Back in September of last year, I asked a question about how the idea would go over if a federal system allows local deputies and police to identify and deport illegal immigrants after they are charged with other crimes.

The system, called 287(g), is seen as an alternative to the current practice of routinely letting them go after they are charged with minor offenses. Instead, if they are found to be in the country illegally, they could be deported instead of allowed back on the streets.

Rutherford County Sheriff Truman Jones claimed that in the last four years, more than 700 illegal immigrants have been arrested in Rutherford County and that deportation is a safety and security issue for the county.

Well, perhaps now we will find out if 287(g) will work here. Sheriff Randall Boyce and his staff are taking a serious look at this federal system and so far, they seem to like what they see.

It's a shame that the federal government is either so incapable or reluctant to do their jobs that they have to rely on local officials, but it appears to be the only way to get things done in this regard. The recent immigration vote in the Senate showed that this is an incredibly emotional and divisive topic, and one that will not be solved easily.

Two years ago, the number of Hispanics in Bedford County was listed at 10 percent, which is what I thought the current figure was. But new numbers from the U.S. Census showed that that statistic had jumped to 11.7 percent in just one year's time.

With federal officials telling the sheriff that the number of Hispanics living in the county are likely twice the head count from the government, it is obvious that illegal immigration is getting out of control.

With stories related to me like the fellow who checked into jail with eight different names, it is painfully obvious that identify theft is going to be the next problem we face.

And when officials warn this writer of signs of MS-13 and the Mexican Mafia moving onto area turf, it's time to watch your back. This writer has already seen "Brown Pride" spray painted on the side of a building on the Shelbyville Public Square. This must stop.

Another prime example of why the 287(g) system is needed occurred recently in nearby Columbia, where authorities there are looking for a suspected illegal immigrant they believe raped a 15-year-old girl only hours after being released from jail.

They are looking for 24 year-old Juan Villa. He's been in jail 11 times since 2001 on charges that include assault and public intoxication, according to the Associated Press. They let him go last Friday and cops think he committed the rape just hours later. While investigating the first crime, a 13-year-old girl also told deputies that Villa raped her.

Had the system been in place years ago, the suspect would have already been sent home, and none of the above alleged crimes would have been inflicted on these children.

Bringing in the 287(g) system to our area is a welcome move. As the sheriff said, if you don't end up in jail, you have nothing to worry about.

*

Tuesday was the day that "Our Very Own" was released on DVD.

It was just a shame that you couldn't find a copy in a store anywhere in Shelbyville.

First thing Tuesday, I went to the popular big box retailer here to get a shot of their display for the front page of the paper.

But there wasn't any. According to a store associate, their vendor sent them nothing.

"We're very, very upset," the lady said.

She wasn't the only one. I was then told the DVD was available on their website, but if you walk into a store wanting something right then, you are likely just to go elsewhere to find it rather than ordering online and then waiting a week or more for it to be shipped.

And not everybody shops on the Internet, especially in rural areas like we live in. According to recent statistics, 63 percent of customers ended up buying what they are looking for in an actual physical store while the other 37 percent ended up completing their purchases online.

Then the calls started flooding into our office: No one could find a copy of the movie that was filmed here anywhere in town. When I told them of the online purchase option, just about everyone I spoke to refused to use the Internet, either because they don't use credit cards or they are afraid of identification theft.

That's a terrible way of doing business: Not offering a product in high demand in the place it was made, and then referring customers to a method that almost two thirds can't or won't use. You can't blame the local managers, though. Apparently, they told higher ups about the likely demand for the movie weeks ago, but their pleas fell on deaf ears.

"There's nothing we can do about it," one manager told me, citing decisions made by those in the distribution segment of the mega-company.

It's an infuriating thing when a customer is told that "our distributors will not allow me to sell this to you," yet those are the exact words this writer has heard from area stores. It is insulting. "Yes sir, the customer is always right" and "I can order it for you" has turned into "we're the only game in town and you'll just have to deal with it."

Did no local merchants plan ahead and stock up for this? Or are we all at the mercy of some sinister cabal of corporate distribution managers and beancounters who decides what we can and can not buy?

Since so many mom and pop outfits have closed in small towns like ours over the past 20 years and just about every community in the region has had the same carbon copy retailers taking their place, shopping choices have dwindled to only what these same gargantuan chains offer.

We now see the result.