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I get it. Three state ballot measures, supposedly to stem illegal immigration, probably will pass next month. State voters, who are more than angry over Congress' inability to deal with illegal immigration, want Arizona to do something — anything! — about it.

I get that.

I got it while living in California. In 1994 voters there approved a ban against public and health services for illegal immigrants — a ban which a federal judge later struck down as unconstitutional. I got it in 2004, when Arizona voters approved Proposition 200, requiring proof of citizenship when registering to vote and applying for certain nonfederal public benefits.

I get it that these measures received the support of some Arizona and California Latino voters, who are not immune to the fear-laden claims made by the propositions' supporters. And I get it that voters feel frustrated, especially after Congress failed to pass a comprehensive immigration plan this year, instead approving funds to place some fencing and high-tech detection gear at the border.

But what I don't get is that Arizona voters believe these ill-aimed and ill-defined propositions will dent illegal immigration. The measures, propositions 100, 102 and 300, will do almost nothing or very little to keep illegal immigrants out of the state.

What voters don't understand is the reason why we have illegal immigration. We have jobs; the illegal immigrants' home countries do not.

To borrow a slogan from a past presidential race, "it's the economy, stupid." Illegal immigration always has been and always will be based largely on economics.

Poverty tends to push starving and struggling people to do whatever it takes to survive, even if it means illegally crossing the border. Add to that corruption in their countries and unfair international trade policies, which this country tends to ignore but which are snuffing out economic growth in Latin America and Asia, where most illegal immigrants come from.

And the desperation of illegal immigrants invites Arizona employers to hire illegal workers for less money than Americans demand.

Yet not one of the three propositions on Nov. 7 ballot is aimed at Arizona employers, who already are barred from hiring illegal immigrants.

Proposition 100 would deny bail to illegal immigrants charged with serious felony offenses. Proposition 102 would deny punitive damage awards to illegal immigrants in civil lawsuits. And Proposition 300 would deny illegal immigrants state-funded adult education classes, in-state tuition waivers, scholarships to the state's universities and community colleges, and state-funded child-care assistance.

I get it that these measures, if they become law, will make Arizonans warm all over — but the sensation will be fleeting.

And I get it that political candidates in this election cycle believe they need to sound as tough — or tougher — on illegal immigration as their opponents. Just look at the race for the open seat in the 8th Congressional District vacated after 22 years by Republican Jim Kolbe.

Democrat Gabrielle Giffords is fending off attacks from Minutemen candidate Randy Graf, who was endorsed by fellow Republican and would-be presidential candidate Sen. John McCain, who was a key sponsor of a stalled immigration reform package that would have legalized some illegal immigrants and created a guest- worker plan, which was blasted by Graf and the Minutemen but supported by Giffords.

Get that?

I do.