Study shows threat of arrest not deterring undocumented immigrants

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Podcasts Take Two

Aug 1, 2013

Listen • 6:44

Study shows threat of arrest not deterring undocumented immigrants

A new study from USC and Stanford finds that the threat of arrest and punishment is still not a deterrent for people to cross the border illegally.

Salvadorean migrants run to jump on a train to the border with the United States, in Lecheria, 30 km north of Mexico City, on June 1, 2010. On a visit to Washington in May, Mexican President Felipe Calderon urged the US government to repair an outmoded immigration system and do more to ensure that illegal guns do not flow across the countries' shared border.

A new study from USC and Stanford finds that the threat of arrest and punishment is still not a deterrent for people to cross the border illegally.

Crossing the border into the U.S. without proper documentation is against the law. And as we know, there is plenty of security in place to arrest and deport those who break that law.

The immigration reform bill passed in the Senate would create significantly more security if it goes anywhere, but a new study from USC and Stanford finds that the threat of arrest and punishment is still not a deterrent for people to cross the border illegally.

Emily Ryo, a USC law professor and research fellow at Stanford who authored the study, joins the show to explain her findings.