What should we think of the fact that the National Council of La Raza is telling us that it is once again permissible for us to do business with the state of Arizona?

La Raza had called for a boycott of Arizona businesses as a gesture of opposition to the measures it passed back in 2010 to try to get local officials involved in federal immigration enforcement.

THE MOST EGREGIOUS portions of those laws never did take effect, and they are tangled up in court battles that are likely to last for years. Although one could argue that the laws still remain, in a sense, and that the people who pushed for them have now locked themselves in so tightly that compromise and rational thought are no longer possible.

So where’s the victory?

La Raza officials issued a statement at the end of last week saying they are declaring victory on the grounds that many other states that hinted they would follow Arizona’s lead politically never did so.

They saw the amount of hostility they would have to face, and figured it wasn’t worth it.

AND AS FOR the few states that persisted in such thought – such as Alabama, Georgia and South Carolina – they also face the same legal wrangling that Arizona does.

In short, La Raza is claiming they have shown just how ridiculous these local enforcement measures truly are. Personally, I’d like to think that everybody would realize that level of ridiculousness up front.

I guess some people need to go through a long, drawn-out court battle in order to learn that lesson.

Yet a part of me can’t help but think that declaring “victory” at this point is ridiculously premature.

JUST LIKE, “MISSION Accomplished!”

Perhaps La Raza has a touch of George W. Bush in them. It’s too bad they couldn’t make their announcement from a battle carrier or ship of some sort. Wasn’t the U.S.S. Cesar Chavez available?

To me, victory will come when they day arrives that significant reforms in our immigration policy is implemented. What we have now is nothing more than a stalemate.

And trying to claim that our ability to thwart the conservative ideologues from implementing their most mean-spirited measures is somehow “victory” is just ridiculously absurd.

WE’RE AT A point where a whole lot of nothing is getting accomplished.

Nobody is winning.

I’d argue that we’re all suffering – even those ideologues who are at the heart of the problem because they want flawed immigration policies that do nothing more than reinforce their own ethnic hang-ups.

Ultimately, a revamping of the immigration policy will enable a lot of people who are forced into our society’s shadows to come out and live in the open – which certainly is something that benefits us all.

PEOPLE IN THE shadows are able to accomplish nothing of long-lasting value.

Even some of the partial reform measures, such as the DREAM Act, would be beneficial because it would allow people who have been living the bulk of their lives in this country to advance their lot in life – which makes them of more value to society as a whole.

This game is far from over. Anybody claiming any gesture as one of victory just can’t be taken seriously.

Then again, maybe these are the kind of people who think the Milwaukee Brewers beat the Chicago White Sox on May 9, 1985 when they scored three runs in the 21st inning to take a lead.

ANY BASEBALL FAN worth anything knows full well the White Sox managed to tie that game up, and it took another four innings of play before that ballgame – the longest-ever in major league history – came to a close.

Because that’s what this immigration battle feels like at times, an extra-inning ballgame where nobody is gaining ground on the opposition.