What Anti-Immigration Forces Want

Given the proven success of the Center for Immigration Studies and other restrictionist groups in advancing their policy goals over the past several years, it’s worth laying out CIS director Mark Krikorian’s recommendations to stem both illegal and legal immigration. As part of his self-identified “attrition through enforcement” strategy for unauthorized immigrations, Krikorian recommends seven policy initiatives:

* End illegal aliens’ access to jobs.
* Secure identification.
* Ensure that the IRS cooperates with immigration enforcement.
* Increase cooperation between federal immigration authorities and state and local authorities.
* Reduce visa overstays.
* Double deportation of ordinary, noncriminal aliens.
* Pass state and local laws to discourage illegal settlement.

With all of these recommendations being implemented to some degree, Krikorian argues that it is now time to tackle the legal side of “mass immigration.” The CIS executive director says that rather than shaving off the current annual immigration of nearly one million foreigners, the government should practice a type of “zero-based budgeting” whereby there is a defensible rationale for allowing entry to each new immigrant. As such, he calls for a major overhaul of family-based immigration, skills-based immigration, and humanitarian immigration.