A new poll claims that 58% of the residents of Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, and Texas find "illegal immigration" to be a "major problem."

Ruben Navarrette:

Of course, there is always the chance that Americans -- especially those in their teens and 20s -- will step in and fill the void by leaving their air-conditioned homes, video games, and $3 coffees and going to work in 110-degree weather.

But whom are we kidding? That's just more wishful thinking.

Noontime high temperature in July and August in Baghdad (where thousands of Americans in their teens and 20s are spending a lot of time): 120 degrees.

The Washington Post reports on the way immigration has affected the Republican primary campaign:

"This is the most volatile issue I have measured since busing in 1972," said Peter D. Hart, a Democratic pollster. "It's not like abortion or gay rights, which may touch some people or offend the moral values of some. This is something that affects everyone."

Hart compared the issue of immigration to the treaty returning to Panama the Panama Canal, which drew a visceral response in conservative circles and turned President Gerald R. Ford's GOP nomination campaign in 1976 from a cakewalk to a dogfight.

"It's been like boiling water," said Al Cardenas, a former Florida Republican Party chairman and a co-chairman of Romney's campaign in the state. "It's an issue that was in the back of Americans' minds that needed to get fixed. It wasn't a priority until numbers got out of hand. Then Congress took it up, put it on the front burner, and when nothing got done, the voters turned exasperated. Can we live with such a significant breaking of the rule of law and not be morally outraged?"

Blogging will be very light this week....

Various state immigration enforcement laws could lead to "undocumented immigrants" going to more hospitable states as well as their home countries:

While some illegal immigrants are simply self deporting, others are moving within the United States to avoid federal immigration raids and pro-enforcement measures passed by a patchwork of state and local authorities.

Among them are undocumented immigrants in Marshalltown, Iowa, where Mexicans and Central Americans workers at a Swift & Co meatpacking plant were arrested during coordinated immigration raids across six states a year ago that netted hundreds of employees.

Moses Garcia, a U.S. citizen who came from Mexico 18 years ago and knew many of the families affected by the 2006 raid through his church and real estate work, said most of the workers have left to other states, not back to Mexico.

"They feel like they are not welcome here," Garcia said. "They go to Minnesota, Atlanta, Nebraska, California."

After the murder of a policeman by an "undocumented immigrant," Scottsdale, AZ police are now checking the immigration status of all those they apprehend and turning over to federal authorities those in this country without proper legalization. (Via Drudge)

Are the reports about the "death" of "Christian Canada" a little exaggerated? Michael Valpy attributes this "death" to 60s feminism (and Hot Air's got this story as a headline), but some recent data may trouble the fundamental assumption of Valpy's piece. Some recent polls done for Project Canada 2005 suggest instead that organized religion may be enjoying a partial upswing in Canada since 2000. According to one study, weekly religious attendance in Canada increased from 22% to 25% between 2000 and 2005--the first time the Project Canada pollsters have noticed an increase since they started keeping data in 1975. Moreover, weekly attendance amongst 15-19-year-olds increased from 18% in 1991 to 22% in 2000. Some more interesting data about religious participation (or a lack of religious participation) here.

The Huckabee campaign is now denying to John Hawkins that Huckabee's immigration proposal has a "touchback" component.

Malkin draws attention to the fact that the newly-signed energy bill that would ban the sale of incandescent light bulbs (with a few exceptions) as we now know them by 2012 in favor of florescent light bulbs. As Rep. Jane Harman (D-CA) boasts, "In this bill, we ban by 2012 the famously inefficient 100-watt incandescent bulb." Proponents of this measure argue that this ban would lead to lower energy consumption and a "healthier" environment.

As Malkin points out, this ban brings even further into focus some of the dangers posed by compact florescent light (CFL) bulbs--dangers that private and governmental agencies have yet to address fully. For many, the (relatively) high levels of mercury contained in florescent bulbs is perhaps the most striking environmental and public health risk. If bulbs break, they can release dangerous levels of mercury into the air around them. NPR has an interesting story on some of the attempts to cope with the mercury risks of CFL bulbs. Disposal of the bulbs can be especially tricky:

"The problem with the bulbs is that they'll break before they get to the landfill. They'll break in containers, or they'll break in a dumpster or they'll break in the trucks. Workers may be exposed to very high levels of mercury when that happens," says John Skinner, executive director of the Solid Waste Association of North America, the trade group for the people who handle trash and recycling.

Skinner says when bulbs break near homes, they can contaminate the soil.

The NIH has a summary of some of the health risks posed by mercury contamination:

Elemental (metallic) mercury and all of its compounds are toxic, exposure to excessive levels can permanently damage or fatally injure the brain and kidneys. Elemental mercury can also be absorbed through the skin and cause allergic reactions. Ingestion of inorganic mercury compounds can cause severe renal and gastrointestinal damage. Organic compounds of mercury such as methyl mercury are considered the most toxic forms of the element. Exposures to very small amounts of these compounds can result in devastating neurological damage and death. For fetuses, infants and children, the primary health effects of mercury are on neurological development. Even low levels of mercury exposure such as result from mother's consumption methylmercury in dietary sources can adversely affect the brain and nervous system. Impacts on memory, attention, language and other skills have been found in children exposed to moderate levels in the womb.

A CFL bulb that breaks in the home can lead to level of mercury for that room well over the safety levels established by authorities--and such a breakage can be very expensive to clean up.

There are even divisions within the environmentalist movement over these bulbs and their mercury level; some environmentalists think that such CFL bulbs shouldn't be purchased due to their high mercury content.

But there could be hope yet for incandescents: GE has announced that it hopes to introduce more efficient incandescents by 2012 that could meet future efficiency requirements.

