Illegality: A Contemporary Portrait of Immigration — Roberto G. Gonzales & Steven Raphael (2017)

This article examines how U.S. immigration policy transformed undocumented life by expanding enforcement, increasing long-term settlement, reshaping migration patterns, and embedding illegality into the everyday experiences of immigrants and their families.

1. The undocumented population has become more settled and deeply integrated into American society.

2. U.S. immigration policies unintentionally reshaped migration.

3. Modern immigration enforcement evolved into a large, punitive system.

4. Illegality is a lived social condition, not just a legal status.

5. Immigration enforcement produces broad social consequences.

6. The current immigration system is the product of decades of cumulative policy choices and unintended consequences.

⭐ Star Facts

• ⭐ By 2016, about 11.3 million undocumented immigrants lived in the United States.
• ⭐ More than half of undocumented adults had lived in the U.S. for at least 13 years, and about 1 in 5 had lived here 20 years or longer, showing that the population had become deeply settled.
• ⭐ More than 16.6 million people lived in mixed-status families, and 4.5 million U.S.-citizen children had an undocumented parent.
• ⭐ Since 2009, more Mexicans have left the United States than entered, helping stabilize the undocumented population after the Great Recession.
• ⭐ Between 1965 and 1986, about 28 million Mexicans entered the United States without authorization after legal migration pathways narrowed while labor demand remained high.
• ⭐ IRCA (1986) legalized more than 3 million undocumented immigrants, introduced employer sanctions, and expanded border enforcement—but unauthorized migration continued.
• ⭐ Stronger border enforcement unintentionally reduced circular migration, encouraging many migrants to settle permanently and bring their families instead of returning home seasonally.
• ⭐ In 2013, the U.S. removed a record 438,421 immigrants, and by 2016 the Obama administration had carried out more than 2.5 million deportations.
• ⭐ More than half (about 240,000) of those deported in 2013 had no criminal conviction, illustrating how enforcement extended beyond serious criminal offenders.
• ⭐ Programs like 287(g) and Secure Communities greatly expanded cooperation between local police and ICE, making routine encounters with law enforcement potential pathways to deportation.
• ⭐ Children with undocumented parents experience higher rates of anxiety and depression and are less likely to graduate from high school, showing that immigration enforcement affects entire families—not just undocumented adults.