The Los Angeles Times reported Tuesday about a small city in Los Angeles that has taken controversial steps to eliminate most of the obstacles illegal immigrants face now that many cities are cracking down on illegal immigration.

The city council of Maywood has voted to eliminate the traffic division of their police department after they received complaints that officers unfairly targeted illegal immigrants. They also made it more difficult for police to tow the cars of people who do not have driver’s licenses.

They also passed a resolution opposing a federal law that would criminalize illegal immigration and allow local police to enforce immigration law. In its most recent controversial dealings, the city council is trying to rename an elementary school after former Mexican President Benito Juarez and is striving to pass more legislation that would seek to improve the lives of illegal immigrants.

Maywood, which neighbors Huntington Park and Bell Gardens, is a very small town where approximately 96 percent of the residents are Latino. The city council said it wants the city to be a “sanctuary city” for illegal immigrants. The town’s official population, according to the article, is around 29,000. However, when illegal immigrants are factored into the equation, that number jumps to about 45,000. It seems like the city council is getting their wish.

This city highlights the dangerous practice of altering laws to cater to illegal immigrants. Maywood’s police department had previously set up sobriety checkpoints that began in the afternoon. This is a common practice in many cities. The article states that many of the people caught at the checkpoints were ones who simply did not have a driver’s license, and most of those were illegal immigrants. The police impounded their cars and it usually cost around $1,800 to get their cars back.

The city abandoned the checkpoint policy because of the myriad of complaints they received. However, the impounding did not stop. The police still stopped people for various violations and impounded their vehicles when they found the drivers had no licenses. This seems like a fairly acceptable policy to me: Drive without a license – the police impounds the car. But in a town like Maywood where so many of the residents are illegal, this common practice was deemed controversial, so much so the city council abolished the traffic division to appease the masses.

Think about that for a second. To placate the outrage of the majority of illegal residents in its city, the council sacrificed part of the security of the entire city. Does that make sense to anyone?

People who do not have driver’s licenses should not drive a car. Period. The fact that so many people in Maywood were outraged over their cars being impounded because they did not have a valid license to drive a car should say something about the real problem in that city. But, unfortunately, it seems to be falling on deaf ears.

How dangerous is it for a city like Maywood to set a precedent of ignoring, and in this case changing the law to satisfy a group of criminals? Make no mistake, illegal immigrants are criminals. Some pro-illegal immigration groups will try to play down this fact by calling them “migrant workers” or just “immigrants.” But the fact is they all broke federal law by crossing the border illegally. There should be no quarter given to criminals.

And criminals come in all colors. On St. Patrick’s Day, Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern asked President George W. Bush to extend amnesty to the many Irish illegal immigrants living in America. I feel the same way about these people as I do the ones living in Maywood. These people who have come to this country illegally, who have marginalized the efforts of countless millions who made their way through Ellis Island, sometimes staying there for weeks at a time just to gain entry in this country, should be held accountable for their crimes.

I am not against immigration. In fact, I firmly believe immigration is what made this country great. But illegal immigration spits in the face our laws. What is the point of having a border when cities like Maywood have made it virtually meaningless? In this day and age of global terrorism and constant threats to our national security, border protection should be one of our state and federal government’s top priorities. Unfortunately, the task of securing our borders has been marred by allegations of racism and hypocrisy, and has been vastly undercut by the actions of cities like Maywood.

There is no denying our country needs to reform its immigration laws. But we cannot abandon the laws we have in order to pacify the increasingly larger group of illegal immigrants to this country. These laws were enacted for a reason, and that reason is our protection. Do not forsake the protection of our borders. Do not support cities like Maywood. Do not support criminals. We cannot afford it.