Federal immigration officials picked the wrong case when they decided to prosecute and try to deport four Phoenix high school students living illegally in the United States. But it was exactly the right case to illustrate the sort of people who would benefit under the proposed federal DREAM Act that would allow students to become citizens after high school graduation. The case was thrown out on Thursday because officers targeted the students based on their appearance. Nevertheless, all still face possible deportation because the government may appeal. But it was wrong then to round up the students based on racial profiling. It's just as wrong now to continue an attempt to deport them. All four students - Jaime Damian, 20; Yuliana Huicochea, 20; Oscar Corona, 20; and Luis Nava, 21 - were Wilson High School students taking part in a solar-powered-boat competition in 2002 near Buffalo, N.Y. They planned to go to the Canadian side of Niagara Falls when they were apprehended by immigration authorities. Federal agents became suspicious when one of their teachers asked whether the students could use student identifications to re-enter the United States. During court proceedings they testified they were aggressively questioned, and the agents made racially tinged comments in front of them. The case was thrown out when the judge ruled that key evidence based on racial profiling would not be admitted. These students should remain in the United States, and they are examples of why the DREAM (Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors) Act should be passed by Congress. All were brought here as children by their parents. They are ethnically Hispanic and were born outside the United States but were raised here and are culturally mainstream Americans. They are achievers. The fact that they were taking part in an international science competition when they were apprehended has not been lost in the legal proceedings. Every one of them has graduated from high school. Three are attending community college. Nava, 21, this month received his business degree from Arizona State University. If they were deported, the students would be going back to an unfamiliar country. And they would be doing so after having been separated from their parents and families. This case, as we said, is bigger than the individual students. And it is not unique. At stake, the Phoenix students know, is the proposed law aimed at people brought here as children. It would legalize students who have "grown up here, stayed in school and kept out of trouble," according to the National Immigration Law Center. Across the country, about 65,000 students who meet those criteria graduate from high school each year. The DREAM Act was introduced by Sen. Orrin Hatch, R.-Utah, and has bipartisan support. But congressional leaders did not allow a vote before the previous session ended in December. The prosecutors have said they will appeal this case. They should not. To pursue a case against four foreign-born Americanized people makes the federal government appear malicious. And it does nothing to soothe racial and ethnic tensions in this country. Nor does separating families by punishing the children for the acts of their parents make much sense. The Phoenix four were stunned by the favorable outcome of their case. Now they say they will continue to work for passage of the DREAM Act. They have won at least a reprieve, and we believe allowing them to reach their dreams as American citizens would only be appropriate. - M.H.