> I, too, am sort of perplexed by why immigration is such a hot button topic with such polarized viewpoints. Maybe it's because I live in New Hampshire, not a place where illegal immigrants come to and take jobs. In any case, it seems like an easy issue to compromise on and not one that's *that* hugely important to the national economy when all is said and done. I also have an opinion on the subject, and moreover I understand and sympathize with arguments from both sides. But it's not something I can get worked up about.

It's not really the job thing (employment for everyone is still healthy out here in the border states). As other people have mentioned, the economic issue is the strain a wave of poor people puts on our social services. It's particularly felt in healthcare and education, but it shows up in other ways, too. Illegal immigrants are poor and they also have high birthrates. This puts a burden on our infrastructure, e.g. roads, that is not fully compensated by taxes (since immigrants are not as likely to own property or pay high income taxes).

I think it's also inflammatory because it represents a weird quirk in federalism. It's the job of the national government to set immigration policy, but it's the states who are actually affected by it (healthcare and education being primarily funded by the states). So people in the west who are opposed to illegal immigration anyway get a little more angry when Congress talks about amnesty but has nothing to say about reimbursing the states for picking up the tab. Consider the fact that people who use fake Social Security numbers pay Social Security taxes but cannot ever collect on it. That's free money to for federal government, and I think rightly the states are upset that the feds have no intention of returning it to the places that are paying for the social support systems.

A sane immigration policy would try and fix this imbalance. I know, the states are routinely screwed by the federal government (whatever happened to the 1994 Republican restoration of federalism?) but I think it stings a little extra here because the whole responsibility for controlling immigration is a federal one. Of course, since most states aren't affected much by illegal immigration so far the federal government has not had much incentive to do anything differently.

There are a lot of other issues, too. As with any large migration, I think it's unsettling for people already an area to find themselves confronted with a new culture every day. There are plenty of neighborhoods where Spanish is more used than English, and I think if you've been in the area for several decades it must be a bit of a shock.

Stephen