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To: TKDietz
Why do people always think that illegal aliens can commit all the crimes they want and get away with it while citizens will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law?

You write for The Onion, right?

I can walk down any street in my town or into the Wal-Mart any hour of the day and night and see these illegal alien criminals walking around free. They don't even bother to hide.

Not only that, but they do sometimes get hauled in by the law (if they're caught redhanded at something). Often they are released on their own recognizance or small bonds. Usually most disappear before their court dates if it is anything serious. The ones that show up are generally let go or given tiny fines - not turned over to ICE or jailed even though they're already guilty of multiple other crimes simply due to how they got here and how they manage to stay and milk the system. "How" they do it is not legally, I'll tell you. But, as a lawyer, you already know that, right?

How many genuine Americans get arrested on serious crimes like document and Social Security fraud (and a host of other crimes) and simply get away with it, time and time again? Or even do these crimes? Does the number reach 100% - like these people?

They are getting prosecuted tougher than the rest of us? HA!

I want some of what you're smokin', Dude. That's some mighty fine weed!

22 posted on 07/24/2008 10:26:27 AM PDT by Gritty (Millions of new immigrant welfare recipients will turn America into a roach motel - Ann Coulter)
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To: Gritty
When it comes to state crimes I believe they do get prosecuted just like the rest of us, if not harder. Immigration is a different matter, and in many cases not having legal immigration status is not actually a crime. That's not what I'm talking about though. I'm talking about the kind of criminal conduct citizens get arrested for, stealing, drug crimes, DWI, etc. Illegals are getting punished just as hard or harder than citizens for regular crime.

Deporting illegals is a federal responsibility. States don't do that. For the most part states don't enforce federal statutes. They enforce state laws, and immigration laws tend to be federal laws, not state laws.

The feds are doing a little better now than they were though. There was a time when I used to watch so many illegal aliens plead to pretty serious felonies and when the state was done with them they'd get out of jail and go on back to their lives here in the states. Hardly any were getting deported even though they'd be sitting in our county jails ready for ICE to come pick them up. ICE would know they were there and have a “hold” on them, but would never send anyone to get them so eventually the jailers would have to let them go, as there would be no basis to hold them under state law. Things have changed a lot in this respect. In my area at least where they'd never hardly pick up anyone, not even those convicted of fairly serious felonies, they're deporting people left and right now. A couple might slip through the cracks but almost every illegal who gets a felony will be deported, as will an increasing number of those popped for misdemeanors. They're also going out on runs and picking up people convicted of crimes in the past, illegals and those here legally. They're deporting a lot of folks and we're seeing record numbers of people being prosecuted for illegally reentering the country after being deported, which is a good thing because in the past they all felt they could just come right back after being deported and nothing would happen to them. Now they're looking at prison time, up to 20 years without parole, and those with bad records are getting several years in many cases when get caught back in the country. It's not perfect by a long shot, but it's a big improvement over what we saw in the recent past.

24 posted on 07/24/2008 12:35:44 PM PDT by TKDietz
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