Pew International Journalism Program

Immigration Reforms Must Not Ignore Security Concerns, Experts Say

Washington, February 12, 2002 - In the wake of the terrorist attacks on the United States on September 11, liberal immigration policies should also reflect the need for "security and law enforcement," Doris Meissner, Senior Associate for the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, told Pew Fellows today.

"Among all the things that surround 9-11, the most dramatic obviously was that this terrorism was committed by foreign visitors who were here [legally]," said Meissner, the former commissioner of the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS). "This points the spotlight dead center on immigration, and whether there's something wrong � with the way that we do immigration."

According to Meissner, the area in the system of immigration enforcement that needs the most work is the visa-issuing process in American consulates overseas. The issuance of visas "needs to be thought of as the first line of defense," Meissner said, "and a tool that has to provide very strong capabilities for prevention." The visa system, Meissner said, is manned by junior diplomats on their first assignment overseas, but needs "seasoned career professionals" to properly screen applicants

She also said that an entry-exit system "that is simply knowing in a quick, timely, automated way who is coming to the United States and whether they've left" is needed. For such a system to work, the government needs the cooperation of private sector organizations such as the travel industry.

"It's through boarding passes and airline lists � that the information has to be gathered," said Meissner. "There's basically been a real reluctance on the part of many of the other actors in our society to step up to the plate and invest the money that's required, and a real unwillingness on the part of the Congress to mandate that to private business."

Another expert on immigration, Michael Fix, director of the Immigration Studies Program at the Urban Institute, said the lack of strong anti-immigrant reactions of most Americans after the attacks last September 11 illustrated a new understanding of the role of immigration and the importance of diversity in the country.

In the past, Fix said, Americans generally reacted to recession, terrorism and international strife with a rise in nativism or strong anti-immigrant sentiment, but this was not the case following September 11, he said.

"What's striking is the fact that because the country has grown diverse, because immigrants have spread to dispersed places where they haven't historically been � we haven't seen [strong anti-immigrant sentiment] played through in our immigration policies," Fix said.

Unlike in the past when legislators placed greater restrictions on immigrants during times of trouble, one of the most liberal pieces of legislation regarding immigrant issues passed in the wake of September 11, said Fix. "[This is] the education reform bill which - among other things - doubled spending for 'Limited English Proficiency' and recently arrived immigrant students."

The change in policy towards more inclusive legislation can be largely attributed to shifts in demographics, Fix said. Immigrant populations were once confined to only six states, but "over the course of the 1990's we saw what demographers refer to as 'dispersal with a vengeance," where large numbers of immigrants are moving to places they haven't traditionally gone.

"This movement has powerful implications for integration � but it's also really having powerful implications for the politics of the United States," forcing lawmakers to address the needs and issues of the immigrant population, said Fix.