In examining the problem of illegal immigration – the topic which provokes the greatest number of comments from readers – I have never hidden my skepticism of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids on American businesses. These law enforcement operations are nothing but splashy propaganda and they disrupt the labor process. Only very naïve people could hope that millions of illegal immigrants would get frightened, quit their jobs and start returning en masse to their native countries.

My opinion, which I have voiced many times, is that the ICE should stop terrorizing employers and dragging off workers to the slammer and start directing their efforts at deporting illegal immigrant criminals.

If there is anyone who threatens our security, it is they. It cannot be said that law enforcement bodies have not taken on the criminal mentality of illegal immigrants. However, ICE agents could have achieved far more significant results by concentrating their efforts on one more important area.

This year things seem to have gotten off the ground. In October the leadership of the ICE announced that over 1,700 illegal immigrant members of street gangs were arrested under Operation Community Shield, which lasted four months. Among those arrested were many criminal “authorities” engaged in robbery, drug dealing and murder.

Can the shift from raids on businesses to the hunt for illegal immigrant criminals be a sign of changes in ICE priorities?

To a certain extent, yes. And this adjustment cannot be explained so much by the willingness of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and its ICE component to listen to the opinion of people like your humble servant, as by the financial considerations of law enforcement officers.

The problem is that Democrats, who hold the majority in Congress, have not hidden the fact that they want to make significant changes in the way the ICE works. We are prepared, they stated, to increase financing for homeland security and to allocate more money for ICE operations, but with one condition. The priority must become uncovering, arresting and deporting illegal immigrant criminals. The success of Operation Community Shield is proof that this appeal was heard.

This September Congress approved a bill allocating the DHS $5 billion for the 2009 fiscal year and President Bush signed this bill into law. This law expressly stipulates that $1 billion must be used strictly for catching and deporting illegal immigrants who have committed major infractions. Rep. David Price (D-NC), chairman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security, insisted on this provision increasing subsidies with the consent of Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff.

Critics of Rep. Price and the Democrats say that he played his cards deftly, adding important points to the Democrat’s campaign piggy bank. And this is the case. The $1 billion ICE subsidy was meant to show voters that Democrats care no less than Republicans about the security of our country. At the same time, they think it is better to expend energy on the arrest and deportation of criminals from immigrant communities than on loud but ineffective raids on businesses.

The Democrats skillfully fought off charges that they did not want to combat illegal immigrants in general by allocating for raids (the price of compromise) $127 million ($34 million more than the Bush Administration requested). There was nothing else for Chertoff to do than to thank Price for this as well.

It’s understandable that the Democrats could not insist on completely phasing out the raids on businesses; however, there is obviously not cause to hope that raids will be used more widely than they have been in recent years. Congressional leaders made it perfectly clear to Chertoff and the ICE what specifically it is that our law enforcement officers should be looking into.

Incidentally, human rights organizations are unsatisfied. “It is our opinion that Congress should have completely stopped allocating money for raids on businesses,” stated Joanna Lin, legal counsel to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). “We have many facts at our disposal: during these raids, permanent residents and American citizens were subject to arrest and detention along with illegal immigrants. We do not believe that taxpayers think federal money should be spent in this way.”

In March of this year, the ACLU obtained a judgment requiring the ICE to allow those arrested during raids to meet with lawyers. In late September, Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-MA) and Sen. Robert Menendez (R-FL) introduced legislation protecting illegal immigrants working at American businesses from arrest and deportation. If the Democrats end up with 60 seats in the Senate, it is possible that the Kennedy-Menendez bill will become law.

As far as illegal immigrant criminals are concerned, their deportation should only be welcomed. In the 2008 fiscal year, ICE efforts to uncover illegal immigrants serving sentences in American prisoners became more intense: 220,000 people were subject to deportation. By comparison, 5,000 deportation orders were drawn up for people who had been detained during raids.

The bill signed by President Bush allocated $150 million in the 2009 fiscal year for expenses related to the deportation of illegal immigrants behind bars.

It is perfectly clear to me, personally, who specifically should be caught and deported. What about you, readers?