Border & Immigration News
The Daily Signal provides border and immigration news, including reporting, analysis, and commentary on policy, enforcement, and political debates.
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- Opinion
Does Current Immigration Economically Benefit Ordinary US Citizens?
Does current immigration economically benefit ordinary non-immigrants? A recent major report indicates that most immigration does not. In September, the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) published a major report on “The Economic and Fiscal Consequences of Immigration.” The report shows that, other than small number of scientifically educated immigrants, immigration produces little or no overall economic gain…Robert Rector -
- Opinion
Conservatives Could Imitate Left’s ‘Sanctuary City’ Approach
For more than a half-century, it has become abundantly clear that our nation faces increasing irreconcilable differences. At the root is the fact that there is one group of Americans who mostly want to be left alone and live according to the rule of law and the dictates of the U.S. Constitution, while another group…Walter E. Williams -
- News
Grounded Surveillance Operation Nabbed 110,000 Illegal Immigrants at Border
While surveillance helicopters were grounded in Texas, the head of Customs and Border Protection called the flights critical to “countering illegal immigration” from Mexico. Records bear that out: A government report credited Operation Phalanx with apprehending 110,000 illegal border crossers. CBP Commissioner Gil Kerlikowske stated in a Nov. 16 letter that Phalanx “provided tangible benefits…Kenric Ward -
- News
Colleges Look to Create Sanctuary Campuses for Illegal Immigrant Students
Presidents from at least two colleges have pledged to make their campuses safe havens for illegal immigrant students. “We steadfastly support all members of our community regardless of their immigration status,” John Kroger, president of Reed College in Portland, Oregon, said last week in an announcement that his college will be a sanctuary campus. Students…Leah Jessen -
- News
Sanctuary Cities Defy Trump’s Pledge to Defund Them. How He Can Fight Back.
Leaders of sanctuary cities that protect illegal immigrants from deportation are responding defiantly to threats by President-elect Donald Trump to withhold federal funding from them. Local governments from cities including the District of Columbia, Los Angeles, New York City, Chicago, and Boston over the past few days have said that despite the financial cost they…Josh Siegel -
- Opinion
Trump Has Effective Plan to Curb Illegal Immigration, Secure Border
To stem the tidal wave of illegal immigration engulfing America, the most important first step that Donald Trump can take is to order the Department of Homeland Security to enforce our existing immigration laws. That is exactly what he promised to do, and not just in numerous speeches. It’s an official policy statement on the…Hans von Spakovsky -
- News
Is the Wall Possible? What Trump Can Do on Immigration
When Donald Trump is inaugurated as president in January, he has the authority to dramatically reshape immigration policy by himself. While Trump would need Congress to appropriate money to fund his biggest campaign promise—building a wall across the southern border—he can act alone in other areas, just like President Barack Obama has, in deciding how…Josh Siegel -
- News
Poll Shows Americans Want Less Immigration, More Enforcement
A majority of Americans, including 51 percent of Hispanics, believe that the government has not enforced immigration laws enough, according to a poll conducted by Pulse Opinion Research. According to the poll, commissioned by the Center for Immigration Studies, which advocates for less immigration, 54 percent of Americans believe there has been “too little effort”…Jamie Gregora -
- News
What’s Causing the Surge of Illegal Immigration? Lawmakers Want Answers and Action
Four members of Congress are calling on the Obama administration to quickly address the recent spike in illegal immigration along the U.S.-Mexico border. In a letter to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson, the four lawmakers ask the administration to “take immediate action and mobilize all available resources of the department to stop the…Rachel del Guidice -
- Opinion
College Subsidies for Illegal Immigrants Get Their Day in Court
A few weeks ago, we reported on a lawsuit in California brought by a resident and taxpayer against the Board of Regents of the University of California. Earl De Vries claimed that by giving in-state tuition benefits to illegal immigrants at all University of California schools, the regents were in violation of federal law. A…Cully Stimson -
