Editorial: Penny wise, pound foolish

Published 6:59 am Tuesday, February 28, 2012

The federal government has run deficits of $1 trillion or more for the past four years. Federal debt is more than $15 trillion and growing. And the best budget-cutting idea the Obama administration can come up with is curtailing a program that helps local law enforcement catch illegal aliens?

The Department of Homeland Security’s proposed 2013 budget, released last week, calls for saving $17 million by not signing new 287(g) contracts and canceling the “least productive” of those agreements.

The Whitfield County Sheriff’s Office has taken part in the program, which trains and authorizes local law enforcement officials to enforce immigration laws, for the past four years. Sheriff’s office officials say they believe they will not be affected by the proposed cuts.

“We’ve been tremendously successful — we’ve been able to catch some serious felony criminals through this program and (it’s) helping to process illegal aliens,” Maj. John Gibson told The Daily Citizen.

Data provided by the sheriff’s office show deputies interviewed 672 inmates in 2011 who were suspected of being illegal aliens, with 443 detained for further evaluation. Fifteen were found to be aggravated felons; 358 were ordered to appear in court for adjudication of offenses; 37 were found to have been deported, re-entering the country but processed for removal again; and 13 were already ordered to be deported. Two were found not to have committed serious crimes but were still in the country illegally.

But those sort of numbers may not save 287(g) in the long run.

Jessica Vaughn, of the Center for Immigration Studies, says the Obama administration may be trying to end the program entirely.

“This may just be the first step, but they can’t get away with eliminating the program entirely because there’s a lot of support in Congress and among the sheriffs nationwide for 287(g). So they can’t get away with eliminating it entirely, so they’re going to try to starve it to death,” she said.

The program has done a great deal to take dangerous illegal aliens off our streets. It would be a mistake to curtail its use. If the Obama administration persists in trying to cut its budget, we hope Congress will put that money back in.