Thread: Heated debate rages over forum on illegal immigration, crime

GREELEY – It was standing room only inside the Island Grove Regional Park 4H building on Tuesday night for a forum on illegal immigration.

http://www.9news.com/news/top-article.a ... ryid=77546

There are an estimated 12 million suspected illegal immigrants in the United States. When they enter the country, immigration laws are broken. Weld County District Attorney Ken Buck says some of the illegal immigrants go on to commit violent crimes.

"We have a case here where someone committed six DUIs under three different names in Weld County, and that person wasn't deported. They went out and committed vehicular homicide and killed somebody and that person left behind a wife and children," said Buck.

Buck organized a special forum held Tuesday titled "Illegal immigration: The untold stories."

About 500 people showed up at the meeting.

Buck says the purpose of the forum was to inform the public about the impact of crimes committed by illegal immigrants is having on the community.

"If you were the victim of a crime it's a very big problem and so it's a problem we need to address because the crimes being committed by illegal immigrants are preventable," said Buck.

Some Hispanic leaders condemned the meeting, saying it furthers racism and hate. No one from the pro-immigrant side was invited to speak. Buck says he did not think a debate would be safe or productive. He maintains it was only an informational meeting. Opponents say it was intentionally one-sided to spread false stereotypes.

The exact number of crimes committed by illegal immigrants is hard to pinpoint. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, does not keep that statistic, neither does the Colorado court system, nor Buck himself.

"It's somewhat hard to quantify, but it's also hard to say how many drug dealers there are in Weld County yet we still have a drug task force in Weld County. This doesn't mean the problem isn't real," said Buck.

Members of the Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition say Buck's forum is baseless and is aiming to instill false fear.

"We empathize with victims of crime and want to address crime in our community, but to use government resources to single out one community because of the actions of a few violators, is shameful," said the coalition's director Julien Ross.

Ross says studies have shown that immigrants are often victims of crime. Ross says focusing on a fairly ambiguous issue detracts from the need to have what he calls substantial reform of the current immigration system.

"We know that immigrants are here to work and better their family, not to commit crimes," said Ross.

While ICE does not track crimes by illegal immigrants, it did report that of 197,000 illegal immigrants deported last year, 88,600 had criminal convictions.

(Copyright KUSA*TV. All rights reserved.)



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88,600 thats not new math, thats not old math, its almost half and to me that adds up to the problem that our Goverment should have never over looked. Not in the first place or today with a crime rate like that and we know where the most of them are deported too ... how could any one ask for amnesty in any way shape or form

While ICE does not track crimes by illegal immigrants, it did report that of 197,000 illegal immigrants deported last year, 88,600 had criminal convictions.

How many where more then one crime conviction out of this Group...
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Ross says studies have shown that immigrants are often victims of crime. Ross says focusing on a fairly ambiguous issue detracts from the need to have what he calls substantial reform of the current immigration system.

"We know that immigrants are here to work and better their family, not to commit crimes," said Ross.

Of course they are victims of crimes . . . they prey upon one another. This idiot needs to challenge his own statement by pulling up statistics of crimes commited against illegals by Americans vs. illegals who commit crimes against Americans. I'd bet my last dollar there would be a huuuuuge gap.

As for them being here to work blahahahahahha . . . . what a joke, if we take away welfare, etc. the majority of the breed mares would leave and wouldn't take their "American" children with them.