- News
The ‘Untold Threat’ Responsible for 40% of Illegal Immigrants
While the debate over illegal immigration tends to focus on how to control and treat those who make it across our nation’s borders, a more enduring challenge for the U.S. government has been what to do to stop legal entrants from overstaying their allotted time here. The problem of so-called visa “overstays”—which make up about…Josh Siegel -
- Opinion
Californian’s Fight Against Illegal College Subsidies for Illegal Immigrants Heads to Court
The next front in the battle over in-state tuition rates for illegal immigrants will play out in a California appeals court on Nov. 3 in a lawsuit brought by Judicial Watch on behalf of California resident and taxpayer Earl De Vries. The issue there is not whether the California Legislature can authorize in-state tuition to illegal…Cully Stimson -
- News
Find Out What Immigration Growth Looks Like in Your State
There are more immigrants living in the United States than ever before. The foreign-born are more likely to come from China and India—often equipped with skills and a higher education—than Mexico. Many of the immigrants who live here have called the U.S. home for a while—an average of nearly 21 years—and their economic and social…Josh Siegel -
- Opinion
The Many Illegal Immigration Failures of the Obama Administration
The Obama administration is secretly delaying deportations for several years. That’s according to a bombshell report from The New York Times, which interviewed Department of Homeland Security employees as well as immigration judges and lawyers. And it’s far from the only failure this administration has when it comes to enforcing our immigration laws. Since 2014,…Ginny Montalbano -
- News
Illegal Immigrant With a Violent History Charged With Killing 5. Now a GOP Senator Is Asking Questions.
The Republican leader of the Senate Judiciary Committee is seeking further answers from the Obama administration about why an illegal immigrant charged with murdering five homeless people in a Los Angeles arson fire this summer was not previously deported. Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa on Wednesday wrote a letter to Sarah Saldana, the director of…Josh Siegel -
- Opinion
Every Immigrant Without High School Degree Will Cost Taxpayers $640,000
On Thursday, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine will release its report on “The Economic and Fiscal Consequences of Immigration.” According to the report, first generation immigrants as a group increase the nation’s fiscal deficit. In other words, the government benefits they receive exceed the taxes paid. The National Academies’ report provides 75-year…Robert Rector -
- News
Under Obama’s New Enforcement Program, Fewer Illegal Immigrants Being Captured for Deportation
Under a revamped Obama administration program intended to encourage greater cooperation from local law enforcement agencies in helping deport illegal immigrants who the government considers “a danger” to public safety, fewer people are being taken into custody for eventual removal from the country. In November 2014, the administration introduced the Priority Enforcement Program (PEP), a…Josh Siegel -
- News
Child Rape Case Inspires Lawmaker to Fight Philadelphia’s Sanctuary City Policy
An illegal immigrant living in Philadelphia has been charged with raping a child, spurring opponents of the city’s “sanctuary” policy to use his arrest to bolster their argument that such practices leave dangerous criminals on the streets. Pennsylvania state Rep. Martina White, a Republican, says the alleged rapist, Ramon Aguirre-Ochoa, a 45-year-old Honduran national, avoided…Josh Siegel -
- News
How Other Nations Stop US From Deporting Criminal Illegal Immigrants
Susanna Ruth Makinson can blame a lot of things for why her then-husband was shot dead eight years ago while patrolling the streets of Fort Myers, Florida, the first time since 1930 a police officer had been gunned down in the city. That’s because, in a distant way out of her—and his—control, Andrew Widman’s death…Josh Siegel -
- Opinion
How Congress Is Looking to Fix Immigration Enforcement Problem
The United States Senate is scheduled to hold a procedural vote on Wednesday on two bills related to immigration enforcement. The sanctuary cities and “Kate’s Law” bills were combined last year, but failed to overcome the 60-vote threshold needed to proceed to the bill. Senate Democrats blocked the combined bill in October 2015. The two bills…Cully Stimson