But this supposedly preliminary investigation often merely encouraged workers not to pay taxes and 'pay into' Social Security (a common critique of illegal workers is that they pay no social security or taxes) or for employers to fire the workers to avoid further scrutiny. "Many Latino workers, immigrant workers, and workers involved in union activities have been fired....As a result, the no match letters have been incredibly disruptive to immigrant communities and to employers who are faced with losing valued workers" (Waslin 2003, p. 8). Other measures, like making it more difficult to obtain a driver's license, advocates for illegal workers argue, do not deter immigration, but merely make it harder for workers to find decent work and easier for employers to take advantage of them. The downturn in the U.S. economy may have provided an unintentional solution -- many workers have been leaving in recent months because of a lack of employment prospects, not fear of enforcement of immigration policy. This suggests that the problem of illegal immigration is often one of supply and demand -- however, rather than inflame tensions with Mexico through more stringent border controls or create a hostile relationship between employers and employees of both legitimate and non-legitimate status, easing restrictions for 'guest workers' who can work in the U.S. In certain occupations, but who are not necessarily given any in-road to citizenship may be the best middle course. Amnesty is problematic because illegally working in the U.S. should not be an in-road to citizenship, however there must be some way other than treating the desperate as criminals to acknowledge the necessary function...

(2008). McNeil-Lehrer News Hour transcript. PBS. Retrieved January 1, 2008 at http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/law/jan-june08/crackdown_06-11.html
Overby, Michelle. (2008, September 5). Should illegal immigrants receive amnesty? No

The News.org. Retrieved January 1, 2008 at http://media.www.thenews.org/media/storage/paper651/news/2008/09/05/Opinion/Should.Illegal.Immigrants.Receive.Amnesty.No-3416243.shtml

Weissinger, George. The illegal alien problem: Enforcing the immigration laws. New York Institute of Technology Department of Behavioral Science-Criminal Justice

Program. Retrieved January 1, 2008 at http://www.immigration-usa.com/george_weissinger.html

Pro-amnesty lynching in Brooklyn. (2008, December 17). Editorial the New York Times. Retrieved January 1, 2008 at http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/17/opinion/17wed3.html

Rallies across U.S. call for illegal immigrant rights: Hundreds of thousands join 'national day of action' in towns, cities (2006, April 10, 2006). CNN.com Retrieved January 1, 2008 at http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/04/10/immigration/

Waslin, Michele. (2003). The new meaning of the border: U.S. - Mexico migration since 9/11

The National Council of La Raza. Prepared for the conference on "Reforming the Administration of Justice in Mexico" at the Center for U.S.-Mexican Studies, May 15-17, 2003. Retrieved January 1, 2008 at http://repositories.cdlib.org/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1040&context=usmex