Joseph A. D’Agostino

One fundamental question in U.S. immigration policy is what to do with U.S. residents who illegally entered the country. In the following viewpoint, Joseph A. D’Agostino argues that illegal immigrants are largely ignored by the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) and other law enforcement agencies once they successfully enter the United States. Only a small fraction of illegal immigrants are ever deported to their country of origin. The result, he contends, is a rapidly growing population of illegal immigrants that has reached, by some estimates, eleven million people. D’Agostino is assistant editor of Human Events, a conservative weekly newspaper.

As you read, consider the following questions:

1. How big is the range between differing estimates on the illegal immigration problem, according to D’Agostino?
2. How...