Thread: Start by stopping flow of illegal immigrants

Louis Lombardi
August 3, 2010 8:17am EDT
When I began my police career in New York City, crime was rampant. Homicides were north of 2,000 per year and the city seemed ungovernable. People were afraid and thought nothing could be done.

The turning point in people’s attitudes came about when children began to be shot (and killed) by stray bullets while supposedly safe behind doors. Rudy Giuliani promised to change the culture; he was elected mayor and delivered on his promise.

While children dying spurred the residents of New York to demand change, the death of Robert Krentz Jr. in Arizona will similarly ignite the citizens of this country. Krentz lived near the border and police suspect that he was murdered on his ranch by illegal immigrants. The brazenness of the act has really pushed not only Arizonans but all Americans to demand action.

Parts of our border with Mexico are so dangerous that our government has warning signs alerting Americans to avoid entering these areas. Incredibly, our government issues travel alerts to the citizenry but refuses to correct the situation.

The criminal problem associated with illegal immigration is staggering. About a third of prisoners in border states are illegal immigrants. From my years of law enforcement experience, you need to be really bad to end up incarcerated; prison is not reserved for the garden-variety criminal, only the incorrigible.

With violent criminals come violent crimes, including homicide. Some estimates of the loss of life easily dwarf our losses in two active war zones. Again, this demonstrates what a staggering problem illegal immigration is and it demands a solution.

What can be done? Apply the lessons New York learned almost two decades ago in addressing its crime problem. Crime was reduced by methodically identifying the hard-core criminals and arresting them. This had the effect of stopping the ever-increasing crime rate and ultimately reducing it. Inside of 10 years, New York City was a different place.

Illegal immigration can be dealt with in a similar manner. First, stop the increase by controlling our border. Once the influx is under control, we can begin to chip away at the illegal immigration population in the U.S.

Once here, not all illegal immigrants commit further crimes, but many do. Those arrested need to be deported. It defies comprehension that a person here illegally can be arrested more than once.

That is part one of the strategy. Part two is to enforce our employment laws against hiring undocumented immigrants. Employers’ conduct in this area is scandalous as illegal immigrants are given very low wages. If proper wages were paid, Americans would take these jobs.

Using this dual approach, inside of a decade, our illegal immigration problem will be a fraction of what it is today. Most of the hardened-criminal immigrants will be gone or soon gone and the lure of work will have been removed. Then we can debate the status of those who remain.

Amnesty without a plan to stop the flow of illegal immigrants will only encourage more illegal immigration. With no working plan, there is no solution.

The above is not difficult to implement. Stop the flow of illegal immigrants by securing our border and remove the employment incentive. Within a few years, the problem will be solved. The only thing lacking is leadership. Who will step up to the plate?

Louis Lombardi, a community columnist for the Centre Daily Times, is an attorney and former New York City police captain who resides in Patton Township.



Read more: http://www.centredaily.com/2010/08/03/2 ... z0vYG2vFSL

Once here, not all illegal immigrants commit further crimes, but many do. Those arrested need to be deported. It defies comprehension that a person here illegally can be arrested more than once

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It really does defy comprehension as does everything else surrounding this issue and our governments’ unwillingness to act and protect American citizens from the ravages of illegal immigration!