E. Other Legislative and Judicial Actions Impacting Illegal Immigration
The passage of the North American Free Trade Act (NAFTA) in 1994 stripped away Mexico’s protective tariffs on corn, flooding the country with cheaper American corn and driving millions of Mexican peasant farmers out of business.(151) One study notes that annual Mexican immigration increased by over 100,000 per year from the early 1990s to 2007, (152) estimating that 80-85% of the increase was illegal immigration.(153)

As an additional spur to illegal immigration, NAFTA also led to the rapid development of “maquiladoras.” These are factories in Mexico typically near the border that are run by foreign companies seeking to export products.(154) This high concentration of new, more efficient maquiladora industries led to the elimination of an estimated 28,000 Mexican small businesses. It resulted in more northward migration with similar network effects.(155)

The 2001 Supreme Court Decision of Zadvydas v. Davis(156) forced Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to release illegal aliens from a large number of countries that consistently refuse to repatriate their citizens. These countries include most notably Cuba, Laos, Vietnam, China, India, Jamaica, Iraq, Iran, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Poland, Nigeria, and a number of former Soviet Republics.(157)

        V. The Trump Administration’s Response to Illegal Immigration
Now that a thorough assessment of the scope, costs, and causes of the illegal immigration crisis has been conducted, an examination of President Trump’s decisive and innovative actions reveals Trump’s prioritization of America’s safety and prosperity.

President Trump brought long overdue reform to American immigration policy, enabling the nation to finally enjoy the protection and prosperity that strong and secure borders provide. Through a series of executive actions, agency-level changes, and even international cooperation, the massive inflow of illegal aliens had been substantially curtailed as President Trump introduced novel and innovative improvements to protect American citizens. 

Trump’s four pillars for immigration reform were introduced in his first State of the Union address: (1) increased border security and funding; (2) ending the diversity visa lottery; (3) restrictions on family-based immigration; and (4) a path to citizenship for DREAMers.

Presidential Actions
Within his first week in office, President Trump introduced an executive order reprioritizing the removal of illegal aliens who have been convicted of any criminal offense.(158) Previous administrations had permitted lawlessness and criminal behavior of any level committed by illegal aliens, excluding serious crimes.  This essential pivot marked a new day in immigration policy and the security of the United States. 

Wasting no time, the Buy American, Hire American Executive Order was issued months later, ending the federal government’s neglect of American workers for cheaper, temporary foreign labor.  Within a year, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services embarked upon sweeping actions to protect U.S. workers and their wages. The Trump administration also increased transparency and fraud detection efforts in employment-based visa programs.(159)

Also responding to the President’s EO, the Justice Department launched the Protecting U.S. Workers Initiative to target, investigate, and hold accountable companies that intentionally discriminate against American workers in favor of cheaper foreign labor via temporary visa programs.(160) As of March 2020, the Initiative had reached settlements with eight different companies found illegally prioritizing temporary visa workers over Americans and garnered over $1.2 million in penalties and back pay to affected U.S. workers.(161)

Most notable, however, is the President’s commitment to build a wall along the Southern Border to finally end the rampant and unrestrained border crossing of millions of illegal aliens. In February 2019, the problem worsened so dramatically that the President declared a National Emergency to secure $8 billion in funding, the first time since 9/11 that an emergency declaration authorized military action.(162) By the end of 2020, more than 450 additional miles of the U.S.-Mexico border wall were completed. To expedite the mission, 4,000 National Guard personnel were sent to the Southern Border to support federal border security and wall construction efforts.(163)  

To enhance domestic screening and vetting requirements of foreign nationals desiring to enter the United States, the President created the National Vetting Center.(164) By creating an information-sharing apparatus, the Department of Homeland Security was finally able to automatically check the names of foreigners seeking to enter the U.S. with other intelligence agencies and highly classified databases. These higher levels of interagency cooperation enabled unprecedented levels of coordination and information sharing to assist our law enforcement officers and other federal government workers in securing our borders.  

President Trump also lowered the unnecessarily high ceiling for refugee admissions as many of the extenuating conflicts that justified these levels have been sufficiently resolved. Since 2016, this admissions ceiling had been reduced by over 75% (84, 994 in FY16; 18,000 in FY20), eliminating the program’s rampant abuse. 

Many who come to the U.S., whether as refugees or legal aliens, remain in the country beyond the allotted time and can live in America unnoticed for years or even decades, leeching benefits from citizen welfare programs without ever contributing to them. Recognizing this grim reality, President Trump restricted visa access to foreign nationals from countries with high visa overstay rates in order to prevent future overstays.(165)

As of March 2019, 415,000 foreign nationals were estimated to be living in the United States beyond their nonimmigrant visa time allotment.  Scofflaws from twenty nations exhibit overstay rates exceeding ten percent and some countries have rates of up to 30, or even 40 percent.(166) This unrestrained exploitation of the generosity and good will of the United States was finally curtailed under the Trump Administration.

