287(g) a Victim of Its Own Effectiveness?
I read the GAO report cited in this AJC article, and so can you (PDF). The report did not criticize the program’s effectiveness, as alleged by AJC reporter Rhonda Cook. The report did criticize the program’s administration and, maybe, rightfully so. If the 287(g) program was intended to focus law enforcement resources on only the most violent or repetitive illegal alien offenders, then so be it.
But common sense will tell you that an illegal alien arrested locally for driving without a license is no less in the country illegally than the illegal alien rapist. Further, both constitute a measurable drain on public resources; whether it be the cost of incarcerating and housing them or the cost of schooling and providing healthcare for their family members.
If the 287(g) program wasn’t designed to address all illegal alien arrestees, perhaps it should be.
A recent Government Accountability Office report questioned its effectiveness. GAO, the investigative arm of Congress, reported that authorities failed to determine how many of the thousands of people deported under the program were the kind of violent felons it was devised to root out.
