I said yesterday that the "illegal" in illegal immigration doesn't seem to mean anything to anyone on either side of the issue anymore. It never really had much meaning from the leftists, and has been diluted to a great extent now on the right.

Well, another phrase seems to have taken on this same semblance of androgyny on the issue of illegal immigration - "Zero Tolerance". Now, I cast no dispersion whatsoever on the men and women protecting our borders day-to-day. They do a fine job with the resources and policies they are handed. This is a policy matter.

Roughly 1000 illegal immigrants are apprehended everyday in the Tucson sector. This is, by vast amounts, the most active area for illegal border crossers. Most of those apprehended are provided with the "catch-and-release" policy of "voluntary return to Mexico" - thus allowing them the opportunity to actually enter the country legally without repercussions. However, the Tucson sector bureaucrats will now be prosecuting 40 per day of these illegal entrants to show that they mean business, as a part of their "zero tolerance" program.

I understand the cost of prosecuting illegal entrants. I understand the burden this places on the court. However, there are two points I would like to make:

Every traffic court in the state handles dozens of cases everyday and no one blinks an eyelash about the burden on the court system. There are prosecuting attorneys there, but no defense attorneys appointed by the court for the benefit of citizens.

Forty indictments per day is not "zero tolerance" It is 960 tolerance.

Update: This is why the "catch-and-release" policies are a bad idea. Hat Tip: Michelle Malkin

Santana Batiz-Aceves, 39, a twice-deported illegal immigrant with a history of drug charges, was arrested about 11:49 a.m. Friday at his Chandler home near Arizona Avenue and Ray Road. He was booked into Maricopa County's Fourth Avenue Jail on suspicion of 25 felonies, including kidnapping, child molestation, sexual abuse, sexual conduct with a minor, aggravated assault, burglary and trespassing.