remain in the country,” which is contributing to a growing cost borne by U.S. taxpayers. A separate study issued by the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) quantified the monetary side of that burden.

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“With illegal immigration now costing $150.7 billion annually, the burden inevitably trickles down to the taxpayer. Individually, the FAIR study found that each illegal alien or their U.S.-born child costs the U.S. $8,776 annually.”

Keep that figure in mind. $8,776 annually. It is not a one-time cost; it is a recurring annual cost. It is also grossly understated because it does not include the increased burden on primary and secondary schools nor the increased burden on our medical system – particularly the emergency room services where many of the illegal aliens are encouraged by their advocates to go for everything from hangnails to complicated surgery.

I did a quick check on the cost of transportation. A one-way ticket from Dallas, TX to Singapore, Indonesia costs $737.00 on American Airlines. I chose Dallas because of its proximity to the border and Singapore because it is half-way around the world and thus serves as a reasonable surrogate for transport to virtually every home country from which the illegal aliens are coming. If if you double that to account for the cost of an airplane returning empty, the cost would be $1,474.00 and there would probably be a substantial discount if you chartered a plane so that it would fly nearly full. The point here is not the precise cost of transporting illegals back to their countries of origin but rather to demonstrate that the cost is substantially less than the recurring $8,776 cost referenced by Newsweek. We have the necessary aircraft to accomplish the task over a reasonable period of time – it doesn’t have to be done by Thursday – just by some Thursday in the next several years.

Before the Democrats run out their favorite red herrings about separating families let’s understand that while that may tug at your heart strings, it, first, applies to a narrow minority of the illegals already here and second is not a legal excuse for those who have violated the law. The mainstream media will have a field day finding one heart wrenching story or another and trumpet them as if they represented the totality of the problem. They do not. Given that the overwhelming majority of people illegally entering the United States are adult (military age) men, their removal will be inconsequential to society while being ultimately consequential to those who violated the law when entering.

Deportation can be done on a prioritized basis: convicted felons first, last-in-first out single males below the age of forty-five next, and we can deal with the remainder once we have evicted the first two groups. Extrapolation of the numbers used in the Newsweek article suggests that there are only 15 Million illegals aliens – most will tell you that is grossly understated. But if there are just 15 million, deportation of the first two groups should take care of two-thirds of those present. If the figures in the Newsweek article are correct that would save taxpayers close to $100 Billion annually plus the reduction of the burden on our healthcare system.

This is one of those classic examples of why governments fail in solving problems. First, they demand that the solution fits everyone’s situation and second that the solution be perfect. But in our real lives, we realize that we cannot let perfect be the enemy of good and that one size does not fit all. Well meaning, intelligent people (no bureaucrats or members of Congress need apply) will find a way to deal with the remaining 5 million illegals**. The systematic deportation will also significantly reduce the number of those seeking to enter illegally. After all, why bother if the result is to just be returned from whence you came.

So, stop wringing your hands and take care of the bulk of the problem by deportation. It isn’t the only solution, but it is an important one.

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*I use the term illegal aliens advisedly because less than ten percent of those claiming asylum meet the necessary test. Therefore the remaining ninety percent entered the United States illegally – including those who escaped capture – thus by definition are not migrants but rather illegal trespassers.

** For instance a new class of “green cards” could be issued to the illegal aliens allowing them to stay so long as they are employed, pay taxes and remain free of criminal convictions. They would not be allowed to seek citizenship unless they returned to their country of origin and took their place in line for application. The best part of that plan would be to deny the Democrats their nefarious plan to create a new voting block out of those illegally entering the United States.