Letting cops enforce immigration laws

Citizen frustration with illegal immigration is driven by the refusal of governments to enforce existing law -- the federal government won't adequately secure the Mexican border, and local and state police officers pay little attention to the immigration status of suspects, even when they're arrested for violent crimes.

That could soon change in Clark County, because the Metropolitan Police Department is taking steps to partner with the U.S. Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement in deporting jailed illegals.

The department has applied to join the ICE 287(g) program, which would give eight county jail deputies access to a federal database of known immigration offenders and allow them to document and report foreign-born inmates.

Southern Nevada police currently have no way to learn upon booking whether a suspect is in the country legally. As a result, the department has no idea how many illegals are being incarcerated at the jail at taxpayer expense. Worse, authorities have no idea how many illegals have been set free to commit more crimes.

If the department's 287(g) application is accepted, the jail deputies will be a four-week training course away from gaining the authority to identify jailed illegals and initiating deportation proceedings. Metro would become the 35th local or state police agency to have a place in the ICE chain of command.

That local police must jump through such bureaucratic hoops to get permission to enforce the law says a lot about the federal government's commitment to stopping illegal immigration. But it's far preferable to the status quo. Clark County Sheriff Doug Gillespie deserves credit for recognizing the concerns of local citizens and seeking the partnership with ICE.

This is a reasonable and logical start toward improving enforcement of the nation's immigration laws. Local police will not conduct immigration "sweeps" of day laborers, businesses suspected of employing illegal immigrants or predominantly Hispanic neighborhoods under the pact. The agreement would merely let them take steps to keep drunken drivers, thieves and violent offenders who are in the country illegally from violating our laws yet again.