Previously I brought you the story of Jamiel Shaw, Jr., the Los Angeles High football star murdered recently by an illegal alien, who was released from County jail just hours prior to the incident. So often the illegal immigration debate is dominated by statistics. The Shaw case is a reminder of the human cost of allowing the illegal immigration crisis to continue to spiral out of control.

Following the loss of their loved one, the Shaw family has chosen to publicly challenge Special Order 40, a sanctuary policy that allows criminal illegal aliens to roam the streets of LA.

This, according to The Los Angeles Times: (web site)

"The attack on the Los Angeles Police Department's Special Order 40 -- which limits when officers can ask about the citizenship status of suspects -- has come largely but not exclusively from anti-illegal-immigration forces. But now the order has a new and potentially potent foe: the family of Jamiel Shaw Jr., the Los Angeles High football star who was killed last month. Police have charged a gang member who was in the country illegally with Shaw's slaying.

"Jamiel Shaw Sr. and his wife, Anita, a U.S. Army sergeant who has been serving in Iraq, appeared before the City Council on Tuesday arguing for changes to the 30-year-old Los Angeles Police Department policy as it pertains to gang members suspected of being illegal immigrants."

The Times also made note of Judicial Watch's taxpayer lawsuit against the Los Angeles Police Department over Special Order 40. (You can read more about that here.) (web site)

"Sterling 'Ernie' Norris, an attorney for Judicial Watch, one of the plaintiffs, said the Shaws' proposal to identify illegal immigrant gang members at the point of their arrest doesn't go far enough.

"'Police aren't taking the next step, which is when they pull somebody over to immediately check into whether they are illegal through a thorough background check and through their investigation at the scene,' Norris said in an interview. 'Special Order 40 essentially told them to shut up and not to talk about illegal immigrants.'"

Sanctuary policies in Los Angeles and other cities are illegal and nonsensical. It's a shame that it takes the murder of a high school student-athele to focus public attention on this fact.