The problems facing Arizona are simple - the state is the victim of hordes of Mexicans who come in and steal jobs from real citizens. The way to solve the problem is to tighten our efforts to identify and deport the unwanted visitors. That is the Republican version. The problem is that this is utter nonsense.
I lived in Arizona the first 44 years of my life. By the time I left Phoenix for civilization in 1990, the problem of illegal Mexican labor was noticeable, but far from a crisis. Every time we went back, it was a little more noticeable - a little worse. All through the Bush I, Clinton, Bush II years there was a steady increase of Mexicans in East Phoenix. By 2011, it was plainly out of control. There is a simple cause for this problem. Rich Arizonans wave dollar bills over the border, and will pay the Mexicans who get through because they are too cheap to hire American citizens. Follow the money.
How much money? These illicit bosses must have spent billions of dollars on this to cause a major population shift. There are laws on the books in Arizona making it a crime to hire the illegal workers (i.e., the cause of the problem in the first place), but these provisions are, to say the least, scantily enforced. The illegal Mexicans in Arizona stay there because people are still paying them. Unfortunately, Sheriff Joe finds it a daunting task to smoke out millionaires and send them into a court system that is swamped with illegal immigration issues already. This is classic Republican justice - arrest the pawns and let the Kings go free. It's like the magician who makes his tricks by leading you to watch the wrong hand.
I hesitate to tell Sheriff Joe how to do his job, but I will anyway. Take a latino member of the police force, outfit him in old clothes and have him stand out in front of Home Depot. Chances are that he will find employment by mid morning, and process a sting on that millionaire. Among other things, the fines they pay will help Arizona's debt crisis. Do this enough, and it will be less appealing for rich people to hire the wrong workers. Then there will be a migration of a southerly nature. Simple.