Study Urges More Funds to Enforce INS Sanctions

Economic sanctions against employers who hire illegal aliens have done little to stem the flow of immigrants slipping into the United States but inroads could be made if Congress spent more money on enforcement, according to a new RAND Corp. study.

The study, released this week, is designed to examine the effects of the employer-sanction provisions of the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986. The report suggests that the cost of enforcing the sanctions may not be worth the results, because only a small number of aliens have been dissuaded from illegally entering the country.

The report by the Santa Monica nonprofit think tank follows a similar study released last month by the General Accounting Office that found the reforms have resulted in a “widespread pattern” of discrimination against legal U.S. residents who speak with a foreign accent.