What does it take before a person is deported from Canada? Apparently, being charged with heroin trafficking, gun running or extortion in another country sometimes is not enough. That is one of the disturbing conclusions that can be drawn from a Star investigation that shows six men wanted by Italian authorities for serious Mafia-related offences are living openly in the Greater Toronto Area.

All six claim they are innocent victims of mistaken identity. Although Canadian police have the men under surveillance, federal immigration officials inexplicably appear to have done little to send them back to face justice. Ottawa's inaction on these cases brings Canada's immigration system into disrepute once again.

For years, the federal government has failed miserably at removing foreigners who stay here illegally and those who are facing criminal charges abroad.

A lengthy report in 2003 by Auditor-General Sheila Fraser documented years of mismanagement at Citizenship and Immigration Canada.The cases revealed this week by the Star should prod Ottawa at last to plug long-standing holes in the immigration system by beefing up lax screening and cleaning up a backlog of thousands of people who remain in Canada illegally despite outstanding orders for their removal.

The integrity of our immigration process depends on it.

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