Innocent “Laborers” Rounded Up By Jackbooted Thugs!
Someone explain this to me.
Police in Prince William County, VA arrested 24 “Latino day laborers” who were hanging around outside a 7-11. The fine for loitering, which is what they were doing, is 100 dollars.
Eleven of them, though, couldn’t prove who they were and are now in federal custody. They face deportation.
Now you could read this whole article and never get the important fact about those 11 people: they are in this country illegally. The article doesn’t quite mention that fact. You have to more or less read between the lines. In fact, you don’t even see the word “illegal” until the fifth paragraph.
What you do read is that the 11 men were victimized by overzealous police who apparently “promised” not to enforce the law.
Here are some tasty mind-bending quotes.
“This is exactly what immigrants were afraid of — a bunch of Latinos hanging out and the police come by and pick them up and refer them” to federal immigration agents, said Tim Freilich, managing attorney of the Virginia Justice Center. “From a policy standpoint, the arrests don’t make any sense. It’s not going to solve the issue of day laborers in Woodbridge. . . . It’s just going to frighten the immigrant community.”
Good. That’s exactly what I want. I want criminals to be afraid to break the law. I want them afraid that the police are going to catch them and hold them accountable for their crimes. I want illegal immigrants looking over their shoulders for authorities who will send them back to their home until they follow the damnably-easy immigration process our country has.
“The arrests contradict the public promise made by local police chiefs in Virginia, who made a commitment not to apply that law . . . indiscriminately against immigrants who were innocent of criminal charges,” said Ricardo Juarez, coordinator of a local group called Mexicans Without Borders, which organized a small protest in Woodbridge yesterday.
Yep, they’re completely innocent of any criminal charges except the one of entering the country illegally along with the few miscellaneous crimes of working without a green card, maybe a little identification fraud, and who only knows what else?
But those aren’t really criminal charges, are they? Well, they’re not important criminal charges, at any rate.
Linking police actions with immigration enforcement is very touchy for local departments and has “a very likely outcome of an entire segment of the population shutting down because they are afraid of you,” said Arlington County police spokesman Matt Martin. “And what you create is a group of people who’s ripe for additional victimization.”
At the risk of sounding like a callous, unfeeling bastard: I don’t care.
They’re breaking the law and costing me a boatload of money in taxes. I don’t particularly care that they remain in a position where they can be victimized because they don’t want to follow the rules. You plays the game; you takes your chances. I don’t have a shred of sympathy for folks who habitually break the law then get “victimized” because they are doing so. If they want my sympathy, they can get into the country the right way.
In Herndon, residents sometimes pressure Mayor Michael O’Reilly to rid the town of its growing number of day laborers.
O’Reilly said, however: “The wholesale rounding up of groups of people I don’t believe has any long-term benefit for anyone in the community. I would much rather see everyone working together in a constructive fashion, instead of essentially declaring war on a certain practice.”
Obviously it does have some long-term benefit – it benefits the people who may legally vote because they’re legal residents of this country and who have been calling your office demanding that you make sure the law is enforced.
And what’s wrong about about declaring war? After all, it’s not “a certain practice”. It’s breaking the law. Would Mayor O’Reilly be so sympathetic about shoplifters or carjackers or income tax evaders?
But when you target criminals who have their own political lobby, that’s something else, isn’t it?
David Martinez, 34, who was one of the 24 arrested day workers, was released by immigration officials after he agreed to return to his native Honduras. He said through an interpreter: “I want to say to the community to help my immigrant brothers. Tell the authorities to have a conscience, because we are all human.”
Yes, Mr. Martinez. We are all human. You, however, are a human criminal. If you want us to treat you with sympathy, show us the basic respect of following our immigration laws.
And shame on you Washington Post, for the overwhelming bias of this story.
No related posts.
Category: Oh, THAT liberal media.
THE ILLEGAL ALIEN SWING VOTE
Column is up. Here’s the intro: The right to vote is precious, the politicians preach. Our democracy hangs in the balance, the pundits screech. Yes, but if we all value the sanctity of the voting process so highly, why is…
Illegal Aliens To Be Deported And Other Bizarre News
According to the Washington Post (registration req.):
The arrest of 24 Latino day laborers looking for work outside a 7-Eleven in Woodbridge was intended as a crackdown on loitering, Prince William County police say. The charge, they noted, carries …
You should hear the craziness here in Arizona over Prop 200. Here's the link to the website that is pushing all of this common sense down our throats:
http://yesonprop200.com/info/proposition_200.html
America is toast….no one understands the word illegal anymore. Anything goes…facts don't matter. And as a former resident of Massachusetts, I'm amazed at the stupidity of the American people. If 48% of Americans can be conned by him and Bill, and Jimmy….get out the jelly. Toast is done !!!
Y'know, David, immigration is one of my real sore points with the President. It seems like very few people in national politics today have any interest in solving the problem.
Michelle Malkin had a link to your website, that's how I found it. Boy, glad to see somebody else feels the way my husband and I feel about the illegal alien situation. It's really gotten out of control, and it's definitely affecting us socially and economically. I don't see it getting any better; especially if Kerry gets elected.
I think so many Americans feel the way we do but many are afraid to speak up for fear of being labled "haters" or "racists." I say good for those police officers! They were doing their job!!
I live in a small Virginia town and I'm very fortunate to live in a close knit neighborhood. Last year a house went up for sale on our street. Within a few weeks, there were 5 cars, 3 w/ Georgia and 1 w/California tags, only one with VA, parked out on the street in front of the house, every day for several months.
Each evening, several Hispanic men would be "hanging out" in the front yard. At one point, we counted 10 of them. We were all wondering how 10 grown men could be living in a such a small house. Aren't there city codes that prohibit so many people from living in such a small house? Anyway, most of us knew what was really going on. These guys were more than likely illegals and they were using the small house as a boarding house.
Well, they picked the wrong neighborhood. First off, we have street parking in our neighborhood. It was annoying that these guys had so many vehicles out front, none of which appeared to be properly registered in the state of VA (they'd been there for well over 6 mos.). Second, we knew the city had codes on occupancy limits and it was quite clear that these guys were in violation.
We wrote letters to the city, and within days, they had city inspectors out looking over the property, and tacking notices on the front door. I don't really know what was said or done, but I know that shortly after the visits from the inspectors, a for sale sign was put up, and the guys disappeared. Not long after, when we got the little newsletter that comes w/ our monthly utility bill, there were a couple blurbs in there that addressed overcrowding. I thought, "Wow, somebody really cares about this stuff!" At least in our town.
Do I have a problem with Hispanics living on my street? Absolutely not. But I'd prefer they be a family, a couple, a single person, whatever! Just not a slew of illegals using it as a boarding house.
As I said earlier, it is getting out of control. More and more illegals are crossing our borders every day. Oh, and the guy David Martinez you mentioned? The one who was released by immigration officals and "agreed" to go back to his native Honduras? Do you really think that'll happen??
Suzie – Thank you for the visit and the comments.
I think that illegal immigration is the second most important issue we're facing in the US right behind terrorism. Im many ways, the two are linked quite firmly. I don't have any confidence at all that President Bush is going to take any measured steps to deal with the problem, though as a lame duck President, it's quite possible that he will. I'm looking to Congress to act firmly in the issue and am voting that way this year.
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