Abstract
Immigration in the United States is a fraught political and social subject, with many arguing unauthorized immigrants should “come here the legal way.” However, the legal pathways for immigration are often excessively complicated or lengthy, such that potential immigrants may have no viable legal options to immigrate to the United States. This presentation estimates the number of unauthorized immigrants by nation of origin in the United States using ACS (American Community Survey) data and compares it against the rates of authorized immigration from those countries to determine whether long immigration wait times lead to an increase in unauthorized immigration. The study primarily focuses on the year 2018, the latest year for which concrete data is readily available. Data from the decade of 2010 is used as an indication of broader trends. Testimonials from unauthorized immigrants concerning their experiences are also used to obtain a more holistic perspective on why some unauthorized immigrants chose to immigrate. This presentation argues that an increase in wait times for authorized immigration roughly corresponds to an increased unauthorized immigrant population in the United States, although there are some notable exceptions concerning countries like El Salvador that indicate this may not be a direct link. Immigration rates that bucked this trend were often related to countries facing extreme internal crises or exigent circumstances that may indicate pressures to immigrate. The testimonials from unauthorized immigrants likewise indicate that regardless of the direct policy effects of reducing wait times on unauthorized immigration rates, the current system creates untold and needless suffering for millions, as well as producing counterproductive results.