Immigration Enforcement: Beyond the Border and the Workplace

New immigration legislation must include changes to achieve effective and resolute enforcement of the immigration laws. Merely beefing up border policing (currently the most popular enforcement strategy) is insufficient. Over the last decade, the influx of unauthorized migrants has reached record levels even though border enforcement has greatly expanded, primarily because migrants know that getting past the border opens wide opportunities in the U.S. job market, owing to the near absence of enforcement there. The most important reform is therefore well-crafted workplace screening.

Because border and workplace enforcement have been addressed elsewhere, this policy brief offers suggestions for other key enforcement improvements that Congress and the executive branch should implement.