Thread: Newark -- A Sanctuary City for Murderers

Newark -- A Sanctuary City for Murderers
by Gary Bauer
Posted 08/24/2007 ET




Children who grow up in Newark, New Jersey (population: 280,000) do not exactly have the odds stacked in their favor. Nearly one in three lives in poverty, and almost two in three grow up without a father at home. Newark's unemployment rate is twice the national average, and despite per pupil spending 75 percent higher than the national mean, the city's government schools are some of the worst in the nation. A third of Newark's residents over age twenty-five don't have high school diplomas, and more than ninety percent do not have college degrees.

Terrance Aerial, Dashon Harvey and Iofemi Hightower had beaten the odds. All three excelled in school and music, and were either attending or about to attend college. They were, in the words of Cory Booker, the city's mayor, "Newark's hope, praise and spirit."

Unfortunately, there was one grim statistic in Newark that caught up to these three promising youths: A stubbornly high murder rate that's three times that of New York City.

One night in early August, the trio, along with another friend, Natasha Aerial, were listening to music and joking around in a school playground behind a local elementary school when a group of men approached them. Nobody knows exactly what happened next, but within minutes, and after an apparent struggle, all four teens had been lined up against a brick wall, forced to kneel and shot in the back of the head. Only Natasha Aerial survived.

Within days of the grisly attacks, 28-year-old Jose Carranza turned himself in to police. Carranza was indicted by grand juries in New Jersey twice this year-in April on aggravated assault and weapons charges and in July on 31 counts that included aggravated sexual assault of a 5-year-old girl. Another suspect, Ro dolfo Antonio Godinez Gomez,
24, has a rap sheet that includes robbery, assault and weapons arrests. He was caught just days ago in the Washington, D.C. area. Four other arrests have been made in the case.

In the aftermath of these senseless murders, fingers have been pointed in many directions-at local police for failing adequately to enforce gun control laws, and at the inattentive parents of the murderers. Some citizens groups contend the murders are yet more proof that the endemic corruption that has plagued the city's government for decades (five of
the city's last seven mayors have been indicted on criminal charges) persists.

Amidst the finger wagging, however, few government leaders or pundits have seemed willing to acknowledge an inescapable fact surrounding the crimes: that they never would have been committed if federal immigration laws had been enforced. You see, both adul t suspects-Carranza and Gomez-are illegal immigrants who had ignored previous deportation orders with impunity. If New Jersey officials had investigated their immigration status and shared that information with federal authorities willing to enforce the law, neither suspect would have been released on bail after their previous crimes, thus neither would have been free to commit the heinous crimes.

These facts weren't lost on Latasia Harvey, a relative of one of the victims, who told a reporter, "...I can't help but think that had (authorities) done their job in the beginning, this might not have happened."

Carranza and Gomez were living freely in Newark because it is one of more than 30 major U.S. cities that happily designate themselves "sanctuary cities" for illegal immigrants. In defiance of federal guidelines, sanctuary city laws prevent local law enforcement from
cooperating with federal officials on immigration matters. Newark's sanctuary resolution passed the city council in October 2006 by a vote of 8-0 and calls for Newark not to discriminate against illegal immigrants by asking their immigration status or denying them access to services because of it.

Because of their "don't ask, don't tell" policies, sanctuary cities serve as magnets for illegal immigrants. But, in the wake of the murders, instead of closely examining the city's immigration policies (a task which the local county Prosecutor Paula Dow said is "going to have to wait for another day"), Newark has taken other steps to protect its people. Fifty thousand citizens have signed a pledge to "stop shootin', start thinkin', and keep livin'." Mayor Booker has unveiled a new state-of-the-art surveillance system to cut down on gun crime, and New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine has announced plans to monitor the flow of
illegal weapons into the state. Concerned citizens are vowing to put more effort into mentoring and curfew programs.

Booker, who was swept into office last year promising to make crime reduction his government's top priority, calls Newark's response to the murders "a defining moment for our city." But none of these other measures will matter unless the city puts an immediate end to its illegal and irresponsible sanctuary policies-policies whose most tangible effect has been to diminish further the odds that more children growing up in Newark may come to reflect the "hope, praise and spirit" exemplified in those three promising kids.


Mr. Bauer, a 2000 candidate for president, is chairman of Campaign for Working Families and president of American Values.

http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=22077

Fifty thousand citizens have signed a pledge to "stop shootin', start thinkin', and keep livin'."

Yeah that ought to be effective

"fingers have been pointed in many directions-at local police for failing adequately to enforce gun control laws, and at the inattentive parents of the murderers. "

These guns didn't kill.... These people did...these guns had no laws----I’m sure they were registered, right? Law abiding citizens register guns and again these rights will be attacked and used for an excuse. Maybe we need better enforcement of laws against illegal guns, more time for those who use them and those who supply them. Maybe those who are responsible for an illegal weapon in the hands of a criminal should be charged with the same crime as its used in and the parents of the minors should be held responsible for their minor children's actions.
And for this governor to disingenuously talk about gun laws and enforcement as an excuse or reason, when the truth is… all of these people were horrendously derelict in the jobs they were elected for, hired for and appointed for. This Attorney General to declare privacy for illegal lawbreakers continued sanctuary of criminals for the back-crap that illegals won’t come forward to report crime and witnesses will be afraid is such a lame excuse to allow and encourage these crimes. I can’t remember the last time, we over looked criminal laws so people would come forward and not be afraid to report crime.
I heard today these girls were raped and one of these murders was wheelding a machete, of which he used.(I’m trying to verify) The governor should also look into the machete laws and rape laws also.

If this country’s immigration laws were enforced, if Americans were protected from harm as both the US constitution and State constitution provide, because of a sham of state and federal agencies not working together and these people not remembering the oath to enforce laws as written and to protect society these young people and thousands of other Americans would still be alive. The blood of these young people and each and every American citizen who has been killed by illegal aliens should keep them from ever sleeping a wink at night. Not to discriminate against illegal immigrants by asking their immigration status or denying them access to services
by their "don't ask, don't tell" policies of Newark, other cities and states is totally irresponsible, is against federal and state law, the fraudulent use of taxpayer’s money and a dishonest scheme behind citizen’s backs of getting more money and using more money by cities and states for illegal aliens who are ruining our economic, educational, healthcare, employment, criminal, immigration, justice, safety and housing systems.