Deporting Some Dangerous Gang Members (Finally)
by Jeff Davis
Most sane people think that illegal aliens, who committed felonies, would be deported after serving their jail sentences. Amazingly, this has not been done in many cases, and deporting violent gang members is considered “news.” According to the Los Angeles Times, “In an ongoing crackdown, 28 foreign nationals suspected of having ties to street gangs in the San Fernando Valley were arrested by federal immigration agents Friday during early morning sweeps throughout Los Angeles County. More than 200 U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents fanned out across the Valley, Palmdale and other areas of the county, raiding residences and arresting members of 15 street gangs, officials said. Among them was Jorge Torres, 31, a reputed member of the Project Boys in Pacoima whose criminal record includes convictions for drug charges as well as battery on a police officer, officials said. Torres, who has been deported five times, has been indicted by the U.S. attorney’s office for reentering the United States. If convicted, he faces up to 20 years in prison.”
Locking someone like this violent Mexican up in an American prison isn’t a perfect solution–he and those like him need to be permanently removed from circulation, but at least they are going after him and a few like him. Bravo!
Now the big question: how many of these Latinos will actually be DEPORTED and how many will sit in the gang-infested jails for months while their lawyers work to get them some kind of release on promise to appear, whereupon they will once again disappear into the barrios and resume committing crimes?
The same article continues: “Friday’s sweep was part of the agency’s ongoing crackdown on illegal immigrants with suspected gang affiliations in the Valley. Of the 28 people arrested Friday, 21 were undocumented and seven had legal-residency status, which is now being revoked, Schoch said. Those arrested were believed to be linked to gangs including the Canoga Park Alabama, San Fer, Barrio Van Nuys, Vineland Boys, Blythe Street and Project Boys.”
Now if only we can find some legal excuse to start arresting Crips and Bloods and deporting them to Haiti or Ghana!
Unfortunately, the deportations are far too few to make much of a difference. You don’t suppose Bush’s record low approval rating of 24 percent had something to do with this? Or maybe it’s a Republican election ploy designed to bolster to GOP’s sagging chances in the 2008 Presidential elections? Kind of a “see, we’re finally starting to crack down on the illegals, but if you elect all those bad old Democrats they’ll go all soft and mushy and give them amnesty!” (Never mind the fact that it was the Republicans who tried to give them amnesty as recently as this summer.)