May.29, 2010, 06:51 PM

If bombast about illegal immigration were money in the bank, Arizona would not have a budget deficit. Talk is easy.

But a few Arizona politicians are actually doing something valuable.

They are: Democratic Attorney General Terry Goddard, Republican interim Maricopa County Attorney Rick Romley and Republican Congressman Jeff Flake.

Goddard made tangible progress. The big cash settlement he won from Western Union last February was the result of tenacious efforts to stop money laundering.

Western Union didn't admit it was being used as a conduit for smugglers to move hundreds of millions in ransom for migrants held in drophouses all over the Valley. But legal challenges from Goddard's office led to a $94 million settlement and an agreement by Western Union to change internal policies and give law enforcement access to information on money transfers.

"If you are going to be serious about stopping border crime, you have to do the interdiction and the suppression. You have to control the border," Goddard said, adding that this is a failed federal responsibility.

He saw the crime-fighting power of his state office begin to "simply shut off the return money that goes to the pocketbook of the cartels."

Last week, Goddard announced that some of the money from the Western Union settlement went to establish a Border Crime Prosecution Team that will continue going after border criminals. Coordinated state and federal efforts will operate out of the Border Patrol's International Operation Control Center in Tucson.

In addition, $50 million from the settlement will fund grants to local law enforcement through a four-state border alliance that involves Arizona, Texas, New Mexico and California.

Goddard's efforts got far less attention than Sheriff Joe Arpaio's immigration sweeps. But, unlike Arpaio's antics, what Goddard did shows the ability to distinguish a bad guy from a busboy.

Too much of the sound and fury about the border has been aimed at vulnerable migrants instead of real criminals.

Former Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas, for example, perverted a state law that was designed to go after criminal smugglers. He and Arpaio collected bags of publicity by using the law to charge migrants as "co-conspirators" in human smuggling.

With the calm demeanor of an adult, Rick Romley took over from Thomas and announced that this would no longer be the case. He recognized that those who are coming here to work - even illegally - are not as culpable as smugglers who specialize in kidnapping, extortion, rape and murder.

Romley knows the difference between law enforcement and a circus act.

Jeff Flake, who represents the East Valley in Congress, also showed the ability to sift through the silliness and find some substance.

Earlier this month, Flake hosted a meeting with Immigration Works, a national pro-business reform group.

The goal was to educate congressional staffers from both parties about the negative impact on various sectors of the economy because of the failure to enact comprehensive reform.

These three politicians - Goddard, Romley and Flake - showed that it is possible to do something productive about the chaos on the border.

In today's atmosphere, that's worth applauding.