|
Contributors
Chris Field- Contributor
Chris
Field is Editor of Human
Events Online [go
to Field index]
 Different
Mindsets on Handling Illegal Immigration
Politically correct versus practically correct...
[Chris Field] 5/3/04
Recently, a couple articles on illegal immigration caught my
eye and offered a stark contrast between how different parts
of the country view the issue. Some people won't do the work
required to uphold the law and believe it's someone else's job.
Others are willing to enforce the law and have the guts to stand
up for the U.S. when its resources and rights are being violated.
The first
story comes from the Washington Times. In an article titled Arlington
to Ignore Law Aimed at Illegals, we
read that a new Virginia law designed to be a weapon to help
combat gangs and terrorism is set to take place this summer.
The new law "permits local police to arrest any illegal
immigrant who previously had been convicted of a felony and departed." (Currently,
police investigating a crime are prohibited from forcibly holding
an illegal immigrant while awaiting the arrival of an agent from
the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).)
How are the
police of Arlington County -- in D.C. Metro area -- going to
use this
new tool to fight crime and terrorism? They're
not. Instead, they are going to stick with their old way of dealing
with illegal immigrants, which is even more lax than the current
Virginia policy. According to the Times, the current Arlington
County policy "also discourages officers from checking a
suspect's immigration status, despite evidence that illegal aliens
are involved in the region's crime gangs and terrorist cells." (The
Times also notes that Arlington is the only Northern Virginia
jurisdiction that "does not check the immigration status
of residents receiving tax-funded county rent subsidies -- a
breach that an ICE official said opens the door to terrorists.")
Why won't
Arlington handle the important issue of illegal immigration?
Well, Arlington
County Board Chairman Barbara Favola said, "It
isn't my job." And the police department's policy states:
"The
enforcement of the nation's immigration laws is a primary responsibility
of the federal government. Accordingly,
the Arlington County Police Department shall not undertake immigration-related
investigations and shall not routinely inquire into the immigration
status of persons encountered during police operations."
Contrast this let-somebody-else-do-it-and-look-the-other-way
policy with how an Idaho county commissioner has decided to handle
the illegal immigration situation in his community.
According
to the Associated Press, Canyon Country Commissioner Robert
Vasquez sent a bill
to the Mexican government for more
than $2 million for "services provided to illegal immigrants."
Mr. Vasquez
believes that because Idaho -- Canyon County in particular
-- has been
enforcing the law has they should be,
their budget should not be negatively impacted. So, Mexico is
being billed more than $1.4 million for the costs of jailing
illegal immigrants over the last two years and $575,000 for medical
care during that same time. Commissioner Vasquez says he's not
just concerned about his county's budget. "He believes illegal
immigrants increase disease and crime rates in Idaho."
The AP quotes
Vasquez saying, "By federal law, we're required
to provide them services. So I thought . . . then perhaps we
ought to bill the nation of origin."
Refreshing. CRO
copyright
2004 Human Events
§
|
