The raid on the notorious Michael Bianco factory in New Bedford, which found 361 alleged illegal aliens working under abhorrent conditions, set off demands in Rhode Island’s General Assembly for state-level immigration laws. Immigration is supposed to be a federal responsibility, but Washington has utterly failed to enforce its own measures, leaving the states and cities to pick up the bills for a growing undocumented population.

One proposal stands above the rest: a requirement that employers verify every new hire’s right to work in the United States, using a federal database. The House leadership has expressed interest in a bill that would do just that and so it has a chance of passage.

Predictably, many in the business community have registered strong disapproval of the idea. They want cheap illegal labor and are happy to leave the attendant costs of that population’s education, health-care and other social needs to the taxpayers. In 2004, Rhode Island spent over $87 million educating the children of illegal immigrants, according to the U.S. Department of Education. That number is surely higher now and almost matches the surprise $90 million hole in the fiscal 2008 budget.

Several other states and localities, frustrated by the federal government’s incompetence, timidity and inaction, have passed their own laws to reduce illegal immigration within their borders. Some of these efforts have apparently shown success with reports of taxpayer savings. Contrary to myth, most illegal immigrants pay little in taxes.

The public overwhelmingly supports measures to stem illegal immigration, but this is an issue on which many of their elected officials ignore the people who elect them. That’s why concerned voters must make their views known to their state representatives and senators. We plan to follow who on Smith Hill tries to frustrate attempts to control illegal immigration in Rhode Island and share that information in future editorials.