Deportations alone can't fix US problems

Underlying the demonstrations and street clashes of recent weeks is a dysfunctional system of immigration enforcement that needs to be fixed. With a bit of goodwill — from both the president and his opponents — that shouldn't be too much to ask.

- 

To much public outcry, federal immigration authorities have been detaining unauthorized migrants at job sites, courthouses and other public places in recent weeks. They're doing so both to meet the administration's steep deportation quotas and because too many state and local officials are refusing to cooperate.

Although this strategy hasn't resulted in a notable rise in deportations, it has created significant disorder. Anxiety has rippled through immigrant communities as job-site raids have picked up. Protests have spread and at times turned violent. Some attention-seeking politicians have attempted to interfere with law enforcement. Those immigration officers just looking to do their jobs are caught in the middle.