*More heat for Arizona

Everybody is taking their shot at the new immigration law, including L.A. City Councilwoman Janice Hahn. She wants the city to end contracts with Arizona-based companies and stop doing business with the state. (Hahn happens to be running for lieutenant governor, which I'm sure has no bearing in her outrage over the law.) SF is also looking into an economic boycott (SF Gavin Newsom is running for lieutenant governor as well). But don't both cities have more pressing matters to worry about? "They can't even balance their books and yet they can issue edicts about far-flung jurisdictions," said former L.A. mayoral candidate Walter Moore. (see LAT story).

Another critic of the new law, and one who has a lot more clout than city council members, is Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham. He thinks the Arizona legislation is unconstitutional and "doesn't represent the best way forward." But he added that the law reflects "what good people will do" when they are left with no other options. (CBS News)

During my morning business chat on KPCC, I spoke with Shirley Jahad about the economic benefits of immigrants in the workforce.

Generally speaking Shirley, recently arrived immigrants do seem to help local economies, even when factoring in the extra money spent by government on health care, education and the other social services. Immigrants represent an important labor pool, they keep down the cost of goods and services (and that keeps down inflation), and they themselves are consumers. Matter of fact, immigrants who become home owners are less likely to default on their mortgages than the population at large.

Jahad: And I suppose all that helps boost the economy...

Lacter: That's right. Remember back in the 90s when so many people left Southern California because of the recession? Well, the newly arrived immigrant population provided a surprising amount of relief. That's when you saw a transition from manufacturing jobs to service jobs - everything from janitors to paralegals. As for the effect that immigrant workers have on wages, economists are somewhat divided. There's no question that for certain industries (construction being one), the availability of cheaper immigrant labor can take jobs away, or at least drive down wages. But wage growth has fallen throughout the economy and for all kinds of reasons besides the impact of immigration.

*Reader points out that SF Mayor Gavin Newsom is not ready to support a boycott resolution. He strongly opposes the new immigration law, but says that he's not sure what impact the resolution would have on Arizona and SF.