Don's Tuesday Column

THE WAY I SEE IT   by Don Polson    Red Bluff Daily News   7/21/2015

Can we even talk about it?

Guy Benson and Mary Katherine Ham, conservative bloggers and writers, co-wrote a seminal book on the efforts by liberals and progressives to shut people up—to effectively stifle free expression. The title goes a long way to summarize the content: “End of Discussion: How the Left’s Outrage Industry Shuts Down Debate, Manipulates Voters, and Makes America Less Free (and Fun).” I will get the paperback when it’s out; online, I don’t see a chapter heading that deals with immigration (the “Voter ID Edition” might) but the leftists’ modus operandi would, I assume, be the same. Included on a page of quotes is one from William F. Buckley, Jr.: “Liberals claim to want to give a hearing to other views, but then are shocked and offended to discover that there are other views.”

I wrote the above because the Democrat left is waging an endless pro-illegal immigration campaign, which will be, along with the economy and national security, major presidential election issues. They are in lockstep with Emperor Obama’s “open borders/minimal deportation” policies, which I believe are designed to fill the rolls with reliable Democrat voters. I’ve already read about a quiet push to get green card holders to become citizens in time for the 2016 elections, to help take back the U.S. Senate and keep the presidency with new, mostly Mexican immigrant, voters. They don’t want us talking about any of that.

I, for the record, support legal immigration that is guided by the needs of American employers who cannot find qualified Americans; like a majority of Americans, I want employers to raise wages before seeking foreign workers. Likewise, I want all nations to be considered for potential immigrants if the education, industriousness and employment history among their citizens (vs. reliance on government benefits) would improve America’s economy and traditional political values. Our legal immigration includes 30 percent Mexicans; that does not meet either of those criteria. That might explode Obama-crat, leftist, political correctness-addled brains but who says we can’t discuss what’s best for our country’s future?

Following on last week’s theme: The vicious and clearly inexcusable murder of Kate Steinle in “sanctuary city” San Francisco, at the hands of a multiple-deportee Mexican illegal felon has proven inconvenient for the left in many ways. They insist even now that their intentions are worthy, but liberals worship at the altar of good intentions. Results, intentional or otherwise, carry far more weight when objectively analyzing immigration policies.

Enter “san francisco murders of bologna family” in a search box. The top 4 links—2 for sfgate.com, 1 for sanfranciscocbslocal.com, and 1 for en.wikipedia.org—provide similarly shocking, outrageous accounts of the 2008 murders of Mr. Bologna and his 2 sons by illegal alien Edwin Ramos, a known murderer and MS-13 gangster. A third son witnessed the cold-blooded mugging and murders; he and many others held the SF sanctuary policy responsible. Then-Mayor Newsom didn’t change anything; tragically, Kate Heinle died due to the same willfully failed policies.

“One of the most horrifying crimes within memory occurred in Washington, D.C. on May 13 and 14. A man named Darron Wint broke into a home…owned by a businessman named Savvas Savopouloos. Wint held Savopoulos, his wife Amy, their 10-year-old son Philip, and their housekeeper, Veralicia Figueroa, captive for around 20 hours while he tormented and tortured them and arranged for a futile ransom to be paid, apparently with the aid of one or more accomplices.” Look up “What happens when you don’t enforce the immigration laws,” by John Hinderaker, Powerlineblog.com, June 6 (searchable at Powerlineblog.com, and posted June 21 at donpolson.blogspot.com).

You must read (if you can handle the stomach-churning details) first, the torture inflicted on that family and their housekeeper, after which Wint set fire to their mansion. Second, equally as angering, was the failure of every aspect of our “system” to remove this undesirable alien (aka, vile human refuse) from among America’s citizens and, in the case of Mr. Savopoulos and their housekeeper, our legal immigrants.

Wint had dozens of serious and minor charges, restraining orders, threats of violence, and arrests for assaulting his girlfriend, stabbing a man, burglary, theft, vandalism and bringing a machete to work. He should have been deported to his native Guyana years before capping his life of crime with mass murder.

However, Mint held a “green card” (aka “legal permanent resident” or LPR) that, you should know, is not a free ride to stay here no matter what. The LPR, rightly, can be sent home at any time; however, executive laxity (meaning immigration bureaucrats), with immigration-lawyer complicity, thwarts the law. That prompted Congress, in 1996, to require deportation of LPRs for a wider variety of crimes.

“The Obama administration has refused to consider even illegal aliens for deportation until blood has been shed, let alone legal ones…only about 3 percent of ICE detainer requests in recent years have been for LPRs” (Mark Krikorian). Essentially, if you came here legally, under our irrational chain immigration regime, there is zero chance that you will ever be kicked out.

           Look up: “ICE failed to deport 121 convicts now facing murder charges”; “Most illegal immigrants from border surge skipped court date after release, records show”; “Illegal immigrants accounted for nearly 37 percent of federal sentences in FY 2014”; “Border reports back up Trump’s ‘rapists’ claims” (search all by title).