Over the past few weeks, about 457,000 people declined an exclusive offer for an expense-paid trip abroad. Nationwide, eight people did sign up for "Operation Scheduled Departure," the Department of Homeland Security's self-deportation pilot program. For others, though, the prospect of voluntarily abandoning their lives in America didn't seem worth the price of flying back on the government's dime.

Immigration authorities had hoped that the friendly approach would entice immigrants with outstanding deportation orders to just ship out, no questions asked.

Reform advocates predicted the initiative's failure, noting the vast numbers of undocumented immigrants who are firmly rooted in the economy and their communities. Groups like the National Immigration Forum say immigration policy should work within that reality, rather than continue to deny it in vain.

Yet the government is bouncing back from its folly by returning to kicking people out the old-fashioned way.

There's a lot of talk about the economic "costs" and "benefits" of immigrants--from the job market, to the black market, to the political economy of Capitol Hill.

Federal authorities have touted aggressive raids as a way to control illegal immigration and choke off undocumented workers' economic base. But things get complicated when, as we've seen here on Long Island and other communities, people caught up in these sweeps turn out to have lives, families, and increasingly, networks of advocates willing to defend the role they have carved out for themselves in their communities.

To counter the vast resources the government poured into its crackdowns, activists are pushing back by supporting undocumented detainees' legal battles. Today, the National Immigrant Bond Fund launched a fund drive with the backing of a wealthy financier and the New York-based Public Interest Projects, along with a grassroots push from Casa De Maryland, an organization that has aided workers detained in a recent raid in Annapolis. The AP reports:

"Illegal immigrants arrested in raids who do not have any outstanding criminal violations can apply for financial assistance. Churches, legal organizations or groups such as Casa help facilitate their requests. The fund provides half the bail money and immigrants must pony up the rest."

Depending on your personal perspective, our immigration policy regime -- currently a hodgepodge of federal, state, and local law enforcement measures mixed with populist impulses -- is too lax, unjustifiably harsh or nonexistent. So is it working? Depends on how you define success.

A conservative think tank in Washington has taken a stab at evaluating the current approach to immigration enforcement by trying to measure its impact on illegal immigration. The Center for Immigration Studies, which advocates for more immigration restrictions, used various government data sources to calculate change in the undocumented population from August 2007 to May 2008. The study found a roughly 11 percent drop, and researchers speculate the trend is tied to increased immigration enforcement.

But the study has attracted criticism from other immigration experts, who say it is skewed by methodological flaws and overgeneralizations about the dynamics of migration and immigrant communities.

How fast can you take 300 people to court? The raid of an Iowa meatpacking plant earlier this year was a grim case study in rapid-response law enforcement. Hundreds of workers at the Agriprocessors plant in Potsville, Iowa were swept up by federal authorities and within days, swiftly processed and convicted through a makeshift court and detention camp set up at a cattle fairgrounds.

The workers, most from Guatemala and unable to communicate with the court in English, were essentially herded through the proceedings with little understanding of what was happening. In the end, 260 people pleaded guilty -- on the promise of less prison time and a chance to return home sooner -- and received five-month prison terms for using false employment-related documents.

Though officials claim that workers’ rights were respected, the Potsville raid signals a shift in immigration enforcement that is shaking up communities from Los Angeles to Long Island.

Before a House panel yesterday, legal observers said the uncanny efficiency of these “fast track” convictions reflects a deeper malaise in immigration policy.

A jeer to Suffolk Legis. Brian Beedenbender, a rookie Democratic legislator from Centereach, whose bogus immigration bill passed the county legislature on Tuesday. Another jeer to County Executive Steve Levy, who seems certain to sign the bill, even though (as we predicted) he has zero intention of hiring extra employees to enforce it. The law purportedly cracks down on undocumented workers by requiring all 17,000 county licensees to verify the immigration status of their workers and pay all the applicable taxes. But existing law covers these requirements already, and without additional enforcement, the new law will accomplish nothing.

A cheer to Legis. Jon Cooper (D-Lloyd Harbor), who tried a little bit of everything to derail the Beedenbender bill. He knew that, once it got to the floor of the legislature, there was little doubt that most legislators would not have the stomach to vote against it. That's exactly what happened. Now he's fielding nasty calls and other harassment from the anti-immigration extremist crowd. And a cheer to Legis. Ricardo Montano (D-Central Islip), who brought a court action to try to stop the vote, and to the two legislators who joined Cooper in voting no: Thomas Barraga (R-West Islip) and Vivian Viloria-Fisher (D-Setauket).