Thread: Thomas: Deportation in sex crimes a good start

Thomas: Deportation in sex crimes a good start
CAL THOMAS

The argument one hears most often for not enforcing illegal immigration laws is that we can’t deport the estimated 12 million people already in this country.

It just isn’t physically, tactically or politically possible, say people who think this way.

Maybe not, but authorities can start with people who not only broke laws to get here, but are breaking more laws now that they are here.

Virginia’s Republican attorney general, Robert McDonnell, is beginning the deportation process with a class of people not even the most vehemently pro-immigrant activist should defend.

They are sex offenders.

McDonnell, working in cooperation with the Virginia State Police and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, has identified 171 people who have been convicted of sex crimes.

Some are illegal immigrants, others have legal status, but their convictions violate the conditional terms of residency and make them subject to deportation.

In a telephone interview from Richmond, McDonnell told me that because federal statutes have pre-empted what states can do on most immigration issues, Virginia had to look for ways to initiate deportation of criminal sex offenders while working with the federal government.

Asked whether targeting illegal immigrant sex offenders is the first step toward going after other criminal immigrants, McDonnell said, “We’re planning to do all of them. My position is that criminal illegal aliens or criminal aliens have forfeited their right to be in the country.

“There is broad agreement, regardless of which side people are on in the illegal immigration debate, that the criminal alien should be detained and deported.â€

Originally Posted by CAL THOMAS

The argument one hears most often for not enforcing illegal immigration laws is that we can’t deport the estimated 12 million people already in this country.

It just isn’t physically, tactically or politically possible, say people who think this way.

Maybe not, but authorities can start with people who not only broke laws to get here, but are breaking more laws now that they are here.

"It just isn't possible," is a straw man argument.

We don't have to. If we deport illegal aliens who show up during routine enforcement of state and local laws, taxes, and licenses, most of the rest will self-deport.

It's a good thing that we don't have to physically deport each one, because that tired old 2004 estimate of 12 million should be revised to three times that number.