Immigration Policy Over the Past Decade

The current state of immigration policy in the United States is shaky and up in the air. With each presidential election, no one can be certain of the state of immigration even a year from now. US Immigration Bonds, the leading issuer of immigrant bail bonds in the U.S. shares the following information about the changing climate of immigration reform, immigrant detention, and the legalization process.

Obama’s Legacy

The Deferred Action for Parents of Americans (DAPA) and the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) acts have played a major role in determining the current state of immigration in the U.S. and continue to do so to this very day.

• DAPA grants deferred action status to parents of American citizens who have lived illegally in the U.S. before 2010.
• DACA grants deferred action status to illegal immigrants who entered the U.S. before their 16th birthday and before June 2007.

Both immigration policies are likely to be repealed if a majority Republican U.S. House and presidency exists after an election. This is one of the reasons why President Obama is campaigned for a Democratic win in so vehemently during the 2016 election. More detainees mean more immigration bail bonds, but also a larger strain on local economies.

Immigration Statistics

At this point, it is fair to assume that both parties are correct. Democrats are correct in stating that illegal immigrants add value to the economy in the United States; and Republicans are correct in stating that illegal immigrants cost local communities, counties, and therefore the country money.

The current state of immigration in the U.S. is that of decrease and stagnation. In the past decade, the influx of illegal immigrants to the United States has decreased, most notably after the economic crash in 2008. In the 1990’s there was an average of 500,000 illegal immigrants entering the U.S., which increased to 800,000 in the early 2000’s. The number has now lowered to roughly 300,000 over the past ten years.

What is alarming is that although there are less immigrants entering the country, they are growing in number of detainees in ICE detention centers, increasing the need for immigration bail bonds. In 2015, almost $133 billion was sent to families overseas from legal immigrants working in the U.S. But don’t be tempted to fall into the trap of thinking that money is leaving the U.S., the outflow of cash to other parts of the world is known as a “soft” control. The United States benefits from the work done by immigrants and the exchange of cash, which acts as a “local economic stimulus”.

We Know That We Don’t Know

Hindsight is 20-20, and when it comes to any big issue like the current state of immigration, we can only speculate. In the famous quote from former Secretary of State Donald Rumsfeld, “there are known knowns. There are known unknowns. But there are also unknown unknowns.” Immigration has a lot of unknown unknowns and because it is always changing, it is difficult to study and release current information.