While this may seem like backtracking to some (I'm in favor of curbing illegal immigration)... I still can't help but see the irony in this story:

As migrant laborers flee Colorado because of tough new immigration restrictions, worried farmers are looking to prisoners to fill their places in the fields.

In a pilot program run by the state Corrections Department, supervised teams of low-risk inmates beginning this month will be available to harvest the swaths of sweet corn, peppers and melons that sweep the southeastern portion of the state.

Under the program, which has drawn criticism from groups concerned about immigrants’ rights and from others seeking changes in the criminal justice system, farmers will pay a fee to the state, and the inmates, who volunteer for the work, will be paid about 60 cents a day, corrections officials said.

The irony of course is that many of those same prisons are filled with illegal immigrants.  So while new immigrations laws are reducing the number of farm hands, they will be replaced with other illegal immigrants, who were arrested for being farm hands.  And now they'll be paid even less than before.

Before someone accuses me of backing off my own beliefs... I've never believed strong jail terms to be the solution to the problem.  The solution I've always favored is three-fold.  First, strong border enforcement.  Second, abolishing the income tax to be replaced with a national sales tax.  Third, stop giving government subsidies to illegal immigrants.