Forbes Editorial: "A Second Best Time" - Petersburg Progress-Index

Recently, I recalled a homemade sign in front of an old country nursery. The wooden plank had been nailed onto a stake and wedged into the ground just outside of the gravel entrance adorned with neatly arranged shrubbery and flowers. Written on the plank was the hand-painted phrase "The best time to plant a tree was 25 years ago. The second best time is now."

That bit of wisdom could be applied from anything to gardening, to education, to business ventures. It also appropriately describes our nation's illegal immigration situation. With the 24-hour news cycle firmly zeroed in on Arizona's recent immigration legislation, perhaps that is why this old sign has recently come to the front of my memory. While illegal immigration would have been best addressed years ago, we as a nation have to start somewhere.

No matter your personal view on the Arizona law, the nationwide response to the law should make evident that while the illegal immigration issue has been placed on the backburner by lawmakers in Washington, it is still very much a personal and heated issue for many American citizens. This reality should not be a surprise, especially to leaders in Washington. Illegal immigration is an issue that touches almost every rung of American life from our economy, to our national security, to our English language, to our education and healthcare systems. It impacts every level of government from our federal agencies, to state government, to local law enforcement.

The fault of illegal immigration cannot be placed solely on the individuals who have come across our borders. Our government must also share in the blame for its repeated failure to address this issue. In 2006, I wrote that the problem with illegal immigration is not loopholes in the law. It is not a lack of compassion. It is not that we are turning from our immigrant traditions. Our current immigration system is broken - plagued by insufficient immigration enforcement, devoid of serious border security resources, and wrought with a wholesale disregard for our current immigration laws.

I penned those words almost exactly four years ago. Unfortunately, not much has changed by way of illegal immigration policies. And over the past two weeks, we are seeing the effect of a broken immigration system. The enactment of the Arizona law makes one point very clear: when it comes to addressing illegal immigration, the federal government has failed.

However, it is never wrong or too late to do what is right for America. While we must remember that these individuals are human beings, we also must recognize that we have established laws governing proper entry into our nation, and we as leaders have a responsibility to do what is right for America. The second best time to do that is now.

Republican Congressman J. Randy Forbes represents Virginia's Fourth Congressional District, including the Tri-City region.