Leaving immigration to the feds

By Ruben Navarrette
February 18, 2009

Remember when state and local officials couldn't wait to get their 15 minutes of fame by cracking down on illegal immigration? Well, thank goodness, that trend might be coming to an end – in part because of the economic crisis.

According to a recent article in USA Today, some of these saber-rattlers have lost their appetite, moved on to other issues, or simply confronted the economic reality that local enforcement measures cost money – something that is suddenly in short supply. Others figured out that one consequence of tackling the immigration issue locally is that you foster divisions and wind up – in the words of one local official quoted in the article – “pitting neighbor against neighbor.â€