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The infamous 287(g) program more often grabs illegal immigrants who commit traffic offenses than felonies, a new study by UNC-Chapel Hill researchers finds.

That wasn't the original purpose, say Mai Thi Nguyen and Hannah Gill, who produced their report for The Latino Migration Project.

The federal Department of Homeland Security says 287(g) -- a section of a 1996 immigration law -- is meant to target violent and serious crimes, not civil immigration violations. It allows local law-enforcement agencies, after certification and training of selected officers, to quickly check the identity, criminal history and immigration status of detained individuals and initiate deportation proceedings if appropriate.

The overall objective was to make communities safer.

Eight North Carolina counties, plus the city of Durham, participate in the program. The number includes Guilford County, which only concentrates on major crimes, Sheriff BJ Barnes said Monday. Nguyen and Gill evaluated the impact in Alamance, Cabarrus, Gaston, Mecklenburg and Wake counties. Their analysis presents a skeptical view.

The sound bite is that "traffic violations far exceeded any other category of charges, representing 32.7 percent of the total charges." Of all the suspects booked through the 287(g) program, "only 13.3 percent were charged with felonies."

This information should force a re-evaluation of priorities. The authors note that it's expensive to operate the program because of the additional training for officers and jail space required to keep illegal immigrants once they're identified and slated for possible deportation. They question whether that's a wise use of public funds when so many of the offenders are only guilty of driving infractions. They have a point.

Sound bites never tell the whole story, however. The felons counted in this study, although only 13.3 percent of the total, represent more than 1,400 individuals. That's no small number of illegal immigrants arrested for serious crimes in just five counties over a study period of about two years. Even if the program casts too wide a net, it pulls in a lot of people we don't want in North Carolina.

Furthermore, the second-leading category of offense was driving while impaired -- 22.5 percent of the total, or more than 2,400 individuals.

The authors assert that, while DWI and other traffic offenses "affect public safety, they are not the serious and violent crimes for which the program is intended to target."

Intent aside, DWI is a serious threat to public safety, and deportation is not too harsh a response when the offender has no right to live in North Carolina and likely has no valid license, either.

On the subject of DWI, Nguyen and Gill fault the media and politicians. Citing the case of Ramiro Gallegos, who killed Gastonia high school teacher Scott Gardner while driving with a blood-alcohol content of 0.22, a revoked license and previous DWI convictions, the authors scold: "Rather than bringing attention to the larger social problem of drunk driving that is pervasive in all race and ethnic groups, the media attention surrounding this tragic event crystallized images of all unauthorized immigrants as dangerous, violent, and undeserving of any rights granted to citizens of the U.S. ... Motivated by this incident, U.S. Representative Sue Myrick introduced the Scott Gardner Act ... that would require mandatory deportation for unauthorized immigrants convicted of a DWI."

In fact, the media commonly highlight drunken-driving deaths committed by people of every race and ethnic origin. They're all outrageous and intolerable. When the offender is an illegal resident, and perhaps one who's been able to shield his real identity in the past, it's only logical to seek expulsion from the country once other punishment has been served.

The authors' research shows no correlation between the growth of immigrant communities in North Carolina and crime rates, dispelling claims that Hispanics, especially, commit more crimes than other groups. That doesn't surprise me, but it's beside the point. When an individual commits a crime, and a background check determines that he is not a legal resident, whatever his nationality, federal authorities should be alerted so that steps can be taken to remove him from the country.

It's not prudent to expend too much time and money trying to deport someone who committed a simple traffic violation, but consulting a federal data base might be the only way to find out whether he's wanted for a serious crime somewhere else. Checking is just good law enforcement.