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Ensuring an effective immigration policy

A massive raid on a gardening and landscaping company in northern Ohio is a reminder that many illegal immigrants would not be in our country without active encouragement from a few unscrupulous business owners.

More than 200 federal agents arrested 114 people in the raid on Tuesday. They were apprehended at two Corso’s Flower and Garden Centers, one in Sandusky and the other in nearby Castalia.

In addition to making the arrests, presumably of illegal immigrants, agents said they seized “a large volume of business documents.” No charges had been filed against Corso’s, but an investigation is in progress.

An official of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations division said a probe of the company began last fall, when the U.S. Border Patrol arrested a woman who had been giving stolen identity papers to illegal immigrants applying for jobs.

Many of the estimated 12.5 million illegal immigrants in the United States came here in search of economic opportunity. A substantial number find that through employers who either know they are dealing with illegal immigrants or consciously avoid checking job applicants closely.

Cracking down on such businesses is a critical part of ensuring the nation has a reasonable, effective immigration policy. The more enforcement activities like that in Ohio this week, the better.

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