Pushing toward amnesty, Part 3

Barbara Simpson
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Posted: August 03, 2009
1:00 am Eastern

© 2009

Bothered about the potential cost of the Obama health care plan? Do you stop to think about what would happen when more than 20 million illegals are given amnesty – read that, "free citizenship" – and find themselves covered by free medical care, for themselves and their families?

A deal – for them.

The shaft – for "real" Americans.

While the public emphasis is on the passage of the health reform/government takeover legislation, behind the scenes the steamroller warms up for what is euphemistically called "immigration reform."

There may be changes in basic immigration procedures, but the real purpose and emphasis is on granting "legal" status to people here illegally and who avail themselves of our generous welfare, social service, educational, medical, housing and food programs.

The financial burden to states for such "free" services to illegals is enormous. In California, it's estimated to be $13.1 billion annually.

When you consider that California verges on bankruptcy with a $26.3 billion deficit, that cost of illegals is even more stunning.

And that's just one state of 50.

Immigration activists hoped Barack Obama's election would quickly lead to amnesty. But aside from meeting with some lawmakers last month, nothing specific has happened although Obama said he'd take up the issue this year.

That didn't satisfy the activists who thought their efforts at voter registration for Obama's election would have gained them a leg-up.

But nothing visible has taken place on immigration, even though New York Sen. Charles Schumer says the border has been fenced (it hasn't) and that Americans are ready for amnesty.

How does he know that?

On the other hand, the feds are reneging on the 287(g) agreement, on the books for more than three years. Under that, local law enforcement agencies sign an agreement with the Department of Homeland Security, or DHS, enabling them to make federal immigration arrests of illegals who then would be turned over to the feds for deportation.

But, Washington changed the guidelines, requiring any criminal charges against the illegals be resolved before deportation. Now, there are three levels of crimes, the most serious being drug or violent crimes such as murder, manslaughter, rape, kidnapping and robbery.

Unfortunately, being here illegally isn't one of the "serious" offenses and, if the "crime" is a low level misdemeanor, the feds order the person released.

This doesn't sit well with all lawmen, Arizona's Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio being one. In fact, DHS wants him to stop arresting illegals just because they're here illegally.

Arpaio doesn't buy that. He says he won't "bend to the feds." He plans to do his job and was clear that he doesn't report to the feds; he reports to the people.

And he does his job. On July 24, in Phoenix, a three-day immigration sweep resulted in 74 arrests, of which 25 were illegal aliens. The only problem was that as soon as Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, was called to handle the deportations, Arpaio's deputies were ordered to release them.

Overall, Arpaio says his deputies have arrested nearly 1,700 illegals on federal immigration violations, even if no state crimes were committed.

Arpaio's dedication to obeying the law and working to protect the citizens of his state has so infuriated immigration activists, with support from sympathetic feds, that he's under investigation by the Justice Department for alleged discrimination and unconstitutional searches and seizures.

Arizona isn't the only location where such releases have taken place. Law enforcement officials in a number of states are concerned because many illegals have criminal records and in fact, a number have committed new offenses as serious as rape and murder after their release.

Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, principal author of section 287(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, isn't happy the provisions have been watered down. He wrote to DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano, expressing his concern that the changes weaken attempts to arrest and detain illegals regardless of the crimes at hand.

Grassley said Napolitano led him to believe she supported the program when they met in February, but he now knows that's not true. His major concern is that there's too little attention to illegals crossing the border or overstaying visas.

Should we be concerned?

In one week in mid-July in Tucson, three illegals were arrested. All had sex-crime convictions from as far away as Illinois and New York. One had been charged twice since November for sex with a minor. All had been deported, but they returned again and again.

DHS reports there are 2 million unapprehended criminal illegals in this country – who apply for and receive welfare benefits.

Should we be concerned?

Ninety-five percent of murder warrants in Los Angeles are for illegal aliens. It's 83 percent in Phoenix and 86 percent in Albuquerque.

A full 48.2 percent of all inmates in New Mexico detention centers are Mexican nationals here illegally. It's 40.1 percent in Arizona and 24.9 percent in Los Angeles.

Seventy-five percent of the "most wanted" in those cities are illegals.

Half, or 50 percent, of Los Angeles gang members are illegals;

Illegals were involved in 53 percent of investigated burglaries in California, New Mexico, Nevada, Arizona and Texas.

Statistics like these increase daily, as do costs to taxpayers. But statistics omit the human cost of crimes on the victims and their families.

If illegals get amnesty and are made "legal" with the stroke of an Obama pen, it won't change the social crisis and will only increase the cost to already financially hard-pressed taxpayers, as well as towns and cities, counties and states.

What about work? Why should an illegal hold a job that's needed by an American citizen? The Los Angeles Times reported that only 2 percent of illegals pick crops, but 29 percent are on welfare.

Average Americans have no idea how organized and militant the immigration rights advocates are. They're lobbying furiously and want immigration reform this year; so does the president.

That's "amnesty."

Will it happen? Next week, politicians speaking "stupidly."

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