The Regulation of Illegal Immigration in the United States of America

The United States has always been a great migratory magnet. This article analyzes various aspects of the phenomenon of illegal immigration by centering on the U.S. experience, with the objective of extracting lessons that might be applicable to the Spanishpolicy regarding immigration. Shown first are both the historical evolution of U.S. migratory legislation in this century and the consequences which illegal immigration has had upon the citizen population in the recent years. Next, the paper looks at the INS (Immigration and Naturalization Service) –the agency charged to implement immigration laws– to analyze how its function has developed into what it is. Basically, the INS has employed two types of dissuasive strategies: one called border policies and the other, interior policies. While the U.S. assigns a greater volume of resources to its border policies, the success of these has been limited. It is then examined why, despite the ineffectiveness of these policies, they continue to be implemented. The result of this analysis indicates that, even though their effectiveness is low, the policies may quite be profitable for the agency entrusted to carry them out. To finish, the paper looks at the characteristics of the Spanish case and makes recommendations based on the experience in the United States.