http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsbu ... 64796.html

Catching 'real criminals' in W.Va.
By Dimitri Vassilaros
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Sunday, August 6, 2006

"Pig-headed stupidity" might not be the best way to describe the proposed monitoring of illegal immigrant detention cases in the Wheeling area by the American Civil Liberties Union of West Virginia. But it'll do.

Andrew Schneider, executive director of the Mountain State ACLU, said in published reports that his organization was "very concerned" about the actions of the Ohio County Sheriff's Office and other law enforcement agencies that he refused to name.

"We have been receiving complaints of law enforcement agencies detaining illegal aliens ... (that) often leads to racial profiling, partially because officers are untrained in immigration law."

The ACLU asked Sheriff Tom Burgoyne if his office received training regarding immigration law. It did not. But so what?

Mr. Burgoyne, an FBI agent for 31 years, said that at least 80 illegal immigrants were detained after traffic stops between May 2005 and June 2006. His office made 7,875 traffic stops in that period.

You do the math.

There were no replies to the calls and e-mail from this column requesting comment by the ACLU. Until that is, 30 minutes before deadline. The ACLU sent an e-mail saying that "Mr. Schneider has been out of the office for the majority of the last 3 weeks. I will pass you (sic) message to him as soon as possible. The following op-ed that was sent to the local newspapers expresses our view on the subject."

In other words, Mr. Schneider has been in his office for part of the last three weeks. And presumably an executive director of the ACLU is capable of checking his phone and e-mail messages even when not at work.

The cars were not stopped because the driver or passengers look Mexican, Mr. Burgoyne said. Typically the stops were for road violations such as faulty taillights. "In every instance the driver could not speak English," Burgoyne said about the stops that led to the capture of illegals.

The drivers did not have licenses and the cars were not registered or insured. "The next question is, 'Are you an illegal alien?'" he said. Typically all admitted they were illegals. "It was not racial profiling."

And as for the Big Lie tactics used by apologists for the illegals -- that illegals supposedly only do the jobs that the lazy Americans won't do -- don't believe it.

In that 18-month period, Burgoyne arrested illegals working for a subcontractor of a subcontractor of maybe yet another subcontractor for a cable TV company servicing the Wheeling area.

"They admitted they were illegals," he said. But when they said they were making $13.50 an hour -- $13.50 an hour -- one of the sheriff's deputies said, "Hey, that's what I make," Burgoyne said.

And why wouldn't foreigners admit they were in this republic illegally since all but those who have criminal records typically are released by Immigration and Customs Enforcement if the illegals swear to God, cross their hearts and hope to die that they will show up for their deportation hearing even though almost none do? The ICE office in Pittsburgh forwarded this column's request for comment to its office in Washington, D.C. There was no response by deadline.

And speaking of pig-headed stupidity, the ACLU op-ed was titled: "Local Law Enforcement Should Catch Real Criminals."

That is exactly what Sheriff Tom Burgoyne is doing.

Dimitri Vassilaros can be reached at dvassilaros@tribweb.com or 412-380-5637.