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Opinion: May 17 buzz: Deporting criminal illegal immigrants; getting California’s high-speed train back on track

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Most viewed: California’s high-speed train wreck

Readers are still tuning in to Monday’s editorial about how the state’s plan to build a bullet train ‘has become a monument to the ways poor planning, mismanagement and political interference can screw up major public works.’

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Most commented and shared: Lee Baca: Let us deport the bad guys

L.A. County Sheriff Lee Baca’s Op-Ed article about Secure Communities defends the program as a valuable tool for deporting criminal illegal immigrants. In his piece, he recalls two recent arrests as proof that Secure Communities works, and he also clarifies:

Arresting officials are not deputized to enforce immigration laws. They are simply doing what they have always done. The only difference is that under Secure Communities, the fingerprints they take during the booking process are run through FBI and Department of Homeland Security databases.Across the United States, sheriffs and police chiefs have voiced their support for this program. As law enforcers, it is our job to use all available resources to protect citizens and uphold the rule of law. Like members of Congress and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, I see the removal of criminal illegal immigrants as a top priority in securing both the nation and our communities.

For the most part, readers side with Baca’s take on how to handle illegal immigrants who’ve committed a crime. But there are some readers who comment with other suggestions, while others use the discussion board as a forum to address Baca on other matters. Here’s a sampling, with spelling errors corrected:

What we should do is enforce our immigration laws and cut ALL aid to illegal immigrants and require parents of children in public schools prove they are legal residents or citizens before enrolling a child. In addition, employers should be fined heavily for hiring illegal immigrants. If we do this, illegal immigrants will leave voluntarily. --35clara The rest of the world must laugh and giggle about how naive too many Americans are in regard to illegal immigration. The illegals know they are breaking the law and they know they can get away with it. The fabric of our nation is being torn. Legal immigration yes, illegal immigrants DEPORT and charge their respective countries or reduce their way to generous aid. --freddyvanmac It seems surreal to me that Baca should feel moved to defend something this basic and elementary to public safety and law enforcement. --GregMaragos Baca, it’s going to take more than one stilted and tendentious op-ed piece to restore the public’s faith in you, in light of your own ethics failings. Nice try, though. --SeanRoaney

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--Alexandra Le Tellier

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