THE (ILLEGAL) IMMIGRATION ANSWER (Self deportation)
nypost. ^ | February 13, 2008 | By KRIS W. KOBACH

ON Jan. 1, Arizona became the first state to require all employers to confirm workers' legal status via the federal "E-Verify" system. Having survived a federal court challenge last Thursday, the law promises to transform the immigration crisis in America. After just six weeks, Arizona's system is already working: Newspapers in the state report that illegals are self-deporting by the thousands. Apartment complexes in Phoenix and Tucson confirm that thousands of tenants have skipped town. Many are returning across the border to Mexico.

This success is proof that attrition through enforcement works. The premise is straightforward: The way to solve our illegal-immigration problem is to ratchet up enforcement while making it more difficult for employers to hire illegals.

Illegal aliens are rational people. If their chance of being able to work illegally goes down, while the chance of getting detained goes up, at some point the only sensible thing to do is go home.

E-Verify is free and easy to use. The employer simply types in the employee's name, date of birth and Social Security number (or other work-authorization number). He gets an answer back from the government in seconds.

More than 20,000 businesses nationwide were using E-Verify voluntarily before Jan. 1. Now Arizona's 145,000 businesses are obliged to join their ranks.

Illegals know that E-Verify makes it impossible for them to fabricate Social Security numbers and use fade IDs to obtain jobs. And when the jobs dry up, they leave.

But Arizona isn't the only compelling proof that attrition through enforcement works. We have another case study: the National Security Entry-Exit Registration System.

The US Justice Department implemented program in 2002-03, in the wake of 9/11. It required aliens from al Qaeda-associated countries to report to INS offices to provide fingerprints and register. The non-compliant faced stiff penalties.

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