In 2010 the Department of Homeland Security undertook immigration enforcement actions involving "the arrest, detention, return, and removal from the United States of foreign nationals who are inadmissible to or removable from the United States…" ("Immigration Enforcement Actions 2010") The United States government spends billions each year patrolling and guarding the U.S. border, interdicting drug and human smugglers, investigating domestic employers, conducting raids for illegal immigrants. While the federal government has been battling illegal immigration for years, individual state governments have recently begun to implement their own actions toward curbing the flow of illegal immigration. Arizona recently passed a controversial which required local law enforcement officers to verify the immigration status of anyone they suspected of being illegal. (Arizona Senate Bill 1070)

A recent article, which first appeared in "The Daily Caller," but since has been republished by the CATO Institute is "The Realities Behind the Immigration Debate," by Jeffrey Miron. This article is a no-nonsense look at the issue of illegal immigration which discusses a number of its effects. The author began by describing the new Arizona law and how illegal immigration is a major issue in America, but then delves into solutions to the problem. Firstly, the authors assertion that restricted legal immigration is what stimulates the flow of illegal immigration; and that a loosening of restrictions on legal immigration is good for America and can alleviate the problem. Next the author discussed the effects of restrictions which are costly, generate violence, create black markets and spawn corruption. (Miron)

The author's second suggestion on how to relieve the problem of illegal immigration is to expand free trade. Miron suggests that the low-skill jobs that immigrants seek in the United States can be transferred to their home countries by opening up more free trade between nations, thus creating new opportunities at home. Next the author makes...

Finally, the author's last suggestion is to scale back the U.S.' welfare system, which Miron asserts acts as a magnet for attracting illegal immigrants seeking benefits. Miron then concludes his article by comparing his suggestions to the new Arizona law, which he claims stresses the law enforcement aspect of illegal immigration instead of the root causes of it. The overall conclusion of the article is that the root causes of illegal immigration must be dealt with instead of simply taking a tough law enforcement view of the problem.
Works Cited

"Arizona Senate Bill 1070." State of Arizona Senate. Web. 5 Sept. 2011.

http://www.azleg.gov/legtext/49leg/2r/bills/sb1070s.pdf

Hanson, Gordon. "The Economic Logic of Illegal Immigration." Council on Foreign

Relations. April 2007. Web. 5 Sept. 2011.

"Immigration Enforcement Actions 2010." Department of Homeland Security Homepage.

Web. 5 Sept. 2011. http://www.dhs.gov/files/statistics/publications/immigration-enforcement-actions-2010.shtm

Liu, Xianbo. "On the Macroeconomic and Welfare Effects of Illegal Immigration."

Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control. 2010. Web. 4 Sept. 2011.

http://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/15469/1/p5.pdf

Miron, Jeffery. "The Realities Behind the Immigration Debate." CATO Institute. Web. 5

Sept. 2011. http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=11820

Enforcement on Crime Rates along the U.S.-Mexico Border. The Center for Comparative Immigration Studies, University of California, San Diego. 2005.

Web. 4 Sept. 2011. http://ccis.ucsd.edu/PUBLICATIONS/wrkg131.pdf

Yen, Hope. "Number of Illegal Immigrants in U.S. Steady at 11.2M | CNSnews.com" CNS

News | CNSnews.com. Web 6 Sept. 2011.

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