I guess what I don't understand is why the illegal immigrant issue is a huge deal nowadays. It kind of started during the Bush administration and has been going fairly steady since. Why is illegal immigration suddenly such a huge issue? People have been sneaking across the border for decades. Why is this now a big enough deal to implement laws like these? One would think that there would be far bigger fish to fry, especially in this post-9/11 world. I'm not taking one side of this issue or the other, I'm honestly just curious.
A few things.
One, a post-9/11 does play into it a bit for some. The more people you have in the country illegal, and thus unknown, the more likely that one of them is a person that really shouldn't be here and could prove a danger. This goes more to the notion of "Protect the Border" than it does amnesty or immigration reform, however they have all been essentially lumped together as multiple parts of an over arching problem.
Two, the numbers are expenentially growing. Essentially its reaching a tipping point and now just boiling over. In 1990 there was estimated 3.5 million. That number more than doubled by 2000 with an estimated 8 million. Numbers now put it around 12 million. The numbers are not just getting so much larger that its harder to ignore.
Three, the issue is spreading more. It used to be an issue primarily found around the border states. In the past decade or two more and more states away from the border are feeling the affects. I know personally here in northern VA we have a significant issue with it.
Fourth, the economic problems of the past decade. The economy has hit people hard, first after 9/11 and then more recently. Unemployment goes up, making people look more at jobs that were previously at the very least a possability for a minimum wage employment oppertunity that are now going to people who can be paid less under the table. States are having severe money issues, to the point that they may be giving state employee's IOU's, which makes the economic impact on state services far more prevalent to people then in the past.
Fifth, culture. I think after 9/11 the notion of "America" as a culture and as a form of bond became I think a bit more in vogue and on peoples mind. Many prefer an assimilation than an intigration form of immigration where those coming in embrace the culture rather than hold on fully and completely to the old culture. The very nature of illegal immigration goes against this as they tend to stay far more tied to their racial types once in the country to avoid suspicion or attention. So as the numbers go up you see more and more people who seem to be simply feeding off the country without embracing it. You see more and more business and services in the country catering to them which irritates some. And as that becomes more prevelant in the illegal community it becomes far easier for the non-illegal community to go for more intigration then assimilation and cause a seemingly inflated number.
Sixth, is simply the fact that it became an issue. Once something becomes a national issue then it enters the public consiousness. Those who were previously unaware become more aware. Those that were minorly aware become very aware. That in and of itself keeps it around longer and grows it.
Finally, yes much of the focus when discussing or thinking about illegal immigration is due to hispanics. However there's a distinct reason for that. Numbers put that over 55% of the illegal immigrants in this country are from mexico, and when you add in latin American countries it ups it to over 80%. When you have one general ethnic group representing over 3/4ths of the entire illegal immigration population its only natural that that becomes the face, and the focus of it.
If you sell a product and teens are the primary people that seem to be buying it you don't start marketing it in the middle of 60 minutes and in TIME magazine, because its inefficient. Likewise, when you're dealing with illegal immigration you don't ignore 80% of the problem and say you need to focus as much on the north as the south.