Jail checks raise certain concerns

It's been seven months since Costa Mesa began checking the citizenship status of suspects arrested, and the numbers are telling: More than 300 have been detained for possibly committing crimes after crossing into the country illegally.

"We feel that the removal of hundreds of criminals from our society is a positive step forward, not something defend from a handful of vocal dissenters," said council members Allan Mansoor, Eric Bever and Wendy Leece, in a written statement. "The deportation of individuals who have committed crimes clearly demonstrates we are being accountable to our community by upholding the law, and that the existing law is not broken but simply needs to be upheld at all levels of government."

How many of those 300-plus have been charged with crimes or deported remains unclear. What is clear is that the process of having a federal immigration official check the citizenship status of those arrested is having a big impact.

Is it a positive or a negative one? That depends on who you talk to. Some say it's just what we need. Others call it draconian, inhumane.

We at the Daily Pilot feel that if violent criminals are being taken off the streets, charged with crimes and, if proven to be here illegally, deported to their homelands, the policy is working.

Nobody wants criminal types coming over the border to commit crimes. But what steps are being taken to ensure that deported criminals don't return to our country and to our streets? What if nonviolent criminals are being deported, leaving behind families? Taking away their sole support of income could prove taxing on society.

Santa Ana is considering declaring itself a safe haven for illegal immigrants. What would that mean for Costa Mesa? Shouldn't officials from both cities talk over their seemingly contradictory approaches?

These questions need to be asked, and answered. Only then can we make a fair judgment of Costa Mesa's policy of keeping a federal agent at its city jail.