In May 2019, President Trump issued a Memorandum on Enforcing the Legal Responsibilities of Sponsors of Aliens. In doing so, the President ordered the enforcement of financial commitments of immigrant sponsors who pledge to reimburse the government should the immigrants they sponsor receive public benefits.

The global pandemic necessitated additional reform in immigration policy to protect the American people.  As the CCP Virus spread, restricting travel became an expedient, essential move.  
To secure our borders from the CCP Virus, President Trump swiftly banned non-citizens traveling from China and shortly thereafter terminated entry of persons from 31 countries, including travel restrictions with Mexico and Canada. President Trump also terminated new immigrant and nonimmigrant work visas through the year 2020 in order to prioritize American workers in the recovering job market, creating an estimated 525,000 jobs(167) for Americans.(168) 

In March 2020, on grounds of public health, the Centers for Disease Control invoked Section 362 of the Public Health Service Act, temporarily terminating the introduction of persons or goods into the United States.(169) This move suspended asylum claims at the Southern Border.

The President also signed an executive order in April of 2020 temporarily suspending the approval of green cards, particularly green card holders sponsoring their extended families for permanent US residency, also known as chain migration.(170) Additionally, the Diversity Visa Lottery was suspended. Looking to ameliorate potential future impacts of illegal immigration, the President has eliminated illegal aliens for apportionment purposes in the 2020 Census.(171) This move alone prevented an estimated 14.3 million illegal aliens from skewing apportionment intended to be based on U.S. citizens.(172)

As evidenced, President Trump dynamically and effectively exercised the powers available to him to reform immigration policy and to protect the United States. Illegal aliens hiding in the United States were being removed en masse.  Under President Trump, the once steady stream of illegal migration was largely curtailed. While using the full measure of his executive power, President Trump also directed various agencies and departments to respond in their jurisdictions to curb the pervasive and pernicious threat of illegal immigration.  

             A. Agency Authority and Policy Changes
At the direction of the President, myriad agencies adjusted protocols, procedures, and policies to curb the entry of illegal aliens into the United States. An assortment of major policy changes is detailed below.

Temporary Protected Status (TPS)
Migrants from countries that have experienced severe conflict, natural disasters, or other forms of extenuating unrest may be designated with temporary protected status (TPS). Initially, Congress established this legal status in 1990 to provide asylum for Salvadorans impacted by their civil war. The designation permits TPS individuals to reside in the U.S. for up to 18 months and can be renewed as seen fit. From 2017 to 2019, TPS designation terminated for Sudan, Nicaragua, Haiti, El Salvador, Honduras, and Nepal as conflicts and protracted unrest in these areas have been sufficiently resolved for the safe return of their citizens. Former TPS designees then receive 12-18 months to plan for their repatriation. 

Prompt Asylum Care Review (PACR) and Humanitarian Asylum Review Program (HARP)
These two novel programs aimed to alleviate and expedite the immense backlog of asylum cases that were formerly under the exclusive competency of ICE, but now receive CBP support. Humanitarian claims were adjudicated more efficiently and humanely as those who do not meet the standards were removed swiftly, within ten days.

Transit-Country Asylum Ban
More commonly known as third-country agreements, transit-country asylum bans reduced fraudulent claims of asylum, nearly cutting the approved rates in half from 80% to 45% from June to December 2019.(173) A migrant crossing through a third country en route to the U.S.-Mexico border who fails to show evidence of a denied asylum application in at least one of these third countries was no longer eligible to receive asylum in the United States. 

Narrowed Asylum Criteria
To be granted asylum, an individual must demonstrate that they have suffered or have well-founded fear of persecution on grounds of race, nationality, political opinion, and/or membership in a particular social group. In August of 2014, in the Matter of A-R-C-G, the Justice Department’s Board of Immigration Appeals significantly expanded the meaning of “membership in a particular social group” to “married women in Guatemala who are unable to leave their relationship” and who are victims of domestic abuse.(174) With this ruling the Board further opened the door to dubious asylum claims. Anyone making such a claim were previously released into the interior of the U.S. while awaiting adjudication of the matter.

