# Neither conservatives nor liberals see a meaningful distinction between legal and illegal immigration **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Tags:** trump\ **Created:** [May 18, 2026, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neither-conservatives-nor-liberals-see-a-meaningful-distinction-between-legal-and-illegal-immigration/1030185 "2026-05-18T17:33:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2026, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neither-conservatives-nor-liberals-see-a-meaningful-distinction-between-legal-and-illegal-immigration/1030185/41 "2026-05-20T03:20:31Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > Maybe if we allowed much higher numbers > > > [@Thing.Fish](#): > > > > Historically 10-20% of our population have been immigrants. Maybe we should just have policies that aim to keep it in that range. > > That seems like a reasonable goal I’m really not sure how to parse this. The implication _seems to be_ that we currently must be far below this 10-20% target which you say is a “reasonable goal” thus explaining your support for “allowing much higher numbers”? Am I misreading that? ---
**Author:** ![Thing.Fish](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thing.fish/32/9168_2.png) [@Thing.Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thing.Fish)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2026, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neither-conservatives-nor-liberals-see-a-meaningful-distinction-between-legal-and-illegal-immigration/1030185/42 "2026-05-20T03:38:13Z")
Looks like I was wrong. Apparently the current percentage is about 15%, which is approximately the historic high last reached in the 1890s. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2026, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neither-conservatives-nor-liberals-see-a-meaningful-distinction-between-legal-and-illegal-immigration/1030185/43 "2026-05-20T03:41:12Z")
> [@Thing.Fish](#): > > Looks like I was wrong. Apparently the current percentage is about 15%, which is approximately the historic high last reached in the 1890s Yeah, but based on the replies to your post, it seems like a lot of people agreed with your gut feel that we must currently be far below this. I find that very interesting. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2026, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neither-conservatives-nor-liberals-see-a-meaningful-distinction-between-legal-and-illegal-immigration/1030185/44 "2026-05-20T03:44:30Z")
How much of the 15% are legal immigrants? Ang how many illegal immigrants do we actually have? ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2026, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neither-conservatives-nor-liberals-see-a-meaningful-distinction-between-legal-and-illegal-immigration/1030185/45 "2026-05-20T03:55:08Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > How much of the 15% are legal immigrants? A little less than 25% of immigrants are not legal, so just legal immigrants are still in that 10-15% range. ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2026, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neither-conservatives-nor-liberals-see-a-meaningful-distinction-between-legal-and-illegal-immigration/1030185/46 "2026-05-20T04:02:53Z")
The only people I’ve seen advocate for open borders are a few randos on twitter, the Economist Magazine some years back, and now **Chronos** if I understand him properly. Personally, I care little whether the US doubled or halved legal immigration. But once you’re here, you should have human rights. The best way to control immigration is at the employer level, like other countries do. That means beefing up [eVerify](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-Verify). Republicans have precious little interest in this because the constituency that matters to them - big business and agriculture - likes immigration and understands that the illegal kind makes for a compliant workforce. So we have chatter about border walls and other generally ineffective solutions. Also brutal economy-crushing ones. If nothing else performative cruelty puts a damper on foreign tourism reflected in eg fewer ticket sales for World Cup matches. Economically speaking, the evidence suggests that immigrants boost the wages of native born Americans, at least at existing levels of immigration. Modestly. Signs could conceivably flip with open borders, but nobody in authority wants that. And who cares? Bigots gotta bigot. To a first approximation, an extra immigrant has no effect on wages, because they consume stuff and add to labor demand while also adding to labor supply. Roughly speaking, it’s a wash. > **[Why immigration doesn't reduce wages](https://www.noahpinion.blog/p/why-immigration-doesnt-reduce-wages)** > > Not that anyone is going to listen to the evidence... This liberal would curb illegal immigration at the employer level rather than engage in Gestapo tactics on the streets and building wasteful border walls across the Texas desert. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neither-conservatives-nor-liberals-see-a-meaningful-distinction-between-legal-and-illegal-immigration/1030185.md?page=2)