Handcuffed prisoner

President Bush and the rest of the open borders crowd constantly tell the American people that there are only two solutions to our nation's illegal alien crisis – give illegal aliens amnesty or round them up and deport them. This is a diversionary tactic to draw public attention away from the most effective and efficient solution – Attrition Through Enforcement.

The principle behind Attrition Through Enforcement is that living illegally in the United States will become more difficult and less satisfying over time when the government – at ALL LEVELS – enforces all of the laws already on the books. It is also imperative that the government with the full cooperation of the private sector, implements certain workplace enforcement measures. The goal is to make it extremely difficult for unauthorized persons to live and work in the United States. There is no need for taxpayers to watch the government spend billions of their dollars to round up and deport illegal aliens; they will buy their own bus or plane tickets back home if they can no longer earn a living here.

We know Attrition Through Enforcement will work because, until recently, it has been shown to work even with little or no enforcement. As it currently stands, almost 200,000 illegal aliens self-deport from the United States every year, but imagine how many more would leave if our government refused to award illegal aliens another amnesty, mandated all employers to verify a person’s eligibility to work here, cracked down on identity fraud, and enabled local police to easily transfer illegal aliens in their custody to the feds.

People Who Left the Ranks of Illegal Aliens in the Most Recent Year of Official Record*

• 183,000 Self-Deported
• 152,000 Amnestied (allowed to adjust to legal status within U.S.)
• 63,000 Removed by Federal Authorities
• 27,000 Died

456,000 Total

* Source: Estimates of the Unauthorized Immigrant Population Residing in the United States: 1990 to 2000 ; Office of Policy and Planning, U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (1999)

Attrition Through Enforcement will not reverse the pull of the jobs magnet overnight. It may take years for employers to understand the government is serious about enforcement of our nation's immigration laws. As a result of some businesses that neglect to assist the government in weeding out illegal aliens from the workforce, it also may take years for illegal aliens to understand that American employers are less and less willing to hire them. A cascading effect will occur, however, when the Federal government does its job and more communities take a stand. Communities across the nation that have taken action to crack down on illegal immigration often see illegal aliens leave when news about new laws or workplace raids spreads (See more examples). When the illegal aliens move to another location and that community also cracks down, they will become discouraged and eventually self-deport.

It took 20 years to create an illegal population of more than 12 million, and it may take at least ten years to substantially reduce that number, but the increasing number of self-deportations each year will: (1) steadily improve the quality of life and lessen the cost of government for Americans; (2) make jobs available for unemployed and underemployed legal residents; and (3) discourage further illegal migration from other countries.

According to a recent Zogby poll, when given the choice between mass deportations, mass amnesty, and Attrition Through Enforcement, the majority of Americans choose Attrition Through Enforcement. Most polls reported in the mainstream media neglect to include Attrition Through Enforcement as a viable alternative to the two mainstay survey choices (i.e., mass deportations and mass amnesty). As such, it’s easy to see why their results are skewed.