Recent drug bust exposed the 'compassion' of open borders as a cruel lie


An unidentified man scales the fence along the U.S.-Mexico border. (AP photo)



By Kevin Leininger, Thursday, August 18, 2016 12:01 AM

A common justification for welcoming illegal immigrants is that they take jobs Americans won't. But unless we have a shortage of native-born drug dealers, that defense won't work for the 18 people named in last week's massive bust in northeast Indiana — at least 11 of whom could now face deportation by the same federal government that allowed them to enter the country unlawfully before finally arresting them for other crimes.

That would include the drug ring's alleged leader, Jose Razo, 43, whose 18-year-old son, a senior at South Side High School, reportedly was shot to death last November as he sat in a car on Kinnaird Avenue.

According to a statement from Immigration and Customs Enforcement, ICE "remains focused on smart, effective immigration enforcement that prioritizes threats to national security, public safety and border security." To that end, according to Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman Gail Montenegro, detainers have been placed on Razo and 10 others in the Allen County Jail requesting they be turned over to ICE for possible deportation upon release from local custody. Under 2014 federal guidelines, aliens in organized criminal gangs or have been convicted of felonies are among those receiving top priority for apprehension, detention and removal.

To which a sane person might say: Great — except they shouldn't have been here in the first place. If we're going to drug ourselves into stupors or premature death, shouldn't red-blooded, patriotic American pushers at least get the profits?

I'm not sure when borders became politically incorrect or racist, but I assume it was sometime after the German Army invaded places like Poland, France and the Soviet Union in what was then called an act of war but today might be dismissed as undocumented entry — especially if different races were involved or some politician hoped to get a few votes as a result.

Speaking of which, Democratic Presidential Candidate Hillary Clinton this week unveiled a voter registration program called "Mi Sueno, Tu Voto" (that's "My Dream, Your Vote" to Gringos). The plan is to woo 27.3 million eligible Latino voters with the help of so-called "Dreamers" — children of illegal immigrants who are currently not allowed to cast ballots. Clinton has said she would work to restore and expand President Obama's efforts to grant legal status to millions of immigrants and review current deportation policies.

Republican opponent Donald Trump, on the other hand, has dared to suggest the nation might want to do a better job of examining would-be immigrants and refugees before they cross the border instead of waiting for them to clarify things by, say, dealing cocaine or planting bombs.

Trump's call for "extreme vetting" of people entering the United States generated the usual horror and scorn from the open-borders crowd, but his call to admit "only those who share our values and respect our people" is consistent with the oath new citizens (remember them?) must take: "I absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty, of whom or which I have heretofore been a subject or citizen," it begins, "I will support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic; I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same.

"Now, it's unlikely anyone would try to cross the border by expressing a desire to sell drugs or impose Sharia law. But we'll never know unless we ask or review their backgrounds, and you can't question those you don't even try to stop. "These are simple people, making little money, just trying to make a living" an attorney involved in the recent drug arrests said of some of the accused, most of whom speak little or no English — a reality that no doubt complicated that effort. He believes more than 11 of those arrested will turn out to have entered the country illegally.

It may be politically expedient to brand opponents of illegal immigration as racist or xenophobic, but it's also dangerously cynical: Last week's arrests and numerous other incidents illustrate the hidden costs of open borders, both to the public and the immigrants themselves. Most illegal immigrants do not commit other crimes, but legal immigration — which examines and prepares new arrivals in numbers that can be assimilated as Americans — is the only type that should be celebrated or tolerated, and it shouldn't be even the least bit controversial to say so.

Recent drug bust exposed the 'compassion' of open borders as a cruel ...