How Do You Reduce Illegal Immigration By Half?

Follow the Japanese:

The number of illegal foreign residents in Japan has decreased by nearly half over a five-year period from 2004, a government report has revealed.

According to the report released by the Immigration Bureau of the Justice Ministry, about 130,000 foreigners were illegally living in Japan as of the beginning of this year, as compared with roughly 250,000 in 2004. The current figure is close to the 1990 level before a sharp increase in illegal foreign residents occurred.

"We largely succeeded in achieving our target," said an official of the immigration bureau. In 2003, the government approved a plan to halve the number of illegal foreigners from Jan. 1, 2004, to Jan. 1 this year, which calls for revisions to the immigration control system.

Over the period, the number of foreigners who overstayed their visas dropped to 113,072 from 219,418, while the estimated number of those who illegally had entered Japan, including those who were smuggled by boat, has decreased from roughly 30,000 to between 15,000 and 23,000 as of Jan. 1, 2009.

On a nationality basis, South Korea came in top with 24,198 of those who were illegally staying in Japan as of the beginning of this year, followed by China at 18,385 and the Philippines at 17,287. Nearly 70 percent of them had entered Japan on short-term visas and remained in the country. Some were working without proper visas.

In 2003, the government decided to set stricter rules in order to reduce the number of foreigners illegally living in Japan following a surge in cases in which those without visas were working and some were involved in crimes. In November 2007, Japan implemented a new immigration control system under which all arriving foreigners must submit their fingerprints and be photographed.

"The project has been working effectively," said an Immigration Bureau official. After the launch of the crackdown, those who stay illegally in Japan tend to live in rural areas.

The Justice Ministry will continue to take strict measures against those involved in illegal stays through false marriages and other methods.

Wow!  Who would have ever thought that keeping track of everyone who came in and enforcing immigration laws would have had such a dramatic effect?

There's my two cents.