Thread: IL: Lake Co. vows to only deport worst criminals

Are the police going to practice pro-active or re-active law enforcement?

What's the old saying--it's too late to close the barn door after the horse has escaped........

"All that is required for evil to triumph is for a few good men to do nothing."
Edmund Burke

This appeared in our paper today. How would you respond to Megan?


January 21, 2008
Waukegan

Deportation implications

The Lake County Board is right to worry about the implications of 287(g).

It's simple: If someone breaks into my car and an undocumented immigrant witnesses it, I want that person to report it to the police. With the application for 287(g), undocumented immigrants have become very afraid of the police in Waukegan.

Now, many feel that they would be risking their home and livelihood if they report a crime. This fear did not exist in Waukegan even a year or two ago. Apparently, the Lake County Board does not want this situation to spread to the rest of the county.

Perhaps you feel that this fear of the police is unfounded. The mayor, the police and the sheriff keep promising that they won't use their 287(g) powers on non-criminal immigrants.

However, under 287(g), they could legally begin deportation proceedings against any undocumented immigrants. That is why the undocumented immigrants in Waukegan, and I mean those who are working hard to support their families with no criminal records, are so afraid of the police. What guarantee do they have that these men are men of their word?

Whatever your opinion is on the immigration issue, I am sure you can see why undocumented immigrants are afraid of the police. A good illustration of this situation is a story that appeared in this newspaper in August about a woman named Josefina.

She called the police after her husband was shot. When the police arrived at her home, rather than just questioning her about the shooting, they began questioning her legal status as well. The message that undocumented immigrants took from this story was: If you want to report a crime, you'd better watch out.

As a citizen of Waukegan, I am worried about any policy that will end up letting more criminals run free. The Lake County sheriff, Waukegan mayor and police chief should do everything in their power to reverse the message they have given the immigrant community.

Instead, I am afraid they are reinforcing it.

Megan E. Johnson


http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/news ... S1.article

They can't handle the sheer numbers? They need to pick a side and stick with it. Are they ALL here as good law abiding people or AREN'T they?

I'm sorry, but stealing baby food (cheesey appeal to pity by the way) is a friggin crime!!! Fake identification is a crime, etc. What's the message...go ahead and steal and commit crimes as long as you don't burn someone and bury them in you backyard your okay?

How about educating them against having so many kids? How about educating them on the laws?

Can I go steal groceries, change my identification, steal someone elses identification, drive without car insurance, spray paint my neighbors houses so other ethnicities won't live there, get free medical, change to an entitilement mentality, etc.?