Illegal immigration is a federal issue, demanding a federal approach.

And there is a good reason for that. The problem not only affects all 50 states; it also affects the nations from which the immigrants journey. And, as such, it demands an approach that is consistent and uniform from state to state.

Tell that to Texas legislators. Every session, they file bills to tackle the immigration problem, and every session, the bills usually die in committee — deaths that are well deserved. Nevertheless, they persist in their efforts, and this year is no different.

State lawmakers have proposed almost 40 bills on illegal immigration, according to the Associated Press. They range from monitoring records on the immigration status of students to imposing a fee on money wired to Latin America.

One would designate English as the “official” language of Texas — as if it were not the de facto official language already — while another would create a state criminal trespassing charge for undocumented workers — to be enforced by local police.

Most of these bills will suffer the fate of their predecessors — languishing in committee, never to see the light of day. But the amount of time wasted on such nonsense, when there are so many pressing problems facing this state, is beyond absurd. It is reprehensible.

“We need to be focused on what is absolutely appropriate for our state and on real problems, rather than divisive issues,” Sen. Leticia Van de Putte, D-San Antonio, told the Dallas Morning News. The federal government, it is true, has done a miserable job of resolving the problem, but one reason for that is the ugly, divisive rhetoric spewed by many officials at the state level. State legislators should have better things to do. That they do not realize it is a travesty.