Bordering on an argument

One of the highlights of the Claremont Institute summer policy conference this past weekend was the debate on immigration policy between Manhattan Institute fellow Tamar Jacoby and Claremont Institute fellow Professor Edward Erler. Jacoby endorses some version of a guest worker program such as President Bush threatens to propose in order to resolve our current immigration crisis. Professor Erler volubly dissented. Jacoby stomped off after the debate, refusing to shake Erler’s hand; I thought she’d more or less had her head handed to her.
Jacoby makes her case in the current issue of the Weekly Standard: “Bordering on a policy.” Among her extensive list of writings on the subject is this 2004 New Republic article focused on the question most of interest to me at the moment: “Why we can’t stop illegal immigration.” Professor Erler’s writings on the subject include “Amnesty for illegal aliens” and “Mexican ID a veiled bid for amnesty” (PDF, with Scot Zentner) as well as this 2002 guest editorial.