No Sanctuary

Mark Steyn reflects on the murder of three young people in Newark, New Jersey, lined up against a wall and shot execution-style. Iofemi Hightower, Dashon Harvey and Terrance Aeriel were executed by a group led by Jose Carranza, an illegal immigrant from Peru who was out on bail from "31 counts of aggravated sexual assault relating to the rape of a 5-year-old child." The problem, as Steyn sees it, is that cities like Newark, New Jersey have declared themselves sanctuary cities and defy US laws on illegal immigration.

Not exactly. Jose Carranza is an "undocumented" immigrant. His criminal career did not begin with the triple murder he's alleged to have committed, nor with the barroom assault from earlier this year, nor with the 31 counts of aggravated sexual assault relating to the rape of a 5-year-old child, for which Mr. Carranza had been released on bail. (His $50,000 bail on the assault charge and $150,000 bail on the child-rape charges have now been revoked.) No, Mr. Carranza's criminal career in the United States began when he decided to live in this country unlawfully.

Jose Carranza isn't exactly a member of an exclusive club. Violent crime committed by fine upstanding members of the Undocumented-American community is now a routine feature of American life. But who cares? In 2002, as the "Washington Sniper" piled up his body count, "experts" lined up to tell the media that he was most likely an "angry white male," a "macho hunter" or an "icy loner." When the icy loner turned out to be a black Muslim named Muhammad accompanied by an illegal immigrant from Jamaica, the only angry white males around were the lads in America's newsrooms who were noticeably reluctant to abandon their thesis: Early editions of the New York Times speculated that Muhammad and John Lee Malvo were being sought for "possible ties to 'skinhead militia' groups," which seemed a somewhat improbable alliance given the size of Mr. Muhammad's hair in the only available mug shot. As for his illegal sidekick, Malvo was detained and released by the INS in breach of their own procedures.

America has a high murder rate: Murdering people is definitely one of the jobs Americans can do. But that's what ties young Malvo to Jose Carranza: He's just another killer let loose in this country to kill Americans by the bureaucracy's boundless sensitivity toward the "undocumented." Will the Newark murders change anything? Will there be an Ioefemi Hightower Act of Congress like the Matthew Shepard Act passed by the House of Representatives? No. Three thousand people died Sept. 11, 2001, in an act of murder facilitated by the illegal-immigration support structures in this country, and, if that didn't rouse Americans to action, another trio of victims seems unlikely to tip the scales. As Michelle Malkin documented in her book "Invasion," four of the killers boarded the plane with photo ID obtained through the "undocumented worker" network at the 7-Eleven in Falls Church, Va. That's to say, officialdom's tolerance of the illegal immigration shadow-state enabled 9/11. And what did we do? Not only did we not shut it down, we enshrined the shadow-state's charade as part of the new tough post-slaughter security procedures.

The murderers of Iofemi Hightower, Dashon Harvey and Terrance Aeriel were affiliated with the MS-13 gang. Originating from El Salvador's civil war in the 1980s, MS-13 is one of the worst manifestations of illegal immigration run wild. But cities increasingly will do nothing against illegals – even ones doing extremely illegal things.

We are being failed by a political class that is increasingly out of touch with what the voters want. More than 2/3 of citizens in this country want borders strengthened and the flood of illegals halted. There is no reason – at all – that the border can't be fixed and immigration policy revised to encourage legal immigrants rather than illegal ones. All it takes is some political will – something not in evidence in Washington. Or in cities like Newark where there is no longer any sanctuary for citizens, only for people here illegally.

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  By Ted Goldman, August 19, 2007 @ 10:15 am

  When 85% of American citizens oppose illegal immigrants it is appalling that officials repeatedly ignore the electorate.

  These same politicians even want to “silence” these citizens by attempting to impose a so-called “fairness doctrine”. Seems ripe for a political upheaval.

  Does anyone smell a new “Civil” War? Hope not, but who knows?

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  By Mwalimu Daudi, August 19, 2007 @ 6:00 pm

  Gaius, we are also being failed by private organizations (such as churches and legal aid groups) who have chosen to break the law and endanger their fellow citizens. We are also being failed by the media – the vast majority of whom have chosen to lie about what is going on.

  My wife is a legal immigrant from Tanzania. It took two years (not to mention the intervention of the offices of two different Members of Congress) to get first her visa and then her I551 (a.k.a. “green card”).

  Jose Carranza is not an “undocumented” immigrant. It is a lie to call him any kind of immigrant, since he broke the law to come here. He is a felon – pure and simple. And local governments, churches and other organizations who help the Carranzas of the world are felons as well displaying their hatred and contempt of their fellow citizens.

Other Links to this Post

1. Wake up America — August 19, 2007 @ 11:14 am