Will Grigg?s Liberty Minute

October 17, 2008

Hidden in the relentlessly bad news about the economy we can find an ambivalent bit of good news: America?s economic downturn has apparently led to a radical decline in the rate of illegal immigration.

A recent study by the Pew Hispanic Center reported that the size of the illegal immigrant population "appears to have declined since 2007"; further, between 2005 and 2008 "the inflow of [illegal] immigrants ? fell below that of immigrants who are legal permanent residents. That reverses a trend that began a decade ago. The turnaround appears to have occurred in 2007."

The report concludes that the primary cause of this reduction is not ramped-up enforcement of immigration laws, but the sharp economic downturn that has taken place over the past two years.

The ebb and flow of immigration, both legal and illegal, reflects larger economic trends. Restoring a sound money economy and abolishing the welfare state would solve our immigration problems permanently.

Let us take back the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free.