美墨边境非法移民问题历史溯源

The Historical Trace of Illegal Immigration across U. S-Mexico Borders

独立后美墨间的领土边界纠纷是非法移民问题产生的历史根源。1924年,美国国会通过了《民族来源限额法》,确立了以移民国籍为基础的限额制度,边界开放的自由移民时代成为历史。此后,美国经历了四波墨西哥非法移民潮。为了治理非法移民问题,美国政府政策频出,虽然形式多样,但无外乎都是隔离和驱逐这两种思路。事实证明,种种方法最终都收效甚微,原因在于美墨之间巨大的经济鸿沟和互补性强的经济结构、美国移民政策摇摆不定、移民法律和制度不完善和雇主的现实需要等。因此,解决非法移民问题不应只从"堵"和"赶"着手,要从源头上抑制非法移民产生的动力。

The border disputes between U.S. and Mexico is the historical origin of illegal immigrants issues during the post - independence era. The Immigration Act of 1924 established the quota system based on immigrants nationality. This Act put an end to a period where the United States essentially had open borders. After that, four waves of Mexican illegal immigrants flooded across the borders. In order to solve this problem, U.S. governments took so many measures with two basic approaches - segre- gation and deportation. However, these measures didn＇t work effectively, mainly because of the huge economic gap and strong complementarities between the two countries, uncertainty of US immigration policies, deficiencies of US immigration laws and systems and employers＇ practical needs. Therefore, preventing driving forces of illegal immigration at source is more important than segregation and deportation.