Wall of confusion: immigration policy follies.

• Author: Taylor, Jeff A.
• Position: Taxation on transfer of funds in Arizona - Brief article

ARIZONA LAWMAKERS worried about illegal immigration have paired an old idea, an anti-immigrant wall, with a new one: a state tax on bank wire transfers to and from other countries. The state's House Appropriation Committee has approved an 8 percent tax on all out-of-country wire transfers, with the proceeds earmarked for building a wall at the border.

Extrapolating from the estimated $20 billion that is wired from Arizona to Mexico each year, the measure's backers say it...