Illegal enablers sealing their own fate

August 19 , 2008

 

I was talking to a restaurant manager recently.  He got a call from one of his employees.  The guy was on the way to work and had been pulled over a few blocks away by a state trooper.  He was driving on an expired license.  He also, unbeknownst to the restaurant manager, was in the country illegally. 

 

The manager asked the trooper what was going to happen to the guy now that they knew he was an illegal alien.  “Nothing,” the trooper replied.  “Nothing?” the manager asked.  “Nothing,” the trooper answered.  “It’s not illegal to be here illegally.”

 

That one statement sums up the whole problem, doesn’t it?  It’s not illegal to be here illegally.  The fact that you’re an illegal alien says you’ve broken the law but so many states and municipalities are turning a blind eye to the problem either because they want to encourage the cheap labor or because they don’t want to deal with the headache.

 

Hartford, Conn. just passed one of the most outrageous ordinances in the country.  The city council unanimously approved a measure that prohibits police and city employees from asking people about their immigration status.  Unanimously approved!  What’s even more incredible is they had a public hearing on the issue before they took the vote.  Not one person voiced an objection to the ordinance.

 

It defies explanation but I’ve finally come to the conclusion that this is the best thing that could happen.  There seem to be two trends shaping up across the nation.  Some states and municipalities are tightening the screws on illegal immigrants.  They are demagnetizing their areas of the country by penalizing those who hire them and by cutting off their benefits.

 

Then there are places like San Francisco and Hartford.  They are “magnetizing” their areas with idiotic ordinances that make their cities safe havens.  They’ll be safe havens, alright.  They’ll be safe havens for drug dealers and murderers and MS-13 gang member.  If this is what these clueless people want, why should we stand in their way?  Let’s send every illegal alien in America their way.

 

And what has their shiny little sanctuary city gotten them?  Hartford’s overall crime rate is double the national average.  Their murder rate is nearly triple the national average.  In every area – murder, rape, robbery, assault, burglary, motor vehicle theft – they are well above the national average.  Compared with a city that’s been trying to run the illegals out of town – Charlotte, North Carolina – Hartford has a higher crime rate in five out of seven categories, including murder and aggravated assault.  And Charlotte has five times the population!  This cradle of Yale University goes beyond just protecting illegals from police.  “Any service provided by a City of Hartford department shall be made available to residents, regardless of immigration status,” the ordinance reads, in part.  Even if the Immigration and Customs Enforcement department (ICE) has issued a warrant against an illegal, Hartford’s new ordinance mandates that the city “shall not make arrests or detain individuals based on administrative warrants for removal entered by ICE into the National Crime Information Center database.”

 

So, there you have it.  A genuine sanctuary city defying federal laws against illegal immigration.  But, here’s the kicker.  Hartford has asked for and receives federal funding to fight the rising crime rate in their fair city.  Hartford joins a growing list of cities like Chicago and Miami that create a crime problem with their pandering to illegal aliens then cry to the feds for money.  It’s time to cut these cities off from any federal money and let them fend for themselves.