The States as Laboratories of Illegal Immigration Enforcement (Veiled Subscription Pitch)

USA Today has a story about how states are doing it for themselves: Passing and/or considering legislation aimed at curbing illegal immigration, especially via employer sanctions. A snippet:

Acting while Congress struggles to set policy regarding the nation's estimated 12 million illegal immigrants, states have enacted at least 57 laws, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures and a USA TODAY analysis. Among major themes of the state legislation: fining businesses that hire undocumented workers and denying such companies public contracts if they don't verify the legal status of employees.

"The trends…have leaned toward the punitive side," says Ann Morse, an immigration expert at the National Conference of State Legislatures. "The No. 1 topic has been employment in terms of deterring employers and employees."

Whole thing here.

State-by-state breakdown here.

As subscribers to Reason's print edition already know, our August-September double issue has a special section on immgration that is not only intellectually provocative–so much so that I've already received a fistful of subscription cancellations from readers displeased by the magazine's support for open borders–but beautifully illustrated with early 20th-century posters provided by The Georgetown Book Shop.

Check out the issue–which also features a 40th anniversary appreciation of the original Star Trek that would bring unfaked tears to the eyes of Harry Mudd, an on-the-ground report from Kurdistan, a shout-out to Andy Warhol, and much, much more–on newsstands now.

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