The Hiller Instinct: Illegal Immigration in Mass.

Answer: Plenty.

Because to say this as simply as I can, "your house can't be safe if you don't know who's in it."

And how many illegal immigrants are there in Massachusetts? We don't know. The best estimate I can find is about 187,000 (Source: American Community Survey).

Let Attorney General Martha Coakley tell you why we don't know:

"Technically it's not illegal to be illegal in Massachusetts," Coakley said on WCRN radio.

Arizona's new law -- aimed at identifying illegal immigrants -- has triggered protests in many states. And elected officials -- including Boston's mayor and city council -- have re-acted by approving Arizona boycotts.

Critics say the law there will lead to racial profiling, and that requiring anyone to show papers to prove they're here legally is un-American.

But we citizens have papers all our lives, beginning with birth certificates.

When we travel, our papers are passports. If a policeman pulls us over, we have to show our driver's license.

We even need a paper ticket to get into a baseball game, and any usher can ask us to show it at any time.

How can it possibly be harder to sneak into Fenway Park than into America?

You know what our immigration policy is: don't ask, don't tell.

But we're in a war against terrorism -- we need to ask.

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