EDITORIAL: Federal void allows Arizona to overreach on immigration

Arizona's brass-knuckle immigration law is an unfortunate result of inaction in Washington. It's likely to create more problems than it solves. But those whose quality of life is being undermined by the nation's failure to deal with illegal immigration desperately want somebody to do something. If Washington won't, then state and local officials will increasingly try to fill the void. It won't be pretty.

Arizona's new law makes it a state crime to be in the country illegally. It authorizes police to demand documents from anyone they reasonably suspect is here illegally. Immigrants unable to document legal status can be jailed for up to 6 months. And ordinary individuals can sue authorities to demand enforcement.

One certain result will be litigation, beginning with suits challenging the law's constitutionality. The law invites racial and ethnic profiling by police. That's sure to result in more litigation and dangerously sour police relations with minorities. And allowing lawsuits to spur enforcement will encourage profiling and personal vendettas by private citizens.

For all that, such stopgap measures can't secure porous borders or fix the tortuous, restrictive legal immigration system to provide a better alternative to illegal entry. But immigration is political nitroglycerin, and in an election year few in Congress want to handle it. They need to find the resolve. Solving tough problems is in the job description. hN