Illegal immigration has emerged as the hottest topic of the year in Utah. But what is the best solution to this problem?

"The people of this state are demanding that we look at it today," said its sponsor, Sen. Bill Hickman, R-St. George. But there's no consensus yet on which course is best.

Here are some of the chief solutions that have been proposed:

BORDER FENCE. Last fall, Congress passed and President Bush signed a bill authorizing 700 miles of fencing between the U.S. and Mexico to cut off the flow of immigrants. Advocates say it is a legitimate measure to defend the nation.

Antonio Garza, the U.S. ambassador to Mexico, rejected comparisons of the fence to the Berlin Wall, which, of course, are absurd. That wall was intended to keep people in.

But many doubt the fence will work. Hundreds of miles of fence in some of the most rugged desert in the world can't be effectively policed. Smugglers will just blast holes in it. The fence may be too expensive to finish anyway.

Other skeptics point out that half of illegal immigrants, and perhaps more, are people who entered the U.S. legally on visas and overstayed. No fence will stop them.

DEPORTATION. Some politicians boast that they'd deport illegals. For example, Mike Huckabee last month promised to give undocumented aliens 120 days to leave the country. Opponents call such plans cruel and draconian. They also asked how the United States would physically round up and deport 12 million or more people.

Even if this were possible, the economic shock of suddenly losing 5 percent of our labor force could send the nation into an unrecoverable tailspin.

AMNESTY. Legislation sponsored by John McCain and Ted Kennedy had as its centerpiece a plan to allow illegal immigrants already here to normalize their status. Backers said illegals would have to leave, then "go to the end of the line" before returning here, and they could do that only after paying a fine, staying employed and paying back taxes.

Opponents say this amounts to rewards for lawbreakers. And it's not fair to legal immigrants who had to get in the hard way. Amnesty programs only encourage more illegal immigration, critics say.

DRY UP THE JOBS. The easiest way to stop illegal immigration is to shut off the jobs that attract illegal workers. But some businesses have complained that this puts too much of the burden on them. Some have even sued over efforts to hold them accountable.

Some states, tired of waiting for the federal government to act, are targeting businesses as the best way to curb the tide. In Oklahoma, a tough anti-immigration law took effect for the public sector Nov. 1, and will apply to private employers on July 1. Among other things, it requires employers to verify the immigration status of their employees and exposes employers to legal action for hiring unauthorized immigrants in place of U.S. citizens.

Thursday, U.S. District Court Judge Neil Wake upheld Arizona's Legal Workers Act, which punishes employers that hire illegal immigrants. The law allows county prosecutors to go after business licenses. There are signs the law is working. Some illegals are getting ready to leave the state because the law is making it hard for them to stay employed. Some of them are applying at the Mexican consulate in Phoenix for papers to let them return to Mexico, officials told news outlets this week.

Other states, including Kansas, Mississippi, Indiana and Georgia, are considering tough measures. We take this as an encouraging sign that states can take effective steps on their own.