The Shadow Immigration System

Though the issue of illegal immigration has taken a somewhat outsized role in the 2016 presidential election, the fact remains that legislators have haggled over illegal immigration for decades. At present, the debate over illegal immigration essentially distills down to two opposing views — deportation and amnesty/earned citizenship. Though the deportation and amnesty/earned citizenship views approach illegal immigration differently, and are often politically opposed, each share the same foundational premise — illegal immigrants operate outside of the immigration system. This foundational premise results in both views attempting to solve the illegal immigration “problem.” However, this paper argues that this foundational premise is wrong. As opposed to operating outside of the immigration system, illegal immigrants operate within a completely different immigration system — the “shadow immigration system.”