In Mark Tapscotts latest column at Townhall.com, he delves into the catching and releasing of known murderers, rapists and child molesters back into society.

By law, illegal aliens convicted of heinous crimes — rape, murder, child molestation — are to be deported once they've served their jail terms. But lately, thousands of them have simply been let go. And Justice Department officials have refused to release a government database that could help journalists and private citizens find these aliens.

No one knows exactly how many of these criminals there are nationwide, but Cox Newspapers Washington Bureau journalists Eliot Jaspin and Julia Malone examined Georgia state prison records in 2002 and found numerous cases like convicted pedophile Miguel Angel Gordoba. He served a four-year sentence for molesting a 2-year-old girl in Alma, Ga., then disappeared following his release.

Note that Gordoba is not only a child molester, but a known illegal alien who was simply set free upon serving his sentence for the molestation charges.

Federal officials are required by law to deport people like Cordoba when they are released from prison, but immigration officials are often nowhere to be found when the illegal alien felons walk away from jail. Federal investigators say there are thousands of Miguel Angel Gordobas. As scary a prospect as that is, this story gets worse. Much worse.

After finding so many cases in Georgia using state records, the Cox reporters decided to look at federal data to get a better idea of the scope of the problem. They submitted a Freedom of Information Act request to the Justice Department's Office of Justice Programs seeking an electronic copy of all records collected on alien inmates in the government's Grants Management System. The GMS funds are used by Washington to reimburse state and local governments for the cost of incarcerating illegal aliens like Gordoba.

The Justice Department refused to provide any of the data sought by Jaspin and Malone. Why? For three reasons, according to Rachal Madan, Office of Justice Programs' general counsel: (1) the grants data are exempt from disclosure under the FOIA because it concerns matters "of internal significance in which the public has no substantial interest," (2) processing the data "would place an unjustifiable administrative burden" on the Office of Justice Programs, and (3) releasing the data would "constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of (the convicted illegal aliens') personal privacy."

So the government won't release the data because an illegal alien has Freedom of Information Act rights? WTF! Not only that, but they state that it is not in the public's interest to know about these pedophiles, murderers and rapists that are still in the country illegally?

There's more in the column he wrote, but I am just outraged that US Citizens that commit these crimes are released to the public, but somehow because these are illegal aliens we don't have a right to know who they are and where they are living and roaming.

Tipped by: Sabertooth at The Tar Pit who has more to say on this ridiculousness.