Head in the Sand

by Assemblyman Rick Keene

839 Words

The ties between violent crime, terrorism and illegal immigration leave the country vulnerable.  At present, the battle brewing in the law enforcement community nationwide will determine whether local governments should have so-called “sanctuary laws”, which bar police and sheriff’s departments from asking for a person’s immigration status or enforcing federal immigration law.  Despite federal law banning these policies, California alone has at least seven major cities and counties with such policies.

This head-in-the-sand approach by Los Angeles, San Francisco, and other left-leaning cities in California endangers our society.  It exacerbates the problem of hardcore Mexican and Central American gang violence by throwing up barriers to effective policing.  For example, if a gang member who had been convicted of a felony and deported was found back on the street (itself a felony), officers couldn’t arrest him unless they caught him committing another crime.  The New York Times reported in 2000 that 23% of the inmates in Los Angeles County Jails were deportable.  Last year, the Los Angeles Times reported that 95% of the 1,200 outstanding homicide warrants in Los Angeles were for illegal aliens, as were two-thirds of all fugitive felony warrants.  In light of these horrifying statistics, preventing deported felons from returning to the US should be a top priority.

Even more seriously, sanctuary laws erode our ability to identify and apprehend potential terrorists.  The tidal wave of economically-motivated illegal immigrants over our southern border provides perfect cover for those seeking anonymous entry into the US for more sinister purposes.  Past Deputy Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, Admiral James Loy, recently testified to Congress on evidence that Al-Qaeda is considering infiltrating the Southwest border due to a belief that “illegal entry is more advantageous than legal entry for operational security reasons.”  Al-Qaeda leaders know that, once here, most local police officers will never ask for their immigration status.

Over the past three years, the number of other-than-Mexican (OTM) illegal immigrants crossing our southern border has tripled.  The United States Border Patrol reports apprehending 119,000 OTMs last year, including 510 from “special interest” countries, meaning those that are likely to export terrorists.  No one has any idea how many more undetected Jordanian, Saudi, or Iraqi illegal immigrants slipped by in the night.  Indeed, just weeks ago Mexican federal agents arrested four young Iraqi men preparing to sneak into the United States illegally.  Officials are investigating their intentions. 

The possibility of terrorists gaining access to US soil across our southern border poses a clear and present danger.  With sanctuary laws offering de facto amnesty, liberal policymakers encourage the mass illegal immigration that gives cover to terrorists, and we deny law enforcement the tools to find terrorists once they are here.

What happens once a terrorist is in the US illegally?  Just ask Mohammed Atta, leader of the 9/11 hijackers.  He was stopped and ticketed for driving without a license in Florida – while here illegally on an expired visa.  Failing to enforce our immigration laws at the local level can have all-too-real consequences.

Supporters of sanctuary policies claim that enforcing our laws can foment distrust in the immigrant community, making it more difficult for officers to get immigrant crime victims to come forward and identify their attackers.  They add that immigration is a federal issue, not one for local concern.

However, these arguments willfully ignore the fact that law enforcement does not conduct wanton immigrant sweeps.  Instead, their stated intent is to target gang members, drug traffickers, human smugglers, terrorists, and other criminals whether here legally or not.  Besides, these criminals prey most directly on the immigrant community itself.  Identifying and deporting gang members benefits the immigrant community more than anyone else.

And while it is true that immigration remains primarily a federal responsibility, local law enforcement jumps at the chance to team up with the feds on drug busts or other joint projects.  Immigration enforcement should be no different.

Sanctuary laws are illegal under federal law.  The Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 clearly states, “States and localities may not adopt policies, formally or informally, that prohibit employees from communicating with the Department of Homeland Security regarding the immigration status of individuals.”  Congress called New York City officials to testify on this matter after a woman was raped by a gang of illegal immigrants in 2003.  Three of the five men charged in the attack had been previously arrested, but were released without being turned over to federal authorities for deportation.  New York changed its policy.  Unfortunately, that hasn’t stopped liberal city councils across California from continuing to break the law and provide safe havens for criminals and terrorists. 

Not everyone buys into the nonsense of sanctuary laws.  Orange County’s Sheriff’s Department takes a different tack.  The Department not only allows officers to enforce all our nation’s laws, it plans to seek training from the federal government to better prepare them for the task.  I applaud Orange County.  The rest of California should follow their lead.