State Sen. Don East is attempting to introduce legislation that would create a North Carolina law which mirrors the mysteriously controversial Arizona anti-illegal immigration law.

We say mysteriously controversial, because the Arizona law simply takes the federal statue on illegal immigration and converts it into a state law, so Arizona law officers can enforce the regulation. In fact, the Arizona law is somewhat less strict than the federal guidelines.

It is a sad state of affairs when the federal government is so lax in its enforcement of important laws that individual state legislatures must enact mandates which empower local and state officers to enforce those laws.

It is sadder still when the nation’s president ridicules such actions and attempts to intimidate those state legislators, as President Obama has done.

Yet, it is good to see East introduce such legislation here, in North Carolina. The state is not inundated with illegal immigrants to the degree that Arizona is, but it is still a growing problem.

Because this is a short-session year for the General Assembly, introducing non-budget bills is difficult, requiring widespread support. We hope Washington’s attacks on the Arizona law, nor the fact that this is an off-year legislature cycle, will not dissuade other members of the General Assembly from joining East in this effort.

The time for addressing the illegal immigration issue is long past, and if the federal government refuses to do so, we are glad North Carolina may join the list of states who are taking on this issue