Nobody knows

Almost 200 people are booked into the Clark County Detention Center in downtown Las Vegas on a typical day. Most are fingerprinted and photographed.

But the 30 or so foreign-born individuals booked each day face an extra step. A specially trained officer runs their names or fingerprints through a federal immigration database in an attempt to determine whether they're in the country legally, or are eligible to be deported.

Most turn out to be here legally. But in about 10 cases a day, the proverbial red light starts to flash.

The officer has the authority to place an "immigration detainer" on those found to be deportable. Some of those illegal immigrants are then held after they would otherwise be released, so they can be turned over to federal immigration officials.

Clark County Sheriff Doug Gillespie estimates his department spends $1.3 million a year to staff the aforementioned 287(g) program, under which those specially trained deputies refer jail inmates suspected of being illegals to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Since November 2008, local police have placed immigration detainers on 2,722 inmates. But Sheriff Gillespie's men decided not to refer more than 2,300 additional inmates believed to be in the country illegally because they had no prior criminal history and had been booked on "minor" charges.

"We're focusing on higher level criminals," explains Lt. Rich Forbus. "We're not going to refer somebody for jaywalking."

And how about the 2,722 "more serious" accused criminals referred to ICE for deportation? How many were actually deported? Nobody knows.

Up until this week, ICE said it didn't track removals that way. Nobody could find out how long it took to deport such multiple law-breakers -- or even how many got "thrown back," in the manner of fishermen practicing "catch-and-release." Only this week -- after the Review-Journal publicized this lack of responsiveness and accountability -- did local ICE officials promise to start keeping track.

Perhaps now the sheriff -- and the taxpayers who foot the bill -- will be able to determine whether this $1.3 million is a worthwhile use of funds.

In real life, few criminals are actually booked into the Clark County jail for an offense as minor as "jaywalking." By the time an illegal alien is booked into jail, police have strong reason to believe he or she has committed a serious crime or crimes against property or person, in addition to violating our immigration laws.

Illegal immigration has reached crisis proportions. ICE should be put on a wartime footing. Then, as time allows, here's hoping they deign to file occasional, case-by-case progress reports with local law enforcement, informing taxpayers whether these bloated federal budgets are actually paying for anything ... as promised.