A federal judge sounds skeptical about an attempt to stop Arizona's new immigration enforcement law from going into effect on January 1:

The legal effort to block what is widely considered the nation’s toughest law against employers who hire illegal immigrants may be headed for a setback in Arizona after a federal judge said Tuesday that he was not inclined to stop the law from going into effect Jan. 1.

Judge Neil V. Wake of the Federal District Court in Phoenix said he would issue a ruling by the end of the week. But he said that the business and civil rights groups that had challenged Arizona’s law had erred by not initially suing the county attorneys who will enforce the law, which he suggested protects the rights of law-abiding workers.

The hearing was part of a feverish legal effort to block the law, which penalizes employers who knowingly hire illegal workers by suspending their business license on a first offense and revoking it for a second.

The latest spending bill doesn't sound like it will be too helpful in forging a bipartisan atmosphere of trust for Congressional attempts at immigration reform--it changes some of the aspects of the border fence provisions passed last year:

The 2006 Secure Fence Act specifically called for "two layers of reinforced fencing" and listed five specific sections of border where it should be installed. The new spending bill removes the two-tier requirement and the list of locations.

Duncan Hunter (R-CA) and Steve King (R-IA) aren't happy with the changes, and Minority leader Boehner's already placing blame on Congressional Democrats--though Sen. Hutchison (R-TX) seems to be one of the motivating figures behind this change.

An interesting AP story on the role of immigration (and the way immigration intertwines with other issues) for the Republican presidential primary race.

A showdown (with video!) between Linda Chavez and Prince William Board of County Supervisors Chairman Corey A. Stewart over Prince William County's new immigration measures. Chavez raises doubts (mainly through insinuation) about the motivations of PWC. Stewart calls her an "illegal immigrant apologist" and brings up one of Chavez's pro-"grand bargain" columns from earlier this year.

Iowa Rep. Steve King endorses Fred Thompson. He emphasizes the "rule of law" as one of the reasons for backing Thompson.

Even though it doesn't go into force until January 1, Arizona's new immigration law already seems to be having an effect:

Businesses and immigration groups say they have already tallied some of the effects of the law.

Advocates for immigrants contend that, at a minimum, hundreds of people unauthorized to work have left the state or been fired. Some school districts have at least partly attributed enrollment drops to the law. Though the housing slump and seasonal economic factors make it difficult to pin down how much is attributable to the new law, illegal workers say employers are checking papers and are less inclined to hire them.

“They started asking everybody for papers one day, and those like me that didn’t have them were fired,” said Luis Baltazar, a Mexican immigrant who worked for a paving company until a few weeks ago and was soliciting work at a day labor hiring hall here.

Another immigrant, Jose Segovia, said work had plummeted in the past few weeks, more so than in the four previous Decembers he spent in Phoenix. “Some of my friends went back to Mexico,” Mr. Segovia said, “and I am thinking of going, too, if it doesn’t get better here.”

Some are saying that Bob Latta, elected to the House in a special election on Tuesday in Ohio, transformed a race in which he was pretty much tied with his Democratic opponent into one where he won a 14-point victory through a sudden focus on immigration and border security.
And the Politico has more on the influence of immigration in this election cycle.

New(ish) UK PM Gordon Brown has signed onto a new EU treaty that would radically reshape the EU power structure and, critics say, increase the power of EU bureaucrats at the expense of national sovereignty. Many say it's similar to the earlier EU Constitution, which faltered after a number of national referendums defeated it. So it seems like this treaty won't be up for national referendums except in Ireland. The Sun has a pretty critical article about the treaty, especially focusing on its implications for immigration policy:

The developments come despite an eleventh-hour bombshell that it means surrendering control of Britain’s immigration policy.

The warning was issued to the PM last night as he prepared to wave the white flag over our right to make our own laws.

It emerged tens of thousands of foreigners facing the boot from the UK will be winners.

They will get new rights to overturn decisions by Britain’s Immigration and Asylum Tribunal.

It means failed asylum seekers will be free to take their cases to the European Court of Justice in Strasbourg — giving the final say to unelected EU judges.

The Sun has more details about the effects of this treaty.

Squaring the Circle: The Politico reports on a questionnaire Obama/his campaign manager at the time filled out in 1996. Can these two claims mesh? One:

On handguns, his campaign said he has consistently been for “common-sense limits, but not banning” throughout his 11-year political career.

Two: But in this 1996 questionnaire, his campaign answered "Yes" (with no equivocations) to a question asking whether Obama would "support state legislation" that would "ban the manufacture, sale and possession of handguns." So did his campaign manager not understand her candidate's positions on the issues of "gun control"? Does his current campaign manager understand his positions on "gun control"? Some of the left are already swarming over this questionnaire and controversies about it. Clinton's people are definitely promoting it.

UPDATE: A questionnaire filled out by Obama (or his campaign) in late 2003 during his run for US Senate reveals more about his approach to "gun control" (e.a.):

While a complete ban on handguns is not politically practicable, I believe reasonable restrictions on the sale and possession of handguns are necessary to protect the public safety. In the Illinois Senate last year, I supported a package of bills to limit individual Illinoisans to purchasing one handgun a month; require all promoters and sellers at firearms shows to carry a state license; allow civil liability for death or injuries caused by handguns; and require FOID applicants to apply in person. I would support similar efforts at the federal level, including retaining the Brady Law.

So does he have an objection to banning handguns in principle? What's "politically practicable" can change with time, after all....

"Minuteman" founder Jim Gilchrist endorses Mike Huckabee. Malkin sputters. Hot Air brings up some quotes from Huckabee's past. Kaus wonders how "tough" Huckabee really is....

The Washington Times has some info on yesterday's Univision Republican debate.