Posted on 08/15/2010 6:54:27 AM PDT by La Lydia
Virginia has long had localized tensions over immigration: places like Prince William County and towns like Herndon where influxes of day laborers and other immigrant Latinos have been followed by police crackdowns, anti-solicitation ordinances and laws empowering the police to check people’s immigration status. But now that Arizona has gone to unconstitutional extremes in its anti-immigration campaign, Virginia’s highest officials are trying to take their whole state farther down that dark road.
Gov. Robert McDonnell and the attorney general, Ken Cuccinelli, both Republicans, are leading the charge. Mr. McDonnell is pushing to expand the authority of the state police to enforce federal immigration laws. Mr. Cuccinelli — who signed on to an amicus brief supporting Arizona’s immigration law — recently said that Virginia’s law enforcement officers may check the immigration status of anyone they stop for any reason.
The opinion does not say such checks are required, which the American Civil Liberties Union pointed out in a letter urging local police departments to ignore it...
...A bigger question is why police departments would want to be roped into immigration enforcement with every stop they make. A police officer’s job is not foreign policy or border control. It’s community safety.
Police chiefs and officers across the country, particularly those who work along the border, recognize that you can’t easily protect a community that fears and shuns you. To fight crime, law enforcement needs help. It needs willing witnesses, and victims who tell the truth. It needs time and resources, which it shouldn’t waste chasing peaceable immigration violators and detaining brown-skinned citizens.
In Virginia — and in other states like Florida, where officials and candidates have been aping Arizona — creating a local dragnet for illegal immigrants is a popular slogan. It is not a solution.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
I guess the Slimes' editors fail to see the false dichotomy of this statement.
And apparently they did not hear about the illegal drunk driver who killed the nun a week ago in Prince William County, despite the fact that country law enforcement had turned him over to ICE two times earlier, and ICE let him go instead of deporting him on the spot. Virginia: DOING THE JOB THAT THE FEDS REFUSE TO DO.
A major tool in the Left's propaganda in support of ILLEGAL ALIENS is that the time honored term "immigrant" has been co-opted as a synonym for "illegal".
Most Americans in 21st Century America have an immigrant in the family tree. So, by co-opting the term "immigrant", the Left wants to have America think that illegal aliens are as traditionally American as Mom, apple pie and Joe DiMaggio.
I am an immigrant. I am not illegal.
The people in question are ILLEGAL aliens. They are not "immigrants".
The “Dark Road” is the one covered by an air of ash, building debris and toxic particles over Manhattan near the NY Times own headquarters after a devastinting terrorist attack.
The NY Times is existing in an altered reality, and one, besides being financially unsustainable, that is very likely to get more people killed.
The obvious next question remains unanswered by the NYT: Why are states being forced into this position due to the unwillingness of the Federal government to fulfill it's Constitutional responsibility to protect our borders?
Embryonic cell stem = cell stem
It's not new, of course, as this way of deception started long time ago:
Forbidden fruit = All fruits in this garden.
I notice that the NYT did not allow for comments on this piece.
“But now that Arizona has gone to unconstitutional extremes in its anti-immigration campaign, Virginia’s highest officials are trying to take their whole state farther down that dark road.”
Unconstitutional? The whole law was struck down? No appeals? I guess that’s why its an editorial. Its opinion. It needs no basis in truth.
I used to LIVE in Prince William County. I remember the fire in my townhouse block (luckily, the other end) where a 3 bedroom house with 4 families living in it nearly burned down because of a hot plate in a bedroom.
I remember the MS-13 gang-bangers running over a girl with a car, and only backing down when 8-10 residents came out with shotguns or hunting rifles.
And I remember selling the house. We were the last English-speaking family on the block. All the realtors who took people into the place spoke Spanish. . .
La Reconquista is an accomplished fact in Manassas, VA. . . .
the absolute best way to judge how bad they think are loosing!
More than 10% of VA's jails are filled with illegal aliens. It is community safety that requires such checks. We just had an illegal alien, with multiple DUIs and turned over to ICE twice, kill a nun and injure two others while driving under the influence. Tens of thousands of american citizens have been killed and injured by illegal aliens.
A police officer's job is not fighting fires either, but if the fire department refuses to fight fires, then the police as well as regular citizens will step up to do the job.
Uhh, it's not too hard for police to tell the difference if you clowns at the NY Times who live in $4 million condos on Central Park East far from crowded dorm homes and day labor sites ever learned anything about the law.
Those who have crossed the border illegally by not going through an immigration portal (entry without inspection) have committed a criminal offense. They have no official papers like a passport or visa to mark their entry.
Those who have overstayed their visas have committed a civil offense. They have papers because they entered the USA legally. They have a passport or equivalent, and a visa or equivalent, like an I-94 form, the one they give out on the arriving airplane. It is date stamped at arrival and is surrendered upon leaving the country, hopefully before it expires. These civil violaters have papers and came here legally. They broke the law the day their visa expired.
Both of these lawbreakers are required by law to carry with them at all times their documentation and have it ready for inspection upon request. By not having it available, they are violating another law. The Arizona and Virginia laws impose no new burdens upon any immigrants. It has always been that way. In fact, at one time all immigrants and visitors had to file an alien registration card every January 15. Nobody complained back then about unconstitutional burdens.
Some countries like Australia have exit controls. You go out through immigration desks upon leaving the country. They know how many and who has overstayed their visa the monent it expires. After the Sydney Olympics, many people decided to stay and enjoy Ozland longer than their tourist visas allowed. Within hours after these visas clocked out, Australian Immigration knew exacltly who was in the country illegally, and could put out notices and warrants for them should they happened to be arrested and have their immigration status checked. Or to establish a violation when they left the country late and thus be ready to prohibit reentry at a future date. The time has come for us to do that here.
Oh, really? Don't they ever get tired of carrying Obama's water for him?
The most prominent cheerleader for Obama and the leading domestic enemy of America does not like it when Americans fight back.
No dumba$$, it's a police officers job TO ENFORCE THE LAW!!! ANY AND ALL LAWS!!.
I have about as much interest in what the NY Slimes thinks of Virginia’s efforts to protect citizens from illegal immigration as I do in Mayor Bloomberg’s opinion of Virginia gun laws.
Well said and I wholeheartedly concur with your sentiments.
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