Recent Exit Poll Question On Illegals Omits 'Attrition by Enforcement' Option
By D.A. King, Insider Advantage Georgia [ Subscription access], November 16, 2006
(11/16/06) Although there has been no American president who has done less to remedy the situation than George W. Bush, the current illegal immigration crisis in the United States did not happen overnight.
The sad reality is that it will not be solved quickly or as the result of any single action…including building a badly needed physical barrier between the U.S. and Mexico. Elected officials, pollsters and frustrated citizens need to remember this undeniable fact.
Included in a widely publicized exit poll conducted by Edison Media Research/Mitofsky International from last Tuesday’s mid-term election was this question:
Should most illegal immigrants working in the United States be:
1) Offered a chance to apply for legal status
2) Deported to the country they came from
Many polls should be added to the old adage that “there are lies, damned lies and statistics.”
Too bad there was no question asking what should be done with the criminal employers who are allowed to flout the same rule of law.
Essentially, the wording created a choice between amnesty-again, or mass round-ups and forced deportations. This false choice does not reflect the reality of what has already proven to begin to solve the nationally suicidal problem of continued illegal immigration and employment.
Steady attrition of the illegal alien population by enforcement of existing laws is the answer omitted from this and most polls and discussions.
Securing American borders is only one essential step.
Nowhere is there more visible proof that enforcement – even the promise of future enforcement - of existing laws is an effective method of reducing the illegal immigration population than here in Georgia.
Referring to what became the Georgia Security and Immigration Compliance Act (SB 529), in December, former Atlanta Mexican Consul General Teodoro Maus was quoted by the Associated Press as saying “If all of this happens, we're going to say, 'Don't come to Georgia,'" …meaning the future illegal border crossers.
SB 529 does nothing but mirror and comply with existing law using available tools.
Focused on illegal aliens already here, state Senator Sam Zamarripa had this observation in the spring on the attrition of the illegal population he realized would occur as a result of enforcement of SB529: “ It comes down to people saying that New Orleans is looking good”.
While the numbers of illegals in Georgia skyrocketed in the first five years of the decade, many are now looking for a more accomadating state in which to live and work illegally.
“Diego Castaneda, a real estate agent and loan officer in Norcross, Ga., had two clients — illegal immigrants from Mexico — who were a week away from closing on homes in Atlanta’s northern suburbs when they pulled out of their contracts," the L.A. Times reported earlier this year in an article on the Georgia legislation’s effect.
"I'm leaving…to the north, maybe to Montana" was Norcross day laborer Orlando Rojas’ remark to an AJC reporter in May after getting a written warning from Gwinnett Police for loitering on private property shortly after the Georgia legislation was signed into law.
In 1986, we proved that amnesty and a chance to apply for legal status only encourages further illegal immigration and employment.
Illegal aliens are now leaving Georgia. Self deportation will occur nationally if we begin to enforce our immigration and employment laws. Like they do in Mexico.
Let’s try attrition by enforcement - it is the only thing we haven’t tried.
Too bad that concept was not included as a possible answer choice on the recent poll.
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D.A. King writes a column in the Marietta Daily Journal and is president of the Dustin Inman Society, a Marietta-based coalition dedicated to educating the Georgia public on the consequences of illegal immigration.
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