South Carolina, like the nation, is facing an illegal immigration crisis, a fact made apparent in a recent report by The Arizona Republic that suggested an astounding amount of money is funneled from this state to bring illegal immigrants across the Mexican border.

According to the report, in 2005, South Carolinians wired 38 times more money to Arizona than was wired from Arizona to South Carolina -- $4.2 million vs. $111,198 -- the second highest ratio in the nation. The data aren't definitive, but experts told The Republic 90 percent of transactions dealing with the sale of "human cargo" happen at wire transfer outlets. It's a pretty good bet, then, that much of the money wired from here to Arizona was used for that reason.

Here's how it works: Illegal immigrants contract with a smuggler, or coyote, to bring them across the border. Once across the border, the immigrants are held in safe houses until family members in the United States pay to get them released. Often the fee ends up double the amount quoted to the immigrant before he left Mexico.

According to the report, as many as 1 million illegal immigrants pass through safe houses in Phoenix.

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This report is more compelling evidence that our nation has a serious immigration problem. The United States cannot absorb a million illegal immigrants a year. The notion that illegal immigrants take jobs Americans won't do is false, and this nation will suffer if illegal immigrants continue to take jobs, at lower wages, that Americans would do if given the chance.

This trend also suggests illegal immigration has spawned a new type of organized crime. These criminals kill and steal to preserve their business. They bribe government officials, border agents, landlords and car dealers to keep their "cargo" moving. Although the report suggests this activity increased in response to a tighter border, the only way to stop it is to completely secure the border. Loosening immigration standards may reduce human smuggling but would exacerbate other effects of illegal immigration.

Illegal immigration has a human cost: Not only for American workers who see their wages decline or are left unemployed because of the growing illegal labor pool, but also for the immigrants who often are exploited by the smugglers who bring them here and the employers who hire them illegally.

As more immigrants try to enter the United States illegally, problems such as human smuggling will become more severe. The answer is to ensure that immigrants cannot enter illegally and that those who do are sent home. A sensible immigration policy is needed, and soon. That policy should seal the borders, provide limited opportunities for legal immigration and end the appalling exploitation of illegal immigrants.