The immigration puzzle -- A Latino household wrestles with border debate [...]

While visiting my family for Thanksgiving, a large portion of our dinner discussion centered around the dramatic support that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger received from the Latino community and the impact that the newly elected Democratic Congress will have on the issue of immigration. While many in my family believe that immigration reform is possible, what I found most unique was that the points of contention regarding immigration were not necessarily those expounded by the pro-immigration groups.

My parents, like the rest of my family, immigrated to this country without documents more than 35 years ago. They have four children who were born in this country, including one they adopted 10 years ago. My father, a union member who has worked in the produce business his entire life, became a Republican supporter the first day he stepped into this country. My mother, a former seamstress who has dedicated the past 15 years as a foster care parent, is a registered Democrat who considers herself a middle-of-the-road voter but a staunch conservative on the issues of family and fiscal responsibility.

Since the immigration debate dominated headlines in this past year, I once again, as a spokesperson for the California Republican Party, found myself in the middle of this debate.

While some in my family told their personal stories of finding their way across the border to make a better life for themselves and their families, they also mentioned that the same border has allowed an influx of gangs and drug cartels and has led to a deterioration of human rights. There were stories of Mexican drug cartels battling for control of border towns in the United States and Mexico, and the dramatic increase in violence on both sides of the border. For these immigrants, the porousness of our border did not rest on labor issues alone; rather, it included a frank discussion on the criminal element that our current border structure facilitates.

My mother and aunt (former seamstress workers) talked about the 71 Thai workers who were freed from virtual slavery from a sweatshop in El Monte, while some of my uncles, who live in crime-ridden neighborhoods, talked about the international gangs, organized crime and several drug cartels that have increased their grip on our state and nation.

My family could see no logical incentive for governments to halt illegal immigration to the United States. Through the exportation of more than 11 million of its citizens, countries like Mexico have been able to avoid the call for economic and social change. The prospects of mass mobilizations calling for radical change in Mexico is being met with Mexican governmental agencies handing out maps outlining paths to the United States.

The issue of immigration has no easy solution and it is not something that should be rushed or hurried for the purpose of checking off a "to do" list. Twenty years ago, the federal government dealt with the issue of granting amnesty to 2.7 million people. This year we are dealing with a number close to 12 million, and unless we find a comprehensive solution to this problem, we might find ourselves with an even bigger number, but in less time.

For many immigrants like my family, an immigration plan that focuses solely on full amnesty, open borders and driver's licenses will perpetuate the exploitation, gang violence, drug and human trafficking, wage suppression and the demise of social services for the native citizen and for both legal and illegal immigrants currently in this country.

While my family elders migrated into this country more than 30 years ago, they each continue to feel an internal sadness knowing that thousands of these new immigrants continue to be cast into the desert by a country they all once called home.

Hector M. Barajas serves as the press secretary for the California Republican Party.

If, in response to a properly passed law, Mr. Barajas and his parents became lawful citizens (it appears he may have been one by birth, I'm not sure), then they ARE citizens -- sorry, you can't kick them back across the border. You may not like the 1986 law, but it's the law, just like a lot of others I may not like.

Also, we have a very long and rich history of acts to legalize illegals, frequently very specific ones. Just look through the congressional records of a half century or a century ago -- "An act for the relief of . . . " There are thousands.

Passing sensible, restrictionist, laws now will be a lot easier without it seeming (as your post does) that we want to re-fight, and illegalize people who became legal by act of Congress.

Its the Here's the numbers debate on the casualties caused by the preditor class that has come up from Mexico and central america. Consider this article Illegal aliens murder 12 Americans daily Death toll in 2006 far overshadows total U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq, Afghanistan

People have been referring to the Captains Quarters as a rebuke to the assertions of the article. The Captain's Quarters makes the assertion that for the numbers to be true it would have to be the case that a small number of people were committing a lot of crimes. That is to say far outside the statistical norm for the USA. The problem is that he didn't actually check the federal stats. As it happens it is the case that illegals tend to be very repeat offenders.

