A new report from the Center of Immigration Studies shows that 2.5 million illegal aliens have entered the country under Obama.
The author, Steven Camarota, explains in the report that the number came from the Center for Migration Studies estimate of 1.7 million new illegal aliens entering the country between 2009 and 2013, while Pew Research Center had a similar number. CIS estimates that 790,000 illegal aliens have entered the country since 2013, hence coming to the 2.5 million number.
Camarota provides some highlights from the report:
- The size of the illegal population has remained roughly constant since 2009 because these new arrivals were offset by those who returned to their home countries, those who received green cards, and natural mortality.
- Had the United States not allowed so many new illegal immigrants to settle in the country since 2009, the total number of illegal immigrants would have fallen by 2.5 million. But the arrival of so many new illegal immigrants offset this attrition in the illegal population.
- Prior estimates from the Department of Homeland Security indicated that in the first six years of the Bush administration some 500,000 to 600,000 aliens joined the illegal immigrant population each year.
- While the level of new illegal immigration is lower than a decade ago, the enormous ongoing scale of illegal immigration is a clear indication that the United States has not come close to controlling it.
As the report explains, the 11-12 million illegal aliens residing in the U.S. has remained constant over the years because the number of illegals leaving the country has been balanced out by those entering the country, although there are some that argue that there could be as many as 20 million illegals in the country.
While it is true that the number of illegals entering the country has gone down since George W. Bush's administration, this report is just further evidence of how serious of an issue illegal immigration is in the country, especially since hundreds of thousands of them are criminals at large.
Also, how many of those illegals are members of ISIS or other terrorist groups? And of course, the influx of illegals drives down wages for American workers.
This didn't have to be as big of an issue as it is today if the federal government just enforced the law. Under the Bush administration, the Secure Fence Act was passed and signed into law to put at least 700 miles of fencing along the southern border as well as checkpoints and monitoring technology. And yet, very little of it has been implemented since Congress refuses to fund it.
In addition, if an illegal alien goes through our wide open border, it is highly unlikely that they will be deported. The Obama administration simply will not enforce federal immigration law. This is why radio host Mark Levin says that Obama has turned the U.S. into a "sanctuary country." And if ICE does want to deport an illegal, they can seek shelter in the over 200 sanctuary cities throughout the country, which have been put in the spotlight since Kate Steinle's murder at the hands of an illegal alien who had been deported five times. The murderer was protected from deportation under San Francisco's sanctuary city policy.
The government's refusal to enforce immigration law is maddening. That's why it was refreshing to see GOP presidential candidate Scott Walker defend the rule of law in this exchange with an illegal alien:
As presidential hopeful Scott Walker toured a farm in this tiny town where he lived as a child, he was confronted by an undocumented worker from Mexico who is living in Wisconsin and demanded to know why Walker does not support President Obama's plan to give temporary status to some undocumented workers, including parents of children who were born in the United States.
"We're a nation of laws," Walker, the Republican governor of Wisconsin, repeatedly told Jose Flores, 38, who was joined by two of his four children, Luis, 7, and Leslie, 13, who had tears rolling down her cheeks throughout the exchange. Flores, who lives in Waukesha and works for a medical supply factory, said he and his wife live in fear of being deported and separated from their children, who he said were all born in the United States.
"My point," Walker said, "is that you have to follow the law, follow the process."
He went onto say that the border needed to be secure and the government needed to enforce its laws.
While Walker has been supportive of amnesty in the past, it is good to see that he is coming around on this issue and that he didn't buckle in the face of an illegal alien and his family. Keep it up, Walker. More Republicans need to have your attitude on immigration.