2.   Those who blame America’s problems on illegal immigration are tapping into the worst tradition in American politics, the politics of paranoia. The politics of paranoia involve targeting some group (gays, communists, African Americans) and playing divide-and-conquer politics rather than facing up to our real problems.

3.   The enforcement of the war against illegal immigrants has become much more of a disaster than most people realize. As my colleague Dr. Jacqueline Stevens has documented in several articles in the Nation, ICE has illegally deported many American citizens and is out of control. The militarization of the border has imposed tremendous burdens on borderland communities.

4.   As the New York Times has documented, employers of illegal immigrants contribute 7 billion per year in social security taxes, which the workers never collect.