CBS News reports that a federal court recently tossed out a lawsuit brought by a county in Idaho against several employers for allegedly knowingly hiring illegal immigrants to work and therefore, driving up the cost of providing public services for the county. In dismissing the lawsuit, the judge argued that the costs of providing public services is a normal part of being a government entity:

The judge said Canyon County’s claimed higher expenses for social services such as indigent medical care, schools and jails were simply the costs of being a government entity. The lawsuit marked the first time a government tried to use the federal Racketeering and Corrupt Organizations Act to demand damages from businesses for the costs of allegedly illegal employees. . . .

In dismissing the case, U.S. District Judge Edward Lodge said the county’s contention that the hiring of illegal aliens posed a “public nuisance” was not grounded in state law. . . . In addition, as a plaintiff, the county was not acting in a governmental capacity but as a private party to a civil lawsuit, Lodge wrote.

Nice try Canyon County, but no dice. Unfortunately, the county’s lawsuit is another example of trying to treat the symptoms of illegal immigration, rather than addressing the root cause of the issue.

CBS’s 60 Minutes recently had a feature on how many illegal immigrants die in the deserts of the southwest trying to cross into the U.S. Among other things, the segment pointed out that localities that initially tried to expel illegal immigrant workers eventually found out that the workers actually produced more benefits for surrounding businesses than they cost in added services.

In other words, the issue of illegal immigration is a lot more complicated than just trying to hire more border patrols and attempting to physically prevent illegal immigrants from entering the U.S. -- it also has to do with the impact that illegal immigrant workers have on local communities and the potential negative impacts if they leave, the need for their labor in fast-developing cities, and improving conditions in their home countries that would give them more incentives to stay where they are.

The House is currently trying to hammer out legislation that would deny citizenship to the children of illegal immigrants (a provision that is sure to be ruled unconstitutional), make illegal immigration a misdemeanor, build more fences and walls at the border, and require employers to more stringently verify the legal status of job applicants.

Unfortunately the bill includes no guest worker provisions or opportunities for illegal immigrants to gain some form of legitimate status and will only serve to drive them deeper underground and increase the already high levels of tensions and hostility surrounding their presence in the U.S.

The point here is, enforcement-only policies do not and will not work -- any attempt to stem the flow of illegal immigrants into the U.S. needs to be comprehensive and proactive, rather than reactionary and punitive.