Almost two weeks ago, Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen’s work with United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement brought about the arrest and deportation of 34 illegal immigrants from the Southeastern part of the state.

It would be easy to see this story, particularly the fact that each immigrant had a criminal record, and laud the success of law enforcement for doing just that — enforcing the law. And while on some level, that is true, there is a point at which these raids go beyond reasonable law enforcement and stray into the territory of destructive intervention.

First, if all of these immigrants had been convicted of other crimes, what good was done by returning them to society only to break down their doors months or years later in a raid? In such cases, the deportation should happen immediately after conviction, if it is to happen. This achieves the same goal and it has the added benefit of saving the state the costs of parole monitoring or jail time.

With that lapse in logic and practice stated, it is clear the state and federal governments should also be using their resources for causes that have a bigger impact on society. Why divert resources from fighting crime to go after otherwise law-abiding illegal immigrants?

Finally, the consequence of this action ripples beyond those who were deported and their families. As clich? as the “culture of fear” argument may seem, its validity is proven in the aftermath of raids like these. This atmosphere can have serious effects beyond their simple state of mind to their actions, including whether or not they show up for work or report crimes within their own communities.

The current status of illegal immigrants in our state is far from ideal, but in the meantime, let’s not settle for breaking down doors, but take more substantial steps that do what is good and just for the state and all its residents.