On two different but crucial issues, our state and national leaders are dumping too much extra work on local law enforcement over their unwillingness or inability to solve the problem at its source.

The issues: Immigration and sex offenders. With both, law officers are put in the position of enforcing difficult mandates instead of focusing their resources elsewhere in their quest to keep our neighborhoods safe.

Start with immigration. Congress has failed to pass substantive reform that both secures our borders and finds a way to deal with the 12 million or more illegal immigrants living in the United States. That passed the buck to the states, which are crafting their own hodgepodge of laws meant to crack down on where undocumented migrants live, work and learn.

Local jurisdictions are doing the same, their goal not so much to end illegal immigration at its source, which is beyond their reach, but to force these folks to move out. That merely shuffles the problem along to someone else's city, county or state.

Locally, Oakwood was the most recent city to pass ordinances aimed at discouraging illegal residents from taking root. It won't solve the problem, but local jurisdictions are doing what little they can to mitigate the symptoms of a national epidemic that no one seems able to cure.

"This is sort of becoming prevalent across the country, where lots of cities are just frustrated that the federal government is not doing their job," Oakwood City Attorney Donnie Hunt said.

Also caught in the middle are local police and sheriff's departments, who now have to verify the legal status of people they detain for whatever cause. It's one more layer of paperwork and responsibility they didn't need.

In December, Hall County Sheriff's Office employees were among those in 66 departments nationwide that entered a training program with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency to process illegal immigrants who find their way into the legal system. Included is a database local officials need to check the status of those they detain. From there, illegal immigrants are passed on to the ICE for whatever fate may await them, often deportation.

This training is necessary because law officials say that illegal immigrants are heavily involved in drug trafficking and gang-related crime in Hall and area counties.

\"With all my heart, I wish the federal government would do the job that they're supposed to be doing, and that's why I think you're seeing local jurisdictions getting involved," Hall County Sheriff Steve Cronic said. "But in absence of that, and given the fact that we're seeing so much of it in our quality of life issues with drugs, violent crimes or gangs, someone has to step up and do something."

For that reason, credit Cronic and his department for their proactive approach by taking on the proper training and by forming an important partnership with federal authorities. Yet it's a shame that law officers have to add this extra layer to their workloads. It's another example of how our national leaders' failure to act can trickle down to the local level.

On the second issue, sex offenders, blame the state not for inaction but overreaching. The legislature passed a strict law two years ago that bans convicted sex offenders from living or working within 1,000 feet of a place where children gather. That law was struck down last year by the state Supreme Court as overly restrictive.

Lawmakers are taking it up again this session, with only minor changes to the original law. The key change ­-- allowing sex offenders who own their own home to stay put when a school, day care center or bus stop relocates nearby -- is a worthwhile revision, and may help it pass judicial review. But the overall intent remains to create a bill that looks better on paper than it does in reality.

As it is, the law forces local officials to verify the proximity of sex offenders to schools and the like, to the point of pulling out the tape measure. But does it matter much if a convicted predator lives within 1,000 feet or 1,050 feet of a school? It would seem that anyone who would prey on children could find a way to overcome the extra distance.

The real solution to keeping sexual offenders in line is to keep close tabs on them by knowing where they live and work. Forcing them to move may only scatter them, often sending them underground and off law enforcement's radar where they can't be watched.

And the legislature also hasn't addressed the distinction between a true pedophile who threatens children and a youthful offender who engaged in sexual behavior with a fellow teenager. Common sense would indicate that there's a big difference in the level of danger they both pose, a distinction lawmakers won't acknowledge. That creates a longer list of offenders to be watched, further complicating the issue. A more targeted list of true predators would be easier to manage.

Whatever hand our local police and deputies are dealt in enforcing sexual offender laws and illegal immigrants, they'll do their best to enforce the law with the resources they have. We applaud them for their efforts and diligence in working to keep us safe despite the difficult tasks they face.

But in the long run, we hope our political leaders will think through these issues more carefully and craft laws that creative effective solutions, not just political cover for themselves.