Illegal aliens do illegal things. That should come as no surprise. If they are willing to break our nation’s laws to get into our country, who would expect them to obey the law once here? Oh, yes, I forgot. The liberals. They want so much to believe that illegals are law-abiding people who just happened to break that one federal law. They want to believe it so badly that they are more than willing to ignore cold, hard facts.
The following facts were taken from columnist Jerry Seper’s Washington Times article, “Illegals Become Repeat Criminals” (see LINK below). The article was based on an audit by the Justice Department's Office of Inspector General.
Fact: 73% of illegals who break the law are arrested an average of five more times. Their crimes include murder, drug offenses, assault, weapons violations and robbery.
Fact: The illegals in the study were arrested an average of six times each, and charged with an average of twelve crimes. So the average arrest was for multiple crimes, an average of two charges per arrest.
The audit of illegal alien criminals shows that most re-offend if they are released instead of being deported. Federal law requires criminal illegal aliens to be deported, but the law is routinely ignored by local, state and federal law enforcement authorities.
The audit, which was requested by Congress, surveyed 164 state and local police agencies. Of these 18% (30 agencies) do not ask criminals about whether they are in the US legally. More than 10% (17 agencies) do not inform the federal government when they have someone in custody whom they suspect to be an illegal alien. Some agencies said they don’t inform the feds because they don't believe the government will respond. Eleven per cent (18 agencies) fail to report known criminal illegals to the government before they release them.
Our nation’s policy regarding illegal aliens (or rather its lack of a policy) is inherently unfair to the millions of immigrants who play by the rules. These people stood in line until their turn came. They went through all the bureaucratic red tape. They did the right thing. And I imagine many of them think today, “Boy was I a chump! I could have just sneaked across the border.”
This audit, which covered 262,105 illegals who have been arrested, refers to them as “criminal illegal aliens.” By definition, every illegal alien is a criminal. If they arrived in this country in any manner other than applying for immigration status, they are criminals.
“But they only came here to get a better life.” Does that make breaking our laws and threatening our national security OK? I want a better life, too. I live in Palm Beach County, Florida. Just across the waterway are hundred of millionaires. Why shouldn’t I go over there and steal their money?
Do we get to choose which of the Ten Commandments we will follow? Some think they can: “I’m a good person. I follow the Bible, except for an occasional adulterous affair. Well, nine out of ten isn’t bad.”
So why is it bad for me to steal from the rich, but it’s OK for people to sneak across our borders? Both are violations of the law. Both are wrong.
The ACLU and the liberals would have us believe that it is somehow right and moral to break certain laws. But if we as a society start picking and choosing which laws we will follow, we will descend into anarchy. If we allow that, child molesters could say, “I obey all laws except this one.” So could murderers and rapists. All our laws must be obeyed if we are to survive as a society.
Speaking of the ACLU (which I like to call the American Communist Lawyers Union), that organization likes to refer to illegal aliens as “undocumented workers.” That has a nice ring, albeit an artificial ring. “Undocumented” implies that they just haven’t had time to fill out those pesky documents. In fact, most illegals never apply for legal status. “Workers” is also problematic. Some do work, but they do so illegally (see LINK below to the article “Illegal Aliens Arrested in Massive Identity Theft Scam”). But many make their living as criminals. And many more live off welfare.
Illegal aliens are 67% for likely to be on welfare than US citizens. According to a report issued by the Center for Immigration Studies (see LINK below) 24.3% of illegal aliens are on welfare, as opposed to 14.6% of citizens. In 2001 (the last year for which the Center reported data), 663,000 illegal immigrant households received welfare. These people do not pay taxes, but our tax dollars support them.
Basically, all illegal aliens live by stealing from Americans. The ones who work are stealing jobs from Americans. (Yes, I know the false argument that “Americans won’t do those jobs.” That is garbage. Americans can’t afford to work at some of those low-wage jobs because we do things like paying taxes. But if the illegals weren’t here, willing to work for ridiculously low wages, supply and demand would force employers to pay enough so that Americans would do the jobs.)
The illegals who receive welfare are also stealing from Americans. They don’t pay into the system, and they have no right to receive from it. And of course the huge percentage of illegal aliens who commit crimes (in addition to their initial crime of illegal entry) steal from us by breaking into our homes and businesses, by forcing the costs of crime ever higher, and by making us pay for their room and board while they are incarcerated.
Do I sound hard-hearted? I am not, and America is not. America is the most generous nation that has ever existed on this planet. I believe we should continue to help those in need. We just need to help them in their own countries.
We have always had open arms. We have given political asylum to many people who will never contribute to our country. We have accepted millions of refugees from around the world. We have welcomed uncountable numbers of the “tired, the poor, and the huddled masses yearning to breathe free.” I am proud of that, and I pray that we will always be such a generous nation.
But we need to welcome those who will be good citizens, not criminals. Those whose first act regarding our nation is to commit a crime will not make good citizens. We need to welcome those who will honor our laws and become part of us, not those who are here for what they can take from us.
Finally, the religious question. Because I am a pastor, when I write like this I always receive flood of histrionic attack emails. One read, “Don’t you know that Jesus said to love everyone? I hope you burn in hell.” That writer’s desire for me to fry with the devil certainly exhibits the love of Christ, doesn’t it?
The fascinating thing is that so many people know a little bit about the Bible, but a scant few have ever read it all the way through. They want to quote the verses they believe bolster their arguments, but they refuse to consider what Bible scholars call, “The whole counsel of the Scripture.”
We could throw verses back and forth for days, but if you look at the whole Bible, you will see that it clearly tells us to obey the law. So those churches (chiefly Catholic and Episcopal) which hide illegals from the law are simply dead wrong.
I love all people, because that is what Jesus taught me. I love illegal aliens, I love criminals. If I came upon an escaped convict who was seriously ill, I would help him, because that is love. And I would make sure he was returned to prison, because that is the law, and that is where he belongs.
We should show love and mercy to illegal aliens. We could even give them a book that details the legal way to enter this country. And then we should deport them, because it is the right thing to do. If only our government had the courage to do the right thing, to obey its own laws.
Dr. Tom Barrett has been an ordained minister for 30 years. He has written for local and national publications for most of his life, and has authored several non-fiction books. He has been interviewed on many TV and radio programs, and speaks at seminars nationwide. Tom is the editor and publisher of Conservative Truth, an email newsletter read by over fifty thousand weekly which focuses on moral and political issues from a Biblical viewpoint.
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