(Heer, 22) What need to be understood is the fact that the immigration problem today is a part of the general environment in which it is found, and that the traditional immigration law enforcement strategies are actually encouraging an increase in the immigrant population, rather than discourage it. When a citizen of the U.S.A. thinks of an illegal alien, with images provided by the media, in previous years, it was that of a hardworking laborer. However, after the September 11 debacle, more people than ever before see an illegal alien as a prospective terrorist. The official policy of the INS now called the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement or the BICE is to target the employers of illegal aliens. This is in order to understand and act upon the reason as to why the illegal aliens come to the United States, because it is a well-known fact that many illegal immigrants congregate at one place, from where they are picked up for cheap labor by employers within the United States. However, in the present situation of more than eight million illegal aliens in the United States and 1,062,279 apprehensions in the year 2002, this policy too does not seem to be working; in fact, it seems to have exacerbated the problem. (The Illegal Alien Problem, enforcing the Immigration Laws)

According to the Center for Immigration Studies, about eight to eleven million illegal aliens were living in the United States in the year 2000, and that 700,000 to 800,000 new illegal aliens were settling in the U.S. during the late 1990s. Some people feel that there is such mass illegal immigration in the United States only because the politicians desire to have it so; in one policy after another, the government has revealed the truth that they have not been able to stop the flow of immigrants into the country. (Illegal Immigration) Today the Republicans seem to be harboring a pipe dream that these illegal aliens could in fact be forced to leave the country. As Senator John Cornyn stated, "We cannot realistically compel 11 million people to leave the country: American business depends on them, and the American public is not going to stomach their forcible deportation. Besides, after years -- sometimes decades -- in the United States, many of these workers have put down roots, buying homes...

(Illegal Immigration, when will some Conservatives leave Neverland?) President Bush has today proposed 'Immigration Reform' but it is a fact that the reforms focus more on sealing the borders and on better citizenship laws, without addressing the real issue of what to do with the millions of illegal immigrants already living in the United States. Perhaps the issue can be resolved, and a way out of the situation ought to be found soon.