With the escalation of violence in Israel, Lebanon, and the Gaza Strip, punditry and legislative concern has shifted away from priority debates at home. One issue momentarily caught up in the sandstorm is immigration. Senior fellow for the JLF, Mark Rotterman, reminds readers in the Monroe Enquirer-Journal that “illegal immigration will be a defining issue in the upcoming election.” Illegal immigration is an issue that merges on a number of concerns (homeland security, healthcare, et al). Because of this overlap, the issue won’t be short-lived. As officials try to find a solution, problem-solvers must fall back on their public-policy ideologies. As Joe Coletti reminds us in the Roanoke-Chowan News-Herald, ideologically driven solutions must be guided by sound statistics, which, unfortunately, is lacking in the illegal immigration debate.
