Wall Street Journal (Opinion by Jason Riley): Judging from the oral arguments this week, the Supreme Court is likely to uphold at least part of Arizona's controversial immigration law, which is being challenged by the Obama administration. But aside from whether the law is constitutional, there the question of whether additional enforcement measures are the best way to reduce illegal immigration.
Five other states subsequently have adopted laws similar to Arizona's, and the reaction has been mixed. "When Georgia passed certain measures, it really harmed the agriculture industry," says Stuart Anderson, who follows immigration issues at the National Foundation for American Policy. Mr. Anderson, a former INS official, says that there's even been talk among businesses of moving their operations elsewhere to find workers. "In the end, what employers really want is a legal workforce, but our visa system doesn't allow that for the types of jobs that most illegal immigrants fill." Guest-worker programs that allow the free-market to determine the level of immigration would reduce the size of the illegal population, help businesses meet their labor needs and be less disruptive to the local economy.
A new Pew study says that net migration from Mexico has been declining since 2000 and is now zero. Given the state of the U.S. economy, and the fact that most illegal aliens are economic migrants in search of work, the finding isn't surprising. But as our economy improves, pressure on the border is likely to increase. Now would be a good time to consider immigration reform that makes more visas available to foreign workers.
Five other states subsequently have adopted laws similar to Arizona's, and the reaction has been mixed. "When Georgia passed certain measures, it really harmed the agriculture industry," says Stuart Anderson, who follows immigration issues at the National Foundation for American Policy. Mr. Anderson, a former INS official, says that there's even been talk among businesses of moving their operations elsewhere to find workers. "In the end, what employers really want is a legal workforce, but our visa system doesn't allow that for the types of jobs that most illegal immigrants fill." Guest-worker programs that allow the free-market to determine the level of immigration would reduce the size of the illegal population, help businesses meet their labor needs and be less disruptive to the local economy.
A new Pew study says that net migration from Mexico has been declining since 2000 and is now zero. Given the state of the U.S. economy, and the fact that most illegal aliens are economic migrants in search of work, the finding isn't surprising. But as our economy improves, pressure on the border is likely to increase. Now would be a good time to consider immigration reform that makes more visas available to foreign workers.
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