With One Voice

The U.S. Justice Department had no choice but to sue to stop Arizona's ill-advised law on illegal immigration. A patchwork of state laws, what Arizona's law threatened, would make an undeniably broken immigration system even more so.

Courts have long recognized the supremacy clause of the U.S. Constitution as giving federal law primacy over state law, and immigration undeniably falls into federal responsibilities. The Justice Department is on solid legal — and humanitarian — footing here.

The Arizona law's backers say they stepped in because the federal government has abrogated those responsibilities. And the federal government has indeed done that, just not precisely as the law's backers contend. In fact, the federal government has stepped up workplace enforcement and deportations and has beefed up border security with more agents and scrutiny.

Where Congress has failed is in enacting comprehensive immigration reform that recognizes that enforcement-only or enforcement-heavy approaches — Arizona's approach — will fail.

Arizona's law, set to take effect July 29, would require officers, while enforcing other laws, to question people's immigration status if there is a reasonable suspicion they are illegal immigrants.

And this standard makes Latinos generally prime targets for racial profiling. This is not just a matter of federal law trumping state law; it is a civil rights issue.

It's clear from the initial reaction from this lawsuit that it will be cynically mined for every ounce of political gain. And that's unfortunate. On immigration, the nation has long needed to step back and take a breath. Hyperventilation has been the rule.

If you have concerns about illegal immigration, that doesn't make you a racist. If you have concerns about this country's broken system and its treatment of immigrants, that doesn't mean you favor an open border and no enforcement.

But draconian laws will ultimately do nothing to solve this problem. Comprehensive reform that tackles all facets of the problem can.

Comprehensive reform is unlikely to happen in this election year, we're told. But there is sitting in Congress the DREAM Act, which would give young illegal immigrants, many of whom came to this country at early ages, a path to legal residency through service. That Congress won't even move this forward speaks volumes about how radioactive this issue has become.

The Justice Department had to act. Now, if only Congress — and the president — felt the same sense of urgency.

REPRINTED FROM THE MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL.

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