This Week’s Report: “Immigration Conflict”

Illegal immigration remains an issue of deep concern to Americans, but one they are ambivalent about solving, Associate Editor Kenneth Jost writes in this week’s Researcher.

Some 11 million immigrants reside in the United States illegally, and six states – led by Arizona and Alabama – have passed stiff laws allowing police to look for immigration law violators. But civil rights organizations say the laws will lead to ethnic profiling of Latinos, and business and agricultural groups argue that harsh crackdowns on unlawful immigrants make it hard to find workers for difficult jobs.

Jost’s report is an in-depth and up-to-the-minute examination of one of the most important – and intractable – policy issues in the nation. It is ideal for classes and papers on social policy, civil rights, economics, law enforcement and political science.

--Thomas J. Billitteri, Managing Editor