http://www2.pasadenastarnews.com/opinions/ci_3072782

Failed immigration policy puts us all in danger

FOR years, illegal immigration has been a drain on the resources of Los Angeles County, including the cities within the San Gabriel Valley, eroding the quality of life in many neighborhoods.

And now we learn that despite the millions of dollars poured into federal homeland security efforts in the past four years, the number of identity-less people freely crossing through our international border is getting worse. The Pew Hispanic Center reported that there are now more illegal immigrants coming to the the United States than legal ones, for a total of 1.2 million in 2004.

This revelation ought to be chilling for all of us. It shows that all the rhetoric about making the United States safe from terrorism, about knowing who is walking around in our cities, is meaningless.

Add to this the growing tragedy of human smuggling and slavery going on right under our noses, and we've got a crisis in the making, one that Washington must not ignore any longer.

How can we call ourselves safe when we don't know who is entering the country, and when people are being treated as less than animals in our very communities? Americans should not tolerate this.

State and federal leaders must do more than offer us feel-good programs, such as the one in neighboring Los Angeles -- which carries a $10 million price tag -- that is supposed to teach workers how to recognize victims of human trafficking.

A better plan would be to stop traffickers, smugglers and illegal immigrants before they set up shop on residential streets.

Of course, it is important that authorities in Los Angeles, the county public safety departments and elsewhere be on the lookout for victims of traffickers. But it can't be the only policy.

That illegal immigration is growing despite the clashes at the borders, the attention to the subject and monitoring of the border shows that the U.S. policy on immigration equals no policy at all. It's only a matter of time before this policy breakdown puts us in danger.