April 27, 2010 4:36PM 

# The Federal Solution to Illegal Immigration 

By [Daniel Griswold](https://www.cato.org/people/daniel-griswold) 

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A silver lining of the Arizona immigration law is that is has turned up the heat on Washington to re-examine federal policy. As I’ve made the rounds of talk radio shows today, one of the questions that keeps coming up is just what changes should be made in federal law to tackle illegal immigration. Glad you asked.

In brief, the single most effective change would be to expand opportunities for legal immigration, including for low-skilled workers who make up the large majority of the illegal population.

I make the case for comprehensive immigration reform in [an op-ed in today’s *Philadelphia Inquirer*](http://www.philly.com/inquirer/opinion/20100427_U_S__needs_to_let_more_workers_in.html).

For a more comprehensive case for comprehensive reform, see the lead article I wrote for the current issue of the *Albany Government Law Review*, titled [“Comprehensive Immigration Reform: What Congress and the President Need to do to Make It Work.”](http://www.albanygovernmentlawreview.org/sub.php?id=14)

##### Related Tags 

[Trade Policy](https://www.cato.org/trade-policy), [Herbert A. Stiefel Center for Trade Policy Studies](https://www.cato.org/herbert-stiefel-center-trade-policy-studies) 

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