Gingrich 'sickened' with Bush, Congress

By EUNICE MOSCOSO
Cox News Service

Published on: 08/14/07

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said Tuesday he is "sickened" that President Bush and Congress went on vacation "while young Americans in our cities are massacred" by illegal immigrants.


Gingrich, who is considering a run for the White House, was referring to a recent crime in Newark, N.J., where three college students were murdered execution style in a school playground.

One of the suspects -- Jose Lachira Carranza -- is an illegal immigrant from Peru who was on bail on charges of raping a child when the murders occurred.

Gingrich said another suspect is an illegal immigrant from Nicaragua with a long record of arrests who was ordered deported in 1993 but never left.

However, The (Newark) Star Ledger reported Tuesday that the man -- Rodolfo Godinez -- obtained permanent legal residency in 2001.

The Newark Police Department did not return requests for comment.

Gingrich said that the "war here at home" against illegal immigrants is "even more deadly than the war in Iraq and Afghanistan."

"The federal government's incompetence, timidity and uncoordinated efforts to identify and deport criminal illegal aliens have had devastating consequences for innocent Americans," Gingrich said, in a newsletter.

Gingrich said that the "war here at home" against illegal immigrants is "even more deadly than the war in Iraq and Afghanistan."

"As an American, I am sickened that the political leadership of America could continue to go on vacation and do nothing," he said. "Why are the August vacations for the president and the Congress more precious than the lives of young Americans who are being killed because of government incompetence and inaction."

Gingrich said that President Bush should call Congress back into special session for three days to pass a bill in honor of the slain students.

The measure should order the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Department of Homeland Security to outsource the development of an identification system to check the legal status of felons and have it up and running by Jan. 1, 2008, he said.

In addition, it should withdraw federal aid from any city, county or state that refuses to participate in checking the legal status of arrested felons, Gingrich said.

Authorities say six people, including four juveniles, were involved in the Aug. 4 murders of Terrance Aeriel, 18; Dashon Harvey, 20; and Iofemi Hightower, 20, according to news reports. A fourth victim, 19-year-old Natasha Aeriel, survived after being shot in the head.

Three of the six suspects are in custody, including Carranza, who turned himself into authorities. Three are at large.

Police have said that robbery was the motive for the killings.



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