Our View: Immigration enforcement proves costly

Editor's note: This editorial first appeared in the Gastonia (N.C) Gazette, a sister paper of the Appeal-Democrat in Freedom Communications Inc. Immigration detainees are housed at the Yuba County Jail and many other facilities in California.

Residents who may consider themselves willing to pay any price to see local government address illegal immigration got a look last week at a bill for $175,000.

That figure represents the estimated yearly cost of three new positions at the Gaston County Jail, two deputies and a sergeant for the Immigration and Customs Enforcement program. They would join 10 deputies with ICE training currently investigating suspected illegal immigrants at the jail. County commissioners approved the new jobs, 6-1.

Bear in mind that when a government or a business creates positions for new employees, salaries represent only part of the total cost. In this case, base salaries count for $116,000. The rest of the expense comes from benefits, training and other items. Also, remember that salary increases can drive those numbers higher over time. The county budget administrator estimates that by 2013, that $175,000 yearly figure could exceed $210,000.

Commissioner Jack Brown, who cast the lone dissenting vote against the new jobs, made an interesting point: "That's a lot of tax money that's basically from the federal government not doing its job," he said. "We're not talking about a few dollars here."

Nor are we necessarily talking about getting illegal immigrants "off the streets." The ICE program involves investigating people already in jail. Deputies interview them and enter their names into federal computer databases. During a nine-month period in 2007, the county jail saw 363 inmates interviewed and 302 processed for possible deportation.

We don't dispute the idea that foreign-born people living in the United States illegally are, by definition, lawbreakers. It's a valid point, but not really the end of the discussion. The question here involves the amount of resources the public wants to commit, realistically, at the local, state and national levels. A definitive answer may prove elusive because of all the contradictory evidence, some of it less than scientific, about illegal immigration's effects. It seems that every negative pinned to illegal immigrants has a rejoinder, and vice versa.

Commissioners who voted for the new jobs said they believe most voters support the ICE program regardless of the cost. Even so, at some point taxpayers might find it worth their time to weigh the costs — which present themselves in concrete terms — versus the benefits — which prove harder to measure tangibly.