EDITORIAL: First steps on immigration

With noisy fights over "anchor babies" and Arizona's law dominating the immigration debate, it shouldn't be missed that productive things are happening: Washington is enhancing border security and enforcement.

Congress interrupted its August vacation to approve $600 million for 1,500 border patrol and customs agents, new bases, and two unmanned aerial drones for border duty. That will bolster an enforcement workforce that increased 10 percent, to 57,519 last year. Deportations have risen steadily since 2005, to 389,834 last year. And officials said a record number of employers were arrested last year for illegal hiring.

Will that be enough to choke off illegal immigration? Of course not. But tighter borders and tougher enforcement are the key to building public support and creating the political environment for a more comprehensive solution.

The last reform bid died in 2007 because people didn't buy Washington's assurances that it would control the borders. There was good reason for cynicism. Similar promises were made in 1986. The idea then, as now, was to create a path to citizenship for people in the country illegally, combined with intensified enforcement. Four million illegal immigrants got legal status. But two decades later, another 11 million people have illegally taken up residence in the United States.

Washington has to show the public that it's serious about enforcement this time. It's the right road to reform.hN