A study by Pew Research Center has found majority of the illegal immigrants live in 20 metropolitan areas, many of whom are also sanctuary or immigrant friendly cities. These 20 metropolitan areas were home to 6.8 million of the estimated 11 million illegal immigrants or about 61 percent in 2014. The largest cities for illegal immigrants include Greater New York, Metropolitan Los Angeles, Chicago, San Jose, and Boston and the mayors of many of these cities have pledged not to cooperate with federal efforts to deport illegal immigrants. The mayors and law enforcement officials in such cities believe targeting illegal immigrants, especially those with no criminal record, undermines public safety because these activities will reduce their trust and cooperation with the law enforcement agencies. President Trump has threatened holding off funds for sanctuary cities that do not cooperate with the federal authorities. The settlement patterns for illegal immigrants have remained quite stable over the last decade though the immigrant enforcement efforts by the current administration may change that .
I believe the Trump Administration may be better served by targeting those illegal immigrants who have committed serious criminal offenses. The administration has claimed it wants to enforce immigration laws to improve security, and it makes sense to target those that actually pose security threats rather than blindly targeting every illegal immigrant if security is, indeed, the primary goal. While the mayors and law enforcement officials in major sanctuary cities might have pledged not to cooperate with federal authorities due to moral reasons, their actions might also have been influenced by economic factors. Greater New York and Metropolitan Los Angeles have at least one million illegal immigrants each, and it is reasonable to assume that deporting even a small proportion of illegal immigrants may impose huge costs on the local economies, especially economic sectors such as construction and agriculture.
Use your promo and get a custom paper on
"Undocumented Immigrants".
- Jordan, Miriam. Most Undocumented Immigrants Live in 20 Metro Areas. 9 February 2017. 10 February 2017 https://www.wsj.com/
