Posted on 10/12/2005 11:34:30 AM PDT by JZelle
Arlington County officials yesterday defended their refusal to check the immigration status of arrested persons, despite Republican gubernatorial candidate Jerry W. Kilgore's vow to send in state troopers to enforce the law there if necessary. "I'm not sure what the problem is he's trying to solve other than the political problem he might have," said Arlington County Board Vice Chairman Chris Zimmerman, a Democrat. Mr. Zimmerman said the job of the Arlington County Police Department is to maintain peace and safety. Local police do not routinely check the immigration status of residents or the tax status of taxpayers, he said. "They're not federal officials. They're not equipped, nor is it their job," Mr. Zimmerman said. "You can't expect local police to take on every job that the federal government isn't doing." In a meeting Monday with editors and reporters at The Washington Times, Mr. Kilgore said he would use state troopers to enforce laws against illegal aliens in Arlington County or any other locality that fails to do so, if he is elected governor.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...
Now that's a good reason to let the law be continually broken.
That's why Jerry is going to Richmond.
I wonder if it would be smart to start a business that specializes in transporting illegals back to Mexico. From what I'd read, a big part of the problem is that the local authorities have no where to put the illegals once they find them, so they have to let them go.
Of course this is the Feds' job, but if they are not going to do it, and there is demand for it, sounds like a good opportunity. I'm just not sure how they would make money. Certainly the local government shouldn't pay for it out of our own tax dollars, since we are supposed to be paying for this service anyway...
Please take Illegal Immigration seriously. We, the people, are paying attention to this issue and how you elected officials are handling it. We don't like what we see. You still have some time before the Demonicrats beat your sorry butts because We, the conservative faithful, stayed home.
Sincerely;
A former Republican, but now an Independent voter
>>>Arlington County officials yesterday defended their refusal to check the immigration status of arrested persons, despite Republican gubernatorial candidate Jerry W. Kilgore's vow to send in state troopers to enforce the law there if necessary
Let's see. If I'm the local county official, I can use my limited time, manpower, jail space and budget to go after illegals or I can choose not to and let the state use its time, manpower, jail space and budget to do it. This seems like a win for the county.
"They're not equipped, nor is it their job,"
What a stupid answer. I run into illegals daily on patrol. They will tell you if they are illegal if you ask them. If an officer can ask a simple question, they are equipped.
"From what I'd read, a big part of the problem is that the local authorities have no where to put the illegals once they find them, so they have to let them go. "
Its worse than just that. Before they can be deported, they have to have a deportation hearing, etc.. I read somewhere just a few months ago that the feds themselves let most of the illegals they capture go because they "don't have room to house them". Incredibly, they turn 'em loose in the US and tell them to come back for a hearing at an appointed time. Needless to say, over 90% do not return. (Incredibly, I guess that means 10% DO return. Suckers!)
I never could understand the "jails are full" argument. We're the richest country on earth. If we're going to throw in the towel that easily, then why even have border agents?
With the number of illegals running around, law enforcement can't access a nat'l database to check on illegals status? If not, why not? Thought this would be under the purview of INS or Homeland Security.
"But we don't want the first question out of the officers' mouth when [a subject] appears to be from a country other than the United States to be what's their country of origin,"--why not? People do it all the time.
"Its worse than just that. Before they can be deported, they have to have a deportation hearing, etc.. I read somewhere just a few months ago that the feds themselves let most of the illegals they capture go because they "don't have room to house them". Incredibly, they turn 'em loose in the US and tell them to come back for a hearing at an appointed time. Needless to say, over 90% do not return. (Incredibly, I guess that means 10% DO return. Suckers!)"
Isn't that what happened with that Virginia sniper dude?
"I wonder if it would be smart to start a business that specializes in transporting illegals back to Mexico. From what I'd read, a big part of the problem is that the local authorities have no where to put the illegals once they find them, so they have to let them go."
I guess Bush would call it the "Vigilante Taxi Service"?
"Isn't that what happened with that Virginia sniper dude?"
Mighta been... I don't really recall.
I'm not willing at this time to leave the Republican Party but I agree that the Republican Party is destructing from within. They have forgotten who and what they represent. If they don't pull together to address illegal aliens, budget deficits, jobs in the US instead of sending jobs overseas, etc. they will lose the White House and Congress.
Its worse than just that. Before they can be deported, they have to have a deportation hearing, etc.. I read somewhere just a few months ago that the feds themselves let most of the illegals they capture go because they "don't have room to house them".
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Yeah we should have judges on call at the jails themselves. As soon as someone is brought in for illegal immigration, you have their trial right on the spot and send them back. And don't give me crap about how we are offending these immigrants' "civil rights" because they don't have any. They are not American citizens and they never did swear an oath to the Constitution, so they don't get any of its protections.
If they can make a courtroom in the Steelers' Football stadium, they can make them in our local jails.
It may seem like a win but it is a false economy.
There are something on the order of 10 to 20 million illegals in this country of 300 million people so they account for 3 to 6% of our population. Yet something like 30% of our Federal prison population is made up of illegals and in states and localities where there are heavy concentrations of illegals the percentage goes even higher. These statistics make it fairly clear that a tiny slice of our population is committing most of the crime and is making us pay much more then we should for law enforcement.
If a country was really concerned about its time, manpower, jail space and budget and was also interested in accomplishing its mission to prevent crime, it would police illegals especially heavily because in a short time the effort would result in less illegals, which means less crime and therefore less demands on time, manpower, jail space and budget.
Ignoring the problem is what is costing them.
The older guy - John Allen Muhammed was an american citizen. The boy he had with him (can't remember his name) was not a citizen but I am not sure if he was here on a visa or what. I think they tried to pass him off as his son to the authorities at some point.
Good Synopsis. By "less illegals" you mean they would be deported or move on to another county, because the word is out that County X heavily polices illegals?
My preference is that they be deported. But if the Feds are unwilling to do their job then I would settle for having them kicked out of town.
My town has a County Hospital which is to an extent subsidized by taxpayers and is primarily supported by paying patients. The less indigenous illegals demanding free health care from our hospital emergency room the lower my taxes.
Our County schools are partially funded at the State level and partly at the County level. Almost all of the funding comes from property taxes and almost no illegals pay these taxes. Every child of an illegal alien costs the taxpayers $8000 per year to educate. Again, the less illegals the lower my taxes. It does not take very many illegal kids to pay for quite a bit of aggressive law enforcement.
I think communities would benefit a lot by making life absolutely miserable for illegals. If the Feds want to do their job that would be great but I want my local cops making them very unwelcome and sending them down the road.
The boy's name was John Lee Malvo and he was a good hearted illegal immigrant who just came to America to terrorize the Americans that Americans won't terrorize.
He was from Jamaica and I believe he came here with his mother using fake passports. As I recall the Border Patrol had him in custody but the Customs Department, who organizationally had authority over the Border Patrol at the time, made them let him go on his own recognizance. (Nothing that doesn't happen several hundred times per day now.) Bill O'Reilly covered it extensively.
Illegal immigration is terrorism in slow motion. Think of the rapes and murders. Think of the deadly diseases. It is inconceivable that the people who are supposed to protect us won't enforce this aspect of our law.
Such efforts would only result in fewer illegals if they are actually deported. If fedgov is unwilling to deport these people (and to date that seems to be the case), then the county bears the costs and receives little benefit since they will eventually be released back into the county.
Plus, if stategov is willing to do it, why not let them and use your resources in other enforcement areas?
Agreed again. If every county in every state made life miserable for illegals they would have nowhere to go, maybe they would go home (wishful thinking). They come here to get a free ride - we should not be giving it to them.
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