Posted on 12/16/2006 2:51:38 PM PST by Jeff Fuller
Right on, Romney!
By Patrick J. Buchanan
Saturday, December 16, 2006
Gov. Mitt Romney, leaving office, has just taken a modest step to protect the people of Massachusetts.
Romney signed an agreement with the feds to empower 30 state troopers - to be trained by the feds for five weeks - to determine if crime suspects are illegal aliens. If so, the troopers could hold them on immigration violations.
If an MS-13 gang member were arrested for assault and battery, and the victim was too terrified to testify, the state troopers could hold the alleged assailant, call in immigration authorities and have him deported. Troopers would also be empowered to detain illegal aliens leaving prison, to ensure their deportation by the feds.
But never underestimate the suicidal bent of a Bay State liberal. Recall: This is the commonwealth whose governor used to grant weekend prison furloughs to the likes of Willie Horton.
Deval Patrick, the incoming Democratic governor, thinks Romney has a bad idea because state troopers have enough to do.
But Romneys plan does not force troopers to do anything. It empowers them. And what is more important for police to do than assure that felons, who do not belong in this country, do not return to Boston, or that gang members are sent back where they came from, rather than set loose in Springfield?
What the Romney plan challenges is the sanctuary policy many cities have adopted under pressure from ethnic lobbies. Under New Yorks policy, backed by Rudy Giuliani, five illegal aliens, several with long rap sheets, were still in the city in 2002 and able to gang-rape a woman in the shadow of Shea Stadium.
Nine states have adopted versions of the Romney plan.Resistance to this common-sense idea reveals how ingrained is the ideological hostility to any idea that might halt the flow of illegals into our country. For open-borders champions, the real criminals are those who wish to reduce immigration.
Anger has also surfaced over the raids on six meatpacking plants of Swift & Co. Of the 7,250 workers at the plants, 1,271 - nearly 18 percent - are suspected illegal aliens.
According to The Washington Post, 100 have already been charged with various crimes, including identity theft. Federal and company officials estimate up to 40 percent of all plant workers may have stolen or falsified identity documents.
In recent weeks, Swift discovered false or stolen documents for some 400 workers, who either quit or were fired. The folks at Swift apparently knew something was coming down. But while there has been a slowdown in production, Swift says it anticipates no adverse long-term impacts. What does this tell us?
First, that the Bush propaganda that illegal aliens only take jobs Americans wont do is patently false. There is probably no industry in which illegal aliens are more heavily concentrated than meatpacking. Yet even at Swift, we are told, 60 percent to 70 percent of the workers are neither illegal aliens nor do they have phony IDs.
Stepping back, consider the rampant criminality the feds unearthed by turning over a few rocks at Swift & Co.
These illegal aliens had to break the law to get into our country. Many were probably assisted by human traffickers who rob the men of money and the women of much else. The illegal aliens then paid for forged or stolen documents provided by organized crime. They then are hired by firms that know they are here in violation of federal law.
These companies are triple cheats. They cheat competitors by hiring illegal labor. They cheat the government of taxes. They cheat the community by passing on to citizens the costs in higher taxes of schools and social services.
What we have here is a chain of corruption. A society that passes laws its leaders refuse to enforce, the violation of which is condoned by its corporate and media elites, is a society on the way down and on the way out.
Patrick J. Buchanan is a syndicated columnist.
I was surprised to learn about Bay. Pat is Roman Catholic and I made the mistake of assuming she was too.
I think she's still with Tancredo and I hope she stays with him.
Cool.. The more I hear about Romney the more I like him. Granted he is not perfect, but who is..
I'm not sure whether Pat longs for the 1950s or longs for the 1820s.
Either way, he's remarkably out of touch with the modern world.
I think he'd be most comfortable living in 1939.
Southern Baptists as a denomination are not pro-abortion. Who are you referring to?
I would take a pro-life Mormon over a pro-abortion Muslim-claiming-to-be-Catholic.
Romney is a far better candidate than either Rudy or McCain, both of whom have too much baggage and would make a mess of national security. Besides, Rudy has been too scared to take on Hillary.
The 30 troop empowerment move is the right thing to do, no matter who supports it.
Those who live in the past die in the past....
Ya and women had babies more, and didn't compete for higher wage jobs, if they worked at all. The "losers" were more out of sight and out of mind, and were ignored. It was all simply splendid.
Famous pro-choice Southern Baptists are Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, and Al Gore.
a nazi loving anti-semetic is not from whom romney needs an endorsement....
the kiss of death!!!!
Well there is a Pat in this article who is clearly only on the wrong side of immigration and of also law enforcement:
--Deval Patrick, the incoming Democratic governor, thinks Romney has a bad idea because state troopers have enough to do. ---
Perhaps Pat would find that empowering troopers to get the bad guys off the streets could lessen not increase crime...but who cares what the Pat the Governor thinks , because Pat the loudmouth seems to be more worthy of peoples critique!
He's the fusion candidate, everybody (will) loves Romney, paleos, libertarians, fundies, women, etc.
Oh yeah. Sorry I asked! lol
Bay married a Mormon (after a failed first marriage with a kid I think), and lives in Utah. Good for her. She made a decisive decision, probably a good one for her. I admire folks who think out of the box.
I just saw a "biography" on Barack Hussein Obama. What a fluff piece. Touted as though he's the second coming. Already has his own "media advisor."
I've been doing some reading and have just scratched the surface and already know that he is not to be trusted. He's Muslim. He claims to be a Christian but doesn't believe Hell exists and pro-actively supports PBA. What's wrong with that picture?
Carter exited as a Southern Baptist. It was simply too hayseed and down market for such an important and now cosmopolitan sophisticated man. He isn't just about Plains, Georgia anymore.
My compliments to Mr. Romney on this particular issue.
i live in massachusetts. why didnt romney do this as soon as he became governor?? this state has been overrun by illegals on his watch. this is nothing but a very late stunt to attract conservatives for his prez campaign. and i mean it... massachusetts is being overrun by brazilians, mexicans, etc. sooo sick of the brazilian flag!!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.