Former Attorney General Sessions overruled this decision in 27 I&N Dec. 316 (A.G. 2018),175 eliminating gang or domestic violence from qualifying as “membership in a particular social group.” However, this reform was stymied by a permanent injunction on December 19, 2018, by the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, in Grace v. Whitaker.(176)

Public Charge Rule
Implemented by USCIS in February 2020, the public charge rule restricts admission to any immigrant who will become a net burden to the taxpayer.(177)  Unlike many other Administration actions, the public charge rule has existed in immigration law in various forms for over 100 years. 

To determine if a migrant may become a net burden, various factors are evaluated, including age, health, family status, education, skills, assets, and ability to speak English. Generally speaking, this litmus test means individuals applying for visas must have a healthy income above the Federal Poverty Guideline, a good credit score, health insurance, have employment or recent employment, a minimum of a high school education or verified occupational skills, good health, no medical issues, and the ability to speak English. This policy ensures that the hard-earned tax dollars of American citizens are protected and that those entering our country to work or eventually become citizens will contribute just as every other American does.

Migrant Protection Protocols
In January 2019, migrant protection protocols were implemented allowing CBP to return migrants to Mexico to await their U.S. immigration court hearings and final adjudication. Previously, migrants were admitted into the U.S. and would enjoy lengthy waiting periods before their cases were heard, taking advantage of welfare programs in the meantime or never appearing for their hearings whatsoever, instead illegally hiding in the United States.  

Fraudulent Families Initiative
ICE began the Fraudulent Families Initiative to identify migrants attempting to illegally obtain entry into the country with children they claim as their own, though are actually not relatives. Due to former leniencies regarding family immigration, those attempting to enter the United States have been incentivized to cross as families, real or not, jeopardizing the lives of thousands of children. Since the program’s inception in April 2019, 238 fraudulent families have been identified, 329 false documents have been seized, 50 individuals have been identified who fraudulently claim to be UACs, and more than 350 individuals have been federally prosecuted.(178)

DNA Collection
In 2005, the DNA Fingerprint Act was passed, calling for the collection of DNA samples, including fingerprints and cheek swabs, for those taken into custody by law enforcement officers. The Department of Justice implemented the Act in 2009, though DHS received an exemption for non-criminal arrestees for one year in order to receive more time for its implementation.

This initial one-year extension was exploited and exhausted for the past decade, crippling CBP and ICE from being able to identify a potentially dangerous criminal among the nearly one million illegal aliens who have been detained and released. At the direction of President Trump, Attorney General Bar issued a Final Rule ordering DHS to collect DNA samples from detainees. Finally, our law enforcement officers had access to DNA sampling that enabled them to identify subjects, connect suspects to crimes, and eliminate criminal illegal aliens from our borders.

          B. Cooperation with Foreign Nations
President Trump also directed various agencies to work with foreign governments. Trump reduced our reliance on flimsy and hollow international immigration agreements, such as the Global Compact on Migration,(179) and instead took proactive steps to strengthen American policy and correct international expectations.

Trump discouraged illegal entry into the United States by removing incentives, loopholes, and free-rides in immigration policy. His administration also assisted our Central American neighbors in developing a prosperous, vibrant region where their people feel safe and optimistic creating futures in their own countries. Protecting Americans and their interests is the first priority of this Administration. However, discouraging individuals of any nation from risking their lives with nefarious smugglers and criminal organizations seeking to obtain illegal entry into the U.S. is also a victory that protects peoples everywhere.

In the latter half of 2019, a series of cooperative efforts were launched with the nations of the Northern Triangle – Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala. These include Asylum Cooperative Agreements (ACAs), Border Security Arrangements, and Biometric Data Sharing Program (BDSP) Arrangements.
In FY2019, over 72% of all apprehended migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border came from Northern Triangle countries.(180) ACAs were entered into with these countries, allowing migrants to seek protection in Central America, instead of the United States.(181) ACAs facilitate cooperation between the U.S. and host nation governments to enlarge humanitarian protections and return individuals to the Northern Triangle. The Biden-Harris Regime is dismantling these programs as well.

Biden’s decision harms the Border Security Agreements that facilitated institutional knowledge, training, and tactics to be shared with our foreign partners in assisting their own efforts to secure borders and resolve migratory challenges. ICE and CBP officials were deployed to tutor and aid host nation law enforcement officials in police, immigration, and border security forces.