Below are some government stats to back up the article's assertioms

From the FBI crime statistics * An estimated 16,692 persons were murdered nationwide in 2005, an increase of 3.4 percent from the 2004 figure. * Murder comprised 1.2 percent of the overall estimated number of violent crimes in 2005. (Based on Table 1.) * There were an estimated 5.6 murders per 100,000 inhabitants.

Illegal Alien Crime Wave

On April 7, 2005, the US Justice Department issued a report on criminal aliens that were incarcerated in federal and state prisons and local jails. In the population study of 55,322 illegal aliens, researchers found that they were arrested at least a total of 459,614 times, averaging about 8 arrests per illegal alien. Nearly all had more than 1 arrest. Thirty-eight percent (about 21,000) had between 2 and 5 arrests, 32 percent (about 18,000) had between 6 and 10 arrests, and 26 percent (about 15,000) had 11 or more arrests. Most of the arrests occurred after 1990. They were arrested for a total of about 700,000 criminal offenses, averaging about 13 offenses per illegal alien. One arrest incident may include multiple offenses, a fact that explains why there are nearly one and half times more offenses than arrests. Almost all of these illegal aliens were arrested for more than 1 offense. Slightly more than half of the 55,322 illegal aliens had between 2 and 10 offenses.

CRIMINAL HISTORY

More than two-thirds of the defendants charged with an immigration offense were identified as having been previously arrested. Thirty-six percent had been arrested on at least 5 prior occasions; 22%, 2 to 4 times; and 12%,1 time. Sixty-one percent of those defendants had been convicted at least once; 18%, 5 or more times; 26%, 2 to 4 times; and 17%, 1 time. Of those charged, 49% had previously been convicted of a felony: 20% of a drug offense; 18%, a violent offense; and 11%, other felony offenses. Twelve percent had previously been convicted of a misdemeanor. Defendants charged with unlawful reentry had the most extensive criminal histories. Nine in ten had been previously arrested. Of those with a prior arrest, half had been arrested on at least 5 prior occasions. Fifty-six percent of those charged with a reentry offense had previously been convicted of a violent or drug-related felony. By contrast, under half of those charged with alien smuggling, a third of those charged with unlawful entry, and just over a quarter those charged with misuse of visas and other charges had previously been arrested. The criminal histories of these defendants were generally less extensive: more than 70% had been previously arrested fewer than 5 times. Sources: US Department of Homeland Security, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, National Security Institute, National Association of Chiefs of Police, US Department of Justice

1. The Simpson Mazzoli bill of 1986, leading to the amnesty and law changes being debated here, was very thoroughly debated. Here's the full legisltive history.

http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d099:SN01200:@@@S|TOM:/bss/d099query.html|

You may not like it, but it certainly wasn't "slipped through as a rider" or some such.

2. The debate over whether the 14th amendment should be interpreted as not making "anchor babies" US citizens, which has some possible merit, though contrary to all the historical practice, has NOTHING to do with Congress's power to pass amnesties, or alter the immigration laws in any way it chooses. That power is granted by the Naturalization Clause of the Constitution. So the 1986 law can't contradict any interpretation of the 14th Amendment. Similarly, a new interpretation of the 14th amendment today can't undo the citizenship of a person born here, to persons who were treated as citizens for 3 generations, because the ancestor was illegal in 1880!

3. I haven't dug into the Murder statistics controversy, but on another thread I dug up the fact that although something like 30% of FEDERAL prisoners are aliens, msot prisoners are state and local, and only about 7% of all prisoners are aliens. Since murder is almost always a state crime, it is plausible that maybe 7% of murders are committed by aliens, which would be 3-4 per day. However, you can probably find exact numbers in reports by either the FBI or the Bureau of Justice Statistics of the Department of Justice.

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