The Foreign Service Journal, June 2019

36 JUNE 2019 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL diate task is to enforce existing immigration laws and regulations more effectively. —Marshall Green, retired FSO and former ambassador, from his “Stop, All Ye Who Enter Here” Immigration Run Amok Foreign Service Journal, June 2001 We should stop conferring immigration benefits on aliens ille- gally residing in the United States. This means an end to amnes- ties, temporary protected status and adjustment of status. Unless those who enter the country illegally or who violate the terms of their visas are made to pay a penalty, the immigration law is noth- ing more than an easily bypassed obstacle for all but law-abiding people. In FY97 less than half of the immigrant admissions were new arrivals. The majority adjusted their status in the United States. The INS doesn’t say howmany of those who adjusted status were in legal nonimmigrant status, but it is a small share. —Jack Martin, an FSO from 1961 to 1989, from his “Immigration Run Amok: Why We Need Reform” America’s Split Personality on Immigration Policy Foreign Service Journal , June 2001 Our immigration policies are imperfect in part because we seek to balance our competing interests in maintaining both openness and control. But the United States makes at least two avoidable errors in its immigration system. First, we pursue the problem of illegal entry with excessive emphasis on a border defense strategy. A much more effective way to prevent illegal entries would be to prevent illegal aliens fromworking. Second, we fail to allocate the resources for prompt and careful adjudica- tions of immigrants’ claims. Border control can only do so much: When we fail to control who is allowed to work in this country, it becomes difficult for the Department of State and the INS to regulate the massive flows of immigrants who enter the country, no matter howmany resources are put at their disposal. n —Bruce Morrison, former member of the House of Representatives (1983-1991) and chair of the House Subcommittee on Immigration (1989-1991)