Last week, law enforcement officials in Baltimore revealed the outcome of a joint state, local and federal crackdown called “Operation Tornado Alley” that surely lived up to its stormy title: Four violent crime organizations dismantled, nearly 40 people criminally charged (so far) with dozens of illegal guns, a fleet of stolen vehicles as well as a slew of narcotics in custody. It has been years since police produced such sweeping results in a single campaign and those involved were justifiably proud — including federal authorities who have connected those firearms through a national ballistics database to no fewer than 47 shootings.

And what else is crucial to recognize in this closely coordinated effort? It had nothing to do with rounding up immigrants. According to the Office of the Baltimore City State’s Attorney, not one of the suspects is undocumented or involved in human trafficking or other immigration issues. This was a case of simply going after individuals who were breaking the law — the effort started as a Baltimore Police Department investigation — and then doing old-fashioned police work, including wiretaps, to gather evidence before executing late-night raids.

Now contrast that to the ambitions of President-elect Donald Trump and his chosen “border czar,” Tom Homan, to conduct mass deportations of the undocumented. It is one thing to go after criminal drug dealers, murderers or human traffickers but it’s not at all clear that the Trump administration intends to make a distinction between serious lawbreakers and men, women and children who simply entered this country without legal documentation and may now be leading productive lives, working, paying taxes, raising families. That leaves state and local law enforcement in a quandary: Cooperate with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement or not?

The most reasonable position would be to promise cooperation if federal authorities are truly going after serious lawbreakers but not if their intention is simply to conduct mass roundups. The latter form of crackdown would be costly — distracting police and prosecutors from serious efforts like Operation Tornado Alley while fomenting distrust in targeted Latino neighborhoods and diverting precious law enforcement resources. Yet when local leaders like Denver Mayor Mike Johnston suggest local police won’t be catering to mass deportations, Homan threatens to put the Democrat in jail.

“Me and the Denver mayor, we agree on one thing,” Homan told Fox News’ Sean Hannity. “He’s willing to go to jail, I’m willing to put him in jail.”

Such hard-headedness may play well with Trump and his inner circle, it may even win favor with Americans who have been made fearful of the undocumented as an existential threat by not-so-subtle racist political messaging before, during and after the presidential campaign but it doesn’t jive with reality. Studies show that immigrants are less likely than the U.S.-born to commit crimes. That doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen but it does mean that murder suspects like the Venezuelan migrant recently sentenced to life in prison without parole for murdering 22-year-old Laken Riley at the University of Georgia is more the exception than the rule. And he wasn’t a danger because of a lack of legal presence.

Too often, the conversation about immigration is drained of all its complexity. Communities that seek middle ground and provide a welcoming place to law-abiding immigrants are considered “sanctuaries” harboring criminals. Yet studies have also shown that average Americans would suffer if the country suddenly lost millions of taxpaying undocumented workers. Such individuals collectively represent 5% of the workforce and the cost of mass deportations would be considerable especially to the agriculture, construction, and leisure and hospitality sectors.

Trump allies insist that ICE will, at least initially, be going after serious criminals and those who represent a genuine national security threat. If that’s true, we suspect state and local law enforcement will happily cooperate. But if this is just a matter of false labeling and the true goal is mass roundups, prison camps and deportation, we would expect precious resources allocated to more productive strategies. Protecting the public shouldn’t be about politics, it should be about genuinely protecting the public.