HAPPILY, WE'RE CHEAPER THAN WE ARE HATEFUL:

Costs will rein in Arizona's immigration crackdown: Arizona can arrest illegal immigrants now, but then what? Prison and deportation are both too expensive to sustain. (David R. Francis, 8/30, CS Monitor)

Beside the moral, humanitarian, and legal issues surrounding illegal immigrants, their apprehension poses a sizable financial cost. In Arizona, police could arrest them under the new state law, but keeping them in already crowded jails costs roughly $100 a day per person. For 5,000 people, imprisonment costs could add up to $182.5 million a year. That's a hefty charge for a state struggling with a budget deficit of at least $368 million.