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MTSU Researcher Weighs In On Immigration Debate

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (WMOT)  --  You’ve no doubt heard about the tarmac confrontation yesterday between the president and the governor of Arizona. That heated exchange reportedly centering on illegal immigration.

Immigration issues have figured prominently as well in the Republican presidential primary.

But Dr. Andrei Korobkov, a professor of political science at Middle Tennessee State University, says the current national debate ignores immigration realities on the ground.

Korobkov notes there’s currently 11 to 12 million illegal immigrants living in the U.S., far too many deport. To complicate matters further, millions of them have given birth to children who are now U.S. citizens.

"These people are reaching about three million; children who are legally born in the U.S. and are U.S. citizens. Therefore, deporting these people is simply impossible."

Dr. Korobkov says frustration with the nation’s inability to solve the immigration dilemma is manifesting itself at the state level. The number of anti-immigration measures introduced in state legislatures, including here in Tennessee, has doubled in each of the last several years.