IMMIGRATION is a complex and sensitive issue (Shutterstock).

One doesn’t know whether to laugh or cry about the recent fiasco in which an error-filled “list” of “sanctuary jurisdictions” was posted – and quickly deleted – on the Department of Homeland Security website, causing an uproar.

Aside from those folks who grind their teeth at the prospect of the current administration’s immigration policies, many such “jurisdictions” that are loudly and clearly against the concept of sanctuary cities made the list, which is like telling Cubs fans that they really favor the White Sox, only a lot worse.

The local angle on this, of course, is that Huntington Beach made the lineup of sanctuary cities. A bigger swing and a miss couldn’t be imagined, to continue my baseball metaphor. Mayor Pat Burns seems to be pretty upset.

There were literally dozens of errors in the list, which leads to the inevitable conclusion that the folks who now run DHS – which includes ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) – are not quite ready for prime time.

There have been numerous and credible reports of people picked up on the street, or at church or other semi-public places on evidence no more accurate or solid information than the now-infamous list.

Now, being of Italian ancestry, my epidermis is a tad darker that your typical Swede. People, from time to time, have considered me Hispanic. Sometimes real Hispanics have walked up to me and started conversing, or trying to, in Espanol.

Suppose some DHS guy – maybe the one who wrote the list and was demoted to the field – decided that my real name might be Jaime instead of James. How could I prove on the spot that I am an American citizen? I don’t carry my birth certificate on me. Silly Jim.

And even if I did – under the strange logic of the attempt to end “birthright citizenship” – if I couldn’t prove my parents’ status (long gone) maybe even that birth certificate wouldn’t be enough.

The question of how to have fair and effective immigration policies and enforcement is a sensitive issue and complex. But I hope we can agree that the folks who can make a list of offenders and ship you to a foreign country ought to have – at the very least – an accurate lineup.

What they’re doing now is undermining public confidence in their mission. As for me – just to be safe – I’m considering keeping my passport in my pants at all times. In today’s atmosphere, one never knows when one is going to have to take a trip in a hurry.