In his post yesterday, Mark Krikorian faults my analysis of the resistance of local law-enforcement agencies to 287(g) — a program to improve co-ordination of local and federal cops seeking the removal of criminal illegals based on federal immigration law. But it seems to me that he is making my point, not contradicting it.

Anyone who wants to see how great local participation has been can find it here. These 63 participating law-enforcement agencies (of 17,000 nationwide) include several of the most notorious amnesty-providing cities in the nation: Los Angeles and Phoenix. The cops in these cities obviously aren’t deporting anyone for illegal presence alone.

Mark says that ICE discourages participation in 287(g). But the web site above contains a simple online form for agencies that wish to apply. The site also lists the generous federal re-imbusements available to participants.

Now, it is true that ICE can’t approve a great many applicants. But according to former justice department official Kris Kobach, only 42 law enforcement agencies have applications pending.

The total number of local cops trained under this program, according to the site, is 840.

My own take: Local law-enforcement is generally cool to this generous program because federal immigration law, as currently constituted, obstructs rather than advances the serious task of removing bad guys.