Bureaucracy and Red Tape is same everywhere in the world!!!

When I was in India I would often be bewildered and frustrated by the way government functioned. The way center and states fought with each other and bureaucrats hindered the work. The end result would be to slow down the over progress of the nation. I was under the impression that this kind of tussling and infighting happened only in nations like India where there is enormous diversity in culture, language, religion, traditions, etc.

Boy, was I wrong... this seems to be the norm everywhere in the world, even in the supposedly most developed, richest, and powerful nation in the world - the US. Recently I heard a news item on KERA, a member station of National Public Radio that confirmed to me beyond doubt that bureaucracy and red tape most often hinder a nation's progress because of their obstinacy to follow rules by the letter.

Illegal immigration has been a problem of this continent since the first ship landed from Europe, bringing hordes of white people who massacred and decimated native populations to establish what is known today as the United States of America. This post is not about that historical illegal immigration, but about the recent issues since the modern democracies were established across the world post World War II. States of the US bordering Mexico, Texas, Arizona, New Mexico and California, have the largest influx of illegal immigrants historically.

The Federal government has been attempting to stem this influx by putting in place several measures that included installation of border fences, employing border patrols, deporting illegal immigrants, etc. At local government level one Texas city attempted to discourage illegal immigration by passing a law that prevented land lords from renting properties/ homes/ apartments to people who don't have legal standing to stay in this country. Logically speaking I would have expected the Federal government to applaud this measure and encourage other cities to pass similar laws.

Unfortunately this didn't happen, on the contrary a Dallas Federal Judge struck down this law on the grounds that controlling illegal immigration was the job of federal government alone. This sends out a serious message to the people in local governments and also to the illegal immigrants. The latter rejoice because now even if a local government official is aware of their status, he/ she can't do anything about it, only the federal government can take action.

Taking the judges logic to its extreme I wonder if common people should keep quiet if they see a crime taking place. Fighting the crime is the job of Police, so citizens should just report and watch quietly as the incident takes place. I would like to know other people's opinions on this.