Officers from Yorkshire’s new immigration crime team have swooped on a number of people who they claim were trying to get around immigration rules by taking part in sham marriages.

While this operation may have been a success in terms of arrests, there is more to it than just that.

The high-profile crackdown could also be seen as an attempt to reassure the public that the law will be robustly enforced.

There is nothing wrong with that, providing the action is part of a long-term plan to tackle illegal immigration rather than just something designed to grab a few easy headlines.

Figures showing a big reduction in the number of suspected sham marriages point to the former rather than the latter, which can only be a good thing – and not just because it means criminals are being brought to justice.

For this country, and indeed area, has a long and proud tradition of welcoming legal immigrants.

They have, in turn, made and continue to make a fantastic contribution to their adopted homeland.

But there is a minority of people who do not rejoice in this and they would seek to exploit the tensions caused by illegal immigration to create rifts between communities where none existed previously.

Enforcement of the rules, through operations such as yesterday’s, is a powerful way to make sure this cannot happen.