Thread: Illegal alien recidivism spurs national debate

http://www.tri-cityherald.com/tch/opini ... 3877c.html

Illegal alien recidivism spurs national debate
Published Thursday, January 18th, 2007

"Don't fill my job. I'll be back Wednesday."

Those words, perhaps apocryphal, perhaps urban legend, were supposedly called out by an illegal alien being escorted from his job in the United States.

The apparent message is that some illegal aliens consider arrest and deportation by the Immigration and Naturalization Service to be only a very temporary interruption of their routine -- a cost of doing business (or hard work) in the United States.

The U.S. Department of Justice reported earlier this month that some illegal aliens, once arrested, are re-arrested up to six times after their release.

It's another indication that the U.S. Immigration Service is not doing or cannot do its job.

The findings by Justice Department Inspector General Glenn Fine made headlines in newspapers across the country.

The inspector general found that 73 of 100 illegal immigrants in a sample were arrested, collectively, 429 times, according to The Associated Press.

"... The rate at which released criminal aliens are re-arrested is extremely high," the Justice Department audit reported.

Yet the recidivism rate (if not necessarily the number of offenses) is right in line with arrest statistics for the U.S. population as a whole -- legal or illegal.

According to the U.S. Department of Justice Bureau of Justice Statistics, the percentage of all released prisoners re-arrested hovers at 70 percent.

Against that figure, 73 out of 100 illegal aliens being re-arrested doesn't seem shocking. More like average.

Not that such a number is acceptable. But it does provide some perspective.

Of course law-abiding citizens want a justice system that works perfectly all the time, even though they know it's impossible.

The irony is not lost on them that they now are required to wait through long lines and produce a passport to re-enter the U.S. from Canada, while illegal aliens simply walk across the Mexican border.

Some, not all. Few need reminding of the terrible tragedies of would-be illegal immigrants instead dying in summer's desert heat.

Work in the United States is a powerful motivator for many poor people.

Many become, in effect, criminals by acting on that most human of impulses, finding work.

Controlling the borders is one of the more contentious disputes in American politics.

The Republicans, for example, are expected to elect Florida Sen. Mel Martinez as general chairman of the Republican National Committee on Friday.

But some Republicans may vote against him because he wants to give some illegal aliens a chance at citizenship. His views are much in line with those of President Bush on this issue, and it was in fact because of Bush's urging that Martinez said he'd take the job.

Opponents call Bush's and Martinez's positions nothing more than an amnesty program.

And as congressional Democrats seem to be moving toward rejecting funding for a 700-mile-long fence along part of the Mexican border, rhetoric increases.

"Sadly," said Dan Stein, president of the Federation for American Immigration Reform, "the leadership of the Democratic Party appears to be siding with President Bush, taking the view that illegal immigration is a semantic problem that can be 'solved' by reclassifying illegal aliens as green card holders and throwing open the gates to countless millions more people."

It's an issue without a clear or obvious solution. Well-meaning people disagree on which course is better.

But the idea of an illegal alien promising to "be back Wednesday" as he's taken into custody indicates that something -- procedures, border enforcement or the law -- needs serious attention.

But the idea of an illegal alien promising to "be back Wednesday" as he's taken into custody indicates that something -- procedures, border enforcement or the law -- needs serious attention.

To me it indicates and reaffirms my belief that many illegals don't care about our laws, our people, or anything else but themselves.
Its quite obvious that our federal government gets an F- on the report card.

Sippy; more and more I am sad to say that it is the same for legals in this country as the illegals from the same countries. Many serial rapists in South Florida have been Hispanic men. Most government corruption has been due to them and the same thing with various fraud scams. Many former doctors and dentisits practice here without a license and the list goes on and on. In the last 2 days the news has had a story of a serial rapist who was caught, a couple who had illegal gambling machines and had illegal gambling in their business and the gang members who kidnapped and shot a person and these people were all Hispanic. This got me thinking more about it. Maybe we should compare the legals crimes and the illegal crimes that are the same and offenders are from the same country. That way it will open their eyes when it comes to allowing them to stay.