Trump’s talk of ‘legal status’ revives the bargain of 1986: legalization paired with enforcement that failed to stem illegal immigration.
asserted
that → revive → immigration
Don’t repeat it, warns Dale Wilcox.
asserted
Wilcox → repeat → it
President Trump gave supporters of immigration enforcement a jolt Sunday night.
asserted
Trump → give → jolt
In an interview with CBS News’ “60 Minutes,” he called his administration’s deportation policy “too tough” and entertained a deal with Democrats that could allow some people here illegally to stay.
uncertain
people → call → Democrats
The president who promised mass deportations has put legal status back on the table.
asserted
who → promise → table
Trump spoke sympathetically of hotel and landscaping workers who have lived here for 10 or 15 years.
asserted
who → speak → years
He offered no plan or eligibility rules.
asserted
He → offer → plan
On Monday, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said amnesty was out of the question.
asserted
amnesty → say → question
But after the president’s remarks, a warning is in order: We have seen this “bargain” before.
asserted
We → see → bargain
It failed.
asserted
It → fail → ?
Migrants are plainly paying attention to Washington’s political signals.
asserted
Migrants → pay → signals
Congress should pay attention to the signals it sends.
asserted
it → pay → signals
In 1986, Congress passed the Immigration Reform and Control Act, legalizing roughly 2.7 million illegal aliens.
asserted
Congress → pass → aliens
The law also established penalties for employers who knowingly hired unauthorized workers and a process for verifying employment eligibility.
asserted
who → establish → eligibility
Americans were told that legalization and enforcement would work together to bring illegal immigration under control.
asserted
legalization → tell → control
They didn’t.
asserted
They → do → ?
The legalization happened, but lasting enforcement did not.
asserted
enforcement → happen → ?
The estimated population living in the United States illegally fell to around 1.9 million in 1988, then grew to around 12.4 million by 2007.
asserted
population → live → 2007
Economic conditions and other policies contributed to that increase; the numbers do not prove that amnesty alone caused it.
asserted
amnesty → contribute → it
They do prove that the promised solution did not solve the problem.
asserted
solution → prove → problem
The law’s enforcement provisions proved terribly inadequate.
asserted
provisions → prove → ?
The Government Accountability Office later found weaknesses in employment verification and worksite enforcement that left employers too much room to hire illegal labor.
asserted
that → find → labor
Washington had provided legal status to millions without building an effective system to prevent the next wave.
asserted
Washington → provide → wave
California offers a lesson in the political afterlife of legalization.
asserted
California → offer → legalization
Los Angeles limited police immigration inquiries in 1979, and San Francisco declared itself a refuge in 1985.
asserted
itself → limit → 1985
But the 1986 amnesty created a new legal immigrant constituency.
asserted
amnesty → create → constituency
Researchers have found increased Hispanic voter turnout and officeholding in communities affected by legalization.
asserted
Researchers → find → legalization
Then the fight over California’s 1994 Proposition 187 helped mobilize an immigrant-rights movement whose political influence eventually contributed to the state’s 2017 sanctuary law.
asserted
influence → help → law
It is part of the history that shaped them.
asserted
that → shape → them
Now we are apparently invited to make the same deal, only this time with the assurance that the people who have been here long enough, worked hard enough, or paid enough taxes should be allowed to remain.
asserted
who → invite → taxes
And what would prevent a future Congress from moving the cutoff date again?
asserted
what → prevent → date
RELATED: Stephen Miller has the keys.
asserted
Miller → relate → keys
Amnesty creates an expectation worth examining before Washington acts: If someone can enter or remain illegally and eventually receive legal status, others may calculate that patience will pay.
uncertain
patience → create → status
That incentive cannot be measured by a single migration statistic, but dismissing it would be foolish.
asserted
dismissing → measure → it
The message a law sends beyond our borders is part of the law’s effect.
asserted
law → send → effect
CNN reported on Saturday that caravans from Honduras and El Salvador were headed toward the United States, with some travelers hoping the newly elected Democratic Congress would ease their passage.
asserted
Congress → report → passage
Telemundo reported Monday that hundreds were moving through southern Mexico and that some expected the election to change border policy.
asserted
election → report → policy
It has not.
asserted
It → have → ?
Their hopes may prove groundless.
uncertain
hopes → prove → ?
But migrants are plainly paying attention to Washington’s political signals.
asserted
migrants → pay → signals
…and 20 more, not listed.
The Aporia
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