Ending illegal entry
Saturday, August 2
updated 3:01 am

Marxavi Angel Martinez used to assist patrons at the Graham Public Library in Alamance County. Now she sits behind bars facing immigration charges.

Martinez, 23, was brought to this country from Mexico when she was 3 by her parents, who overstayed their visa. Martinez's husband also has been arrested on immigration charges.

Martinez faces federal charges, including identity theft for using a dead man's Social Security number. Her case, complicated even more by her 1-year-old, is worthy of a modern-day Solomon, and we'll let the immigration judge decide it. But her situation shows why U.S. immigration policy needs revising.

Cases like Martinez's are the result of policy that is contradictory and ineffective. For many years, the nation haphazardly combatted illegal immigration, thus encouraging illegal immigrants and their employment. At the same time, it restricted access to legal immigration channels.

But things seem to be changing.

By defeating an immigration reform bill in Congress last year, opponents sent the message that more enforcement was needed before they would consider reform. The message seems to have been heard. Stepped-up enforcement against illegal aliens and their employers has caused the U.S. illegal immigrant population to drop by 11 percent in the past year, according to a new report by the Center for Immigration Studies. While a slowing economy has been a factor, the center reports that the decline began before the economic downturn.

Tough enforcement might seem heartless, but it is a necessary step toward ending the still-pervasive notion that it's OK to enter this country illegally. It isn't. It doesn't benefit any of us to have millions of people living here whose first act in the country was to break one of its laws. The lax attitude also isn't good for the lawbreakers. Illegal aliens exist in a shadow world of limited opportunity that can lead to them being taken advantage of.

Only when strong enforcement has established that illegal entry won't be tolerated can the United States increase immigration quotas. Only then can Congress consider such measures as the DREAM Act, which would allow those brought here illegally as children the chance to apply for citizenship if they live in the United States several years, finish high school and show "good moral character."

The United States prides itself on being a nation of immigrants, not a nation of lawbreakers. Strict enforcement of immigration laws, plus a policy that provides more people the opportunity to legally enter this country, will help the nation hold on to this tradition.
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