Middle ground on immigration
If the presence of immigrants in the U.S. illegally wasn't one of the top issues in our country prior to the mass shooting in El Paso, it is now.
One of the arguments used frequently by Donald Trump and his supporters to validate their thesis that the removal of those here illegally will make us "safer" is using anecdotes involving horrific crimes committed by those here illegally.
Imagine that. People born here were committing crimes in Texas at almost twice the rate crimes were committed by those in the country illegally. Makes the claims of Donald Trump silly.
* * *
The problem I see with sanctuary city policies is that they do not distinguish between minor offenses and serious crimes. Can we agree that anyone who is undocumented and charged with the taking of a life should not be granted sanctuary until AFTER their case is adjudicated by the criminal justice system? The same should apply to other serious charges like rape, aggravated assault, attempted homicide and so on.
Earlier this week ICE raided seven food processing plants in Mississippi, arresting and taking into custody 680 undocumented immigrants. As of Thursday, 377 of them were still in ICE custody.
Aside from the inhumanity of doing this on the first day of school for the children of those arrested, there is another question about what prompted this raid. In August of last year, Koch Foods settled lawsuits brought by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) on behalf of dozens of workers at the same processing plant in Morton that was raided this week. They paid out $3.75 million and the terms of the settlement require Koch Foods to provide training and operate a "hotline" for employees to report claims of discrimination.
Some believe that these raids, and the threat of future raids are tools used by those who exploit undocumented workers from filing future complaints. There is no proof the settlement and the raid are connected, but this isn't the first time.
Of those arrested, how many of them have committed no other crime besides their illegal entry into the United States? Undocumented workers pay income taxes, and pay into Social Security (which I like to call Social Insecurity) and Medicare. Federal law does not allow anyone in the country illegally to receive Social Security benefits.
I have no problem with sanctuary cities providing protection for those who have committed no crime other than entering the country illegally. We can quibble about what is and is not a minor violation. But we should not be giving sanctuary to violent offenders.
On a lighter note, in case you hadn't already seen this...
One of the arguments used frequently by Donald Trump and his supporters to validate their thesis that the removal of those here illegally will make us "safer" is using anecdotes involving horrific crimes committed by those here illegally.
The Kate Steinle killer came back and back over the weakly protected Obama border, always committing crimes and being violent, and yet this info was not used in court. His exoneration is a complete travesty of justice. BUILD THE WALL!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 1, 2017
Kate Steinle was shot
and killed while in the Embarcadero District of San Francisco, CA in July of
2015. Her killer, José Inez García
Zarate was in the U.S. illegally. He had
seven felony convictions prior to this tragedy.
They involved possession of drugs (including heroin possession and
manufacturing of narcotics) and repeated illegal entry into the U.S. In March of 2015 he was in a federal prison
in San Bernardino, CA when the San Francisco Sheriff's office was notified that
he was about to be released. That agency took custody of him on a warrant dating back to 1995 for possession of marijuana. That case was dismissed the day after he arrived in San Francisco. Three weeks later he was released from custody by the SF Sheriff's Department due to the city's Sanctuary Law.
There are other anecdotes such as this; used by proponents of the removal of all persons here in this nation in violation of our immigration laws, to demonize all undocumented immigrants. They argue that such people make the nation less safe. The New York Times reported this past May that research shows that "...growth in illegal immigration does not lead to increased crime rates." CNN reported this past January that data from a 2015 Cato Institute study of crimes and immigrant populations in Texas showed a startling fact.
Crimes per 100,000 population of Texas in 2015
Native born Americans - 1,797
Legal Immigrants - 611
Undocumented Immigrants - 899
Imagine that. People born here were committing crimes in Texas at almost twice the rate crimes were committed by those in the country illegally. Makes the claims of Donald Trump silly.
* * *
The problem I see with sanctuary city policies is that they do not distinguish between minor offenses and serious crimes. Can we agree that anyone who is undocumented and charged with the taking of a life should not be granted sanctuary until AFTER their case is adjudicated by the criminal justice system? The same should apply to other serious charges like rape, aggravated assault, attempted homicide and so on.
Earlier this week ICE raided seven food processing plants in Mississippi, arresting and taking into custody 680 undocumented immigrants. As of Thursday, 377 of them were still in ICE custody.
Aside from the inhumanity of doing this on the first day of school for the children of those arrested, there is another question about what prompted this raid. In August of last year, Koch Foods settled lawsuits brought by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) on behalf of dozens of workers at the same processing plant in Morton that was raided this week. They paid out $3.75 million and the terms of the settlement require Koch Foods to provide training and operate a "hotline" for employees to report claims of discrimination.
Some believe that these raids, and the threat of future raids are tools used by those who exploit undocumented workers from filing future complaints. There is no proof the settlement and the raid are connected, but this isn't the first time.
Of those arrested, how many of them have committed no other crime besides their illegal entry into the United States? Undocumented workers pay income taxes, and pay into Social Security (which I like to call Social Insecurity) and Medicare. Federal law does not allow anyone in the country illegally to receive Social Security benefits.
I have no problem with sanctuary cities providing protection for those who have committed no crime other than entering the country illegally. We can quibble about what is and is not a minor violation. But we should not be giving sanctuary to violent offenders.
On a lighter note, in case you hadn't already seen this...
posted by me at 12:11 PM
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