Congress should work on immigration

In this nation’s never-ending debate over immigration, those who demand strict enforcement of existing laws are armed with a simple rejoinder: What, they ask, do you not understand about “illegal”? To them, the solution to illegal immigration is to identify those who are here illegally and deport them.

It’s a reasonable point. A law should be enforced. But the argument can’t be isolated from the realities of immigration, which is propelled by regional economic imbalances, familial connections and the basic human desire to live a better, safer and richer life. Those are powerful forces, unlikely to be thwarted by stepped-up deportation. Instead, under those pressures, our immigration system has crumbled, and strict enforcement has become impractical, even impossible.

Congress can and should, but probably won’t, fix it. That leaves pragmatism — which President Obama exhibited with his recent directives offering deportation reprieves for some 5 million immigrants here illegally.

Modern immigration policies date to the Reagan-era Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986, which granted amnesty to 2.7 million unauthorized immigrants who had arrived in the country before Jan. 1, 1982. The law also introduced some sanctions on employers who hire undocumented workers, among other reforms. Subsequent revisions made bureaucratic changes and sought to toughen up enforcement. Despite that, illegal immigration has more than doubled since the law was adopted.

Currently, the immigration system rivals tax codes for complexity. Under the Department of Homeland Security, Customs and Border Protection is responsible for ensuring that only people with legal authority enter the country; Citizenship and Immigration Services processes applications for legal status; and Immigration and Customs Enforcement tracks down and begins deportation proceedings against those here illegally. The Department of Health and Human Services takes responsibility for the welfare of detained unaccompanied minors until decisions on their status are reached.

This article was published and distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.