Beefed-Up Border Patrol May Keep Illegal Immigrants in U.S., Study Says
PARK CITY, Utah, March 8, 2006 — -- There is a building and buying boom in this ski town that rivals Vail's 22 years ago. Real estate agents report sales of $60 million worth of homes and condominiums every week. That's not bad for a town with a permanent population of 7,000.
Out-of-state businessmen looking for a second home are driving the expansion, and migrant laborers are helping build it. The Hispanic population of northern Utah has grown markedly in recent years, and now there are signs that those who may be here illegally won't return home even if they want to.
A new study by the Pew Hispanic Center finds that many who come to the United States illegally are afraid to return to Mexico and Central America because of beefed-up security along the U.S.-Mexico border.
"Once they come in, they are actually reluctant to leave," said Jeffrey Passel, the study's author.
Increased border patrols are having an unexpected effect, keeping many from returning across the border. "The border patrol is actually helping to keep people in the United States, rather than out," Passel said.
Building Homes, Harvesting Crops
Analysis of the March 2005 "Current Population Survey" provided by the Census Bureau shows there were more than 11 million unauthorized people in the United States a year ago. Other data indicate that the pace of growth in the foreign-born population will continue and that the number could now be as high as 12 million. About a third of the foreign-born population arrived in the United States during the last 10 years, and more than half are from Mexico. They now account for one out of every 20 workers.
All you need to do is drive around the mountains of northern Utah and check out the work crews to find which occupations have attracted the migrants. Roofers, framers, drywall installers and stone masons busily work through the winter to finish custom homes and condominium projects. The Pew study found nationwide fully one-fourth of tradesmen were in this country illegally. They are, many here admit, the backbone of the construction and service industries.
The information comes at a time when Congress is gearing up to once again spar over immigration policy.
The House voted to tighten border security in a bill that would make undocumented immigrants felons by their very presence and penalize employers who hire them. The Senate is trying to find a middle ground and create a temporary guest-worker program favored by President Bush. On the sidelines, the Catholic Church in Los Angeles -- the largest archdiocese in the country -- has urged priests to defy any legislation that denies services to nonresidents.
Who are the workers? Popular belief is that most, if not all, are single young men. The reality, according to Pew, is that the illegal migrant population is establishing roots by bringing families across the border and having children who are born U.S. citizens. It's a population of "young working families," according to Passel. That's reminiscent of other, earlier waves of immigrants from Asia and Europe.
The never-ending debate over whether the workers are needed here will likely reignite this spring as farmers in the southwest begin harvesting their crops. Last year, in Yuma, Ariz., the border patrol set up checkpoints near the lettuce fields and intercepted migrants headed to work.
The strategy paid off, but it also threatened the harvest. Not until high-level pressure was brought to bear by grower cooperatives did the checkpoints get moved back closer to the border and the harvest was saved.
As one grower said of migrant workers: "Can't live with them. Can't live without them."