Beating the Drums for Criminal Immigrants

We have had our issues with the philosophy of the Drum Major Institute for some time now. In general, we feel that the organization has a redistribute the wealth ideology that is a direct threat to hard working middle-class New Yorkers. Now, however, they've taken an even worse turn with an indefensible post done on the murders in Newark. The post's title-"Newark Opts Out of an Immigration Dragnet"-underscores the dishonesty of the poster, and the DMI should disavow any paternity for the remarks; but we doubt it will.

The fact that the the heinous murders of three good college-bound kids doesn't make a dent on the poster, so intent is he/she? on creating a red herring that will elide the central issue that should frame this debate, highlights just how much the pro-illegal ideology eschews good common sense. That issue?

We have a policy in the city of Newark that is so concerned with the sensibilities of folks who circumvented the law to arrive here, that it prevents the law enforcement establishment from inquiring about the immigration status of someone arrested for a despicable crime. Mayor Booker should be chastised-not lionized by DMI- for his negligence, and for his lack of concern for the safety of the citizens of Newark.

This is not about any dragnet for illegals, and the focus on this malicious straw man underscores the way in which a growing cohort of dishonest people have hijacked the immigration debate. When people who are in this country illegally, and they are arrested for a crime, they need to be held without bail until their situation is adjudicated. Mr. Carranza (and the other illegals who colluded with him), on bail after three separate arrests-one including the allegation of the rape of a five year old-did not belong on the street. If his status had been questioned, a detainer would have been placed on him by ICE; and he would not have been on the street to murder the promise that those three kids represented.

This is the central issue of the debate: Have we become so insensitive to the rights of law abiding citizens that we can't even question the immigration status of those people who are arrested for heinous crimes? This refusal to stand up for the sovereignty of this country, is the hallmark of the DMI philosophy. They don't want to protect our borders because they don't believe in the legitimacy of our borders-in spite of any of the usual disclaimers that folks like this issue.

And for the DMI poster to try to reference the policies of former mayor Rudy Giuliani is another example of DMI bad faith. Whatever Giuliani did or believed when he was mayor became obsolete on 9/11. The immigration dynamic changed when 19 fanatics, in possession of multiple false ids, flew those planes into buildings. Don't forget, these evil men utilized the illegal immigration network to get the drivers licenses that they used to get on those planes. And, by the way, NYC does cooperate with immigration authorities when it comes to illlegal behavior by immigrants.

So what the DMI post does is to falsely stigmatize all of us who want to get criminal aliens out of this country as quickly as possible. The manner of the stigmatization involves labeling us as either racist, or "anti-immigrant." This is how the debate gets debased in a miasma of dishonest finger pointing. Which is why we cheer the just announced policy decision by the NJ Attorney General that dictates that all of the state's law enforcement personnel must report the illegal status of those that are arrested for violent crimes in the Garden State.

We find all of this repugnant. We have spent the better part of twenty five years defending immigrant store owners and restaurateurs, and no, we didn't inquire about their status. Immigration is a source of this country's real strength, but to fail to defend the borders; and by nonfeasance to allow criminal illegals to be set loose on our street to murder, is not to be a defender of immigration. It is to be a defender of the dissolution of our country's security and sovereignty; and the concomitant demise of America's greatness.