Indeed, BDSP Arrangements significantly improved cooperation between Northern Triangle nations and DHS by proliferating information sharing and biometric data collection. As this crucial information is shared between partners, counterparts in both nations can better prevent and combat crime and resolve other threats to public and national security. Irregular migrant identities can more frequently and efficiently be identified and verified, enabling enhanced detection of wanted criminals, smugglers, and international criminal organizations. Another program known as Electronic Nationality Verification (ENV), enables repatriation of Central American migrants lacking fear claims to return to their countries of origin in a more expedited manner.(182)

Trump also invoked Section 243(d) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), suspending issuance of visas to nations denying or unreasonably delaying repatriation of their citizens ordered to be removed from the United States.(183) “Visa sanctions” were imposed on Cambodia, Eritrea, Guinea, and Sierra Leone in 2017, Laos and Burma in 2018, Pakistan, Cuba, and Ghana in 2019.(184)

The Administration also maintained high levels of cooperation with Mexico to disrupt transnational criminal organizations, in turn disrupting human trafficking and smuggling efforts in the Americas and around the globe. During the pandemic, the two governments coordinated military and law enforcement personnel along the Southern Border to ensure the health and safety of both nations.  

Conclusion

This report provides a catalog and guidebook to the costs and consequences of illegal immigration into the United States. It should be clear from this report that the burden of illegal immigration falls heavily on American taxpayers, on American schoolchildren, the US healthcare system, and on those working poor citizens who are forced to compete with millions of illegal immigrants for decent jobs at decent wages.

This report also has demonstrates that the Secure Border policies of the Trump Administration made tremendous inroads into combating the problems associated with illegal immigration. If the President had won a second term – and given the widespread election irregularities fully documented in the Navarro Report, many people believe he did – the Trump policies, together with the President’s completed border wall, would have gone a long way toward ending America’s battle with an issue that continues to sharply divide the American people.

While the Democrat Party ostensibly represents the working poor and blue-collar laborers of America, this political party now advocates unrelentingly for open borders that will afflict maximum damage to these constituencies.

In all likelihood, the Democrat Party pushes for open borders in the belief that these illegal immigrants will eventually support the Democrat Party once afforded citizenship and vote for lasting Democratic control of both Congress and the White House. This calculus may well prove false as President Trump experienced some of his biggest improvements in vote totals among Blacks and Hispanics who have borne the brunt of the Democrat’s open border policies.

As the Biden-Harris Regime continues to dismantle the Secure Order policies of the Trump Administration, and as a crisis on our Southern border gains in intensity, it is well worth remembering that elections have consequences. On our Southern border, the very worst is yet to come – we must brace for the fallout.

Appendix A: Review of the Methodologies of Cost Estimates of Illegal Aliens
Studies of the costs illegal aliens may impose upon U.S. taxpayers and the broader U.S. economy and society exhibit a wide range of estimates. On the one hand, studies conducted or sponsored by advocates of open borders like the Cato Institute tend to minimize these costs – or claim net benefits.  On the other hand, studies conducted by organizations like Center for Immigration Studies and Federation for American Immigration Reform that support secure borders tend to estimate significant costs. However, it is more than just political leanings that may cause variations in the studies on the economic costs of illegal immigration. There are four main reasons academic studies vary on estimated costs: methodology, unit of measurement, inclusion or exclusion or anchor babies, and lack of readily available data. 

One reason variation occurs in literature reviews is the difference between top-down estimation methodology and bottom-up estimation approaches. The top-down approach is where the cost of a larger unit is divided down into smaller units to try and figure out the total cost (e.g. an apple pie must be divided by the cost of apples, sugar, and flour to get the cost of each ingredient). Conversely, the bottom-up approach is one that seeks to place on a cost on the smaller units to get to the total of the larger unit (e.g. the cost apples, plus sugar, plus flour equal the total cost of an apple pie).185 This becomes relevant when operating in an arena of billions of dollars and millions of people. The overall budgets have already been known, and were delineated in the annual appropriations bill. The challenge at hand is calculating how much illegal aliens consume of this budget, to the detriment of the American taxpayer. There are dozens of moving pieces to consider in these calculations: anchor babies versus illegal alien minors, legality versus practicality, short cutting systems, household versus individual costs, education levels, complexities in the immigration court system, just to name a few. Another methodological hurdle for the varying costs is the difference type of cost being used. Some institutions prefer to operate off of variable cost; others marginal costs or opportunity costs. The ways in which illegal aliens and the variables in place are valued and organized will impact how the information is interpreted and calculated.(186)

On an even simpler front, there is no standard of unit of measurement. Some studies prefer to analyze cost of household per year; other studies measure by the lump sum of all illegal aliens annually. These metrics are not easily convertible or comparable to each other. This can cause confusion and ambiguity about the cost per illegal alien, and illegal aliens at large. 

Consider the two tables below: Table Twelve shows the various estimate of household costs per year.  Table Thirteen shows the estimated total annual costs of illegal aliens collectively.