Editorial: The immigration raids

01:00 AM EDT on Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Some observations about the raids last week to scoop up alleged illegal aliens working on dozens of state contracts that the State of Rhode Island has with two janitorial companies:

First, the law says being in America illegally is, well, illegal. To countenance breaking immigration laws makes the country less secure, tends to lower wages (as studies at Harvard and elsewhere have shown) and makes other law enforcement more difficult, in part by encouraging a general disrespect for the law.

If people aroused by the raids don’t like the law, then they should change it. Meanwhile, with Rhode Island’s jobless rate at 7.5 percent, two percentage points above the nation’s, imagine the irritation of many citizens by the raids. And consider the sensitive places, such as courthouses and the attorney general’s office, that these alleged illegals had access to.

Second, hiring illegal aliens is illegal. We await the arrests of those individuals who hired illegals in this case. It has become clear for a long time that federal authorities, because of a mania for “free marketsâ€