Illegal Immigration: Ideas Worth Trying : Border Patrol and Jordan Commission work the problem

Operation Gatekeeper, the U.S. Border Patrol’s recent crackdown on illegal immigration into California, is not going to make the problem go away. But it nonetheless is worthwhile because the highly publicized border operation could do some good in the short term.

Two potential benefits of Gatekeeper come immediately to mind. It may get California politicians to tone down overheated and counterproductive campaign rhetoric about illegal immigrants, and--along with valuable recommendations made public last week by the U.S. Commission on Immigration Reform--it might provoke new thinking in Washington about border control.

The Border Patrol, the uniformed arm of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, pulled out all the stops last weekend in launching Gatekeeper. More than 200 officers per work shift, twice the normal number, were deployed along the 14-mile stretch of border from the Pacific Ocean to the rugged canyons east of San Ysidro. More than 90 of them were transferred from Border Patrol stations far from the international line, including the controversial highway checkpoint at San Clemente, which is temporarily shut down.

San Ysidro is normally the nation’s busiest border sector, both in legal and illegal crossings. INS Regional Commissioner Gustavo de la Vina--who used to command the San Ysidro sector--ordered the beefed-up deployment of agents and new equipment, using as his model a somewhat similar operation in El Paso. He had to make allowances for more rugged terrain in Southern California and other differences, but Gatekeeper seemed to work, resulting in 34% more arrests.

But these apparently very positive results cannot be achieved forever. Even the highly touted El Paso border operation began to lose its potency after a few weeks, as the flow of illegal immigrants simply shifted to other border areas. The economic and political forces that stimulate illegal immigration are just too powerful for that flow to ever be closed. That is why the more important immigration initiative to emerge last week was the report of the federal panel chaired by former U.S. Rep. Barbara Jordan (D-Tex.).

That commission was created by Congress in 1990 to study the long-term challenges that immigration poses for this country. Wisely, it avoided focusing on quick fixes, like overreliance on Border Patrol staffing and resources.

Among the most farsighted proposals of the nine-member panel are closer cooperation on border management with Mexico and more vigorous enforcement of U.S. workplace labor laws to remove the economic incentive for unscrupulous employers to exploit illegal workers.

Easily the most provocative proposal from Jordan’s commission is a plan for some states to experiment with a computerized registry that would allow employers to verify that prospective workers are in the country legally.

The idea is unpopular among Americans who worry it could become the basis for a national identity card. Indeed, even Jordan said she opposes any intrusive and mandatory identity document. But it may be possible to come up with a system that is not quite so onerous--perhaps one based on Social Security cards--that also weakens the capacity of the U.S. job magnet to pull illegal immigrants to this country. Like Operation Gatekeeper, it’s at least worth a try.