Immigration is overshadowed on political trail

PHOENIX — Neither President Bush nor Sen. John Kerry has devoted much attention lately to his plan for fixing America's failed immigration policies — a sticking point for states paying the financial and human costs of the thousands of workers who sneak into the country each year.

While the candidates laid out plans for confronting the problem earlier in the race, illegal immigration has been overshadowed by Iraq, the war on terror and the economy in the final weeks of the campaign.

The complex and divisive nature of immigration has kept it from getting more attention, said advocates on both sides.

"Why pursue it if it wasn't an issue that would resonate well?" asked Harry Pachon, president of the Tomas Rivera Policy Institute at the University of Southern California.

The final presidential debate tonight at Arizona State University in Tempe might offer the best forum for both candidates to explain their immigration plans.

More than any other state in recent years, Arizona has been dogged by a heavy flow of illegal immigrants after the government tightened enforcement in El Paso, Texas and San Diego during the mid-1990s.

It's impossible to estimate how many illegal immigrants slip into the United States. Still, Arizona ranked first among the four Southwestern states in apprehensions of illegal immigrants, with about 580,000 in the past year.

Hundreds of illegal immigrants die each year from exposure to extreme weather, dehydration and accidents along the border. Until recently, smuggling-related violence was on the rise in Phoenix, a hub for transporting illegal workers.

Even though immigrants provide the American economy with cheap labor, border states shoulder huge health care and education costs for illegal workers and their families.

Experts believe tighter border security alone won't solve the problem, saying any solutions must recognize that low wages in Latin America drive people toward the United States.

The plans by Bush and Kerry would let immigrants work here legally, but they differ on the opportunities for workers to become U.S. citizens.

Bush has proposed letting immigrants get renewable three-year labor visas to work in jobs that aren't filled by American workers. His plan wouldn't provide automatic citizenship for workers.