Research Report: Illegal Immigrants

November 14, 2007

Restrictions meant to rid the United States of illegal immigrants may be backfiring by encouraging them to stay in the country. That’s the finding of a new University of Florida study, which shows many illegals now have a heightened fear of deportation. Anthropologist Maxine Margolis says the US has made it increasingly difficult for any immigrants to leave the country and return since the events of September 11th.

Margolis: “Now they’re scared to leave because if they leave, especially if they have American-born children, which many of them do, they have businesses and they have property in the US. If they leave, they’re very much afraid they won’t be able to get back in.”

Results show that even those with valid passports can face deportation if they overstay the limit on their visa and some relatives back home can’t visit at all.

Margolis: “Also, their relatives can’t visit them because it’s become much harder for everyone to get a tourist visa. So, in the past, oh, your daughter was here for a couple of years and her mother came and visited. Now, the mother can’t get a tourist visa, so what it’s doing is it’s separating families for long periods of time.”

And with tighter restrictions on tourist visas and stronger border patrols, those families may never reunite.