In case you missed it, we reported today on an ambitious new effort by the feds to crack down on illegal immigrants. The basic goal is to deport all illegal immigrants who are already in jails and prisons. I’ll include an excerpt from our story here, but one part of ICE’s plan could raise serious problems: Granting early parole to immigrants convicted of non-violent crimes if they agree to be deported. Shouldn’t they do the time for the crime? I wonder what victims of their crimes would feel about that?

ICE says the parole program has been successful in New York and Arizona and wants to expand it to four other states by the end of the 2008 fiscal year.

The U.S. Homeland Security department has launched an ambitious nationwide effort that would cost $2 billion to $3 billion a year to identify and deport the estimated 300,000 to 450,000 illegal immigrants locked up each year in jails and prisons.

The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement operation was denounced by immigrant rights groups and received cautiously by those favoring tighter enforcement.

”We can do something few law enforcement agencies can do: Not only ensure criminals are off the streets, but ensure they are removed from the country,” said ICE spokesman Tim Counts.

ICE has a presence in only 10 percent of the nation’s 3,100 local lockups. Last year, it filed deportation charges against 164,000 illegal immigrants in jail, and removed 95,000, Counts said.

The recently announced ICE effort, known as “Secure Communities,” will upgrade computer technology in jails and allow local jailers to access ICE’s fingerprint database to quickly identify prisoners with immigration violations as they are booked.

The program would also:

• Prioritize removal of criminal immigrants based on their danger to the community.

• Expand an early parole program for non-violent immigrants who agree to deportation.

• Add staff in field offices so ICE detention officers are available around-the-clock to assist local jailers in deportation.

• Increase the 287 (g) program, which trains state and local law enforcement officers to perform immigration duties.