As the battle over illegal immigrants continues, the safety and sanctity of our country are at stake…
Jose Luis Oviedo, a Veteran of the US Navy and Operation Desert Storm, died after being assaulted outside of his McAllen, TX home on January 29, 2017. Andres Roberto Ortiz, an illegal alien from Honduras who was deported multiple times, attacked Oviedo in his back yard, beat him and left him unconscious before stealing his truck.
In 2015 another Veteran Marilyn Pharis, employed with the US Air Force as a civilian since 1974, at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, and before that, as an active member of the military service, “fought back with all her strength even while receiving repeated blows and being left for dead,”
Victor Aureliano Martinez Ramirez, 29, an illegal alien was from Durango Canatlan, Mexico. Ramirez had been arrested six times in last 15 months before the Pharis murder, for crimes including sexual assault, possession of methamphetamine and weapons, and driving without a license. His most recent arrest occurred just eight days before the attack on Pharis said Santa Maria Police Chief Ralph Martin.
These are only two examples of the ongoing issues of criminal illegal aliens in the country.
This disturbing fact follows ICE’s admission that, of the 36,007 criminal aliens it released from ICE custody in Fiscal Year 2013, 1,000 have been re-convicted of additional crimes in the short time since their release, according to a letter, dated June 12, 2015, from the US Senate Judiciary Committee.
The Senate Judiciary Committee letter revealed that 121 immigrant convicts were charged with homicide following their release from ICE custody between 2010 and 2014. It also noted that in 2014, ICE released 2,457 immigrant convicts because of the Supreme Court ruling prohibiting detention of deportable foreign nationals beyond six months.
The facts speak for themselves. There is a long line of crimes and homicides committed by illegal criminal aliens. President Trump’s call to deport illegal criminal aliens could not come soon enough.
As Americans, we respect human rights, and we respect the rule of law. We know our country was built on immigrants who assimilated into the very fabric of American society. We also know we have a nation based on laws and the enforcement of them.
The previous administration disregarded those laws. Now we even see some law enforcement officials, as well as politicians, advocating to ignore the laws of the federal government when it comes to immigration.
In Texas, Governor Greg Abbott is taking action against the newly elected Sheriff of Travis County. Sheriff Sally Hernandez is a proponent of sanctuary cities and in fact, has taken a stand against the immigration officials. This position has cost her and the department dearly. Governor Abbott has already removed funding from her office everywhere he legally can and is currently ramping up the pressure. Governor Greg Abbott threatened to “remove” Travis County Sheriff Sally Hernandez from office and cut funding for the agency on Wednesday in response to a policy she’s planning to enact that would limit the local jail’s cooperation with federal immigration officials.
“We are working on laws that will ban sanctuary cities, remove from office any officeholder who promotes sanctuary cities and pose criminal penalties as well as financial penalties,” Abbott said during a live Fox News interview.
The problem is bigger than you think
Here are the numbers.
11.2 Million….That’s the latest estimate of the number of unauthorized immigrants in the United States, according to the Pew Research Center. And it’s less than 4% of the total US population.
177,960….The number of undocumented immigrants deported last year who were convicted criminals, according to Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
121.…The number of people released from immigration custody who were later charged with murder between 2010 and 2014, according to figures from the Department of Homeland Security cited in a recent letter from two U.S. senators.
73,665….The number of inmates in state and federal prisons who are not US citizens, according to the latest prison population report from the Bureau of Judicial Statistics. That’s about 5% of the total prison population.
1 million….The number of so-called detainer requests issued by Immigration and Customs and Enforcement and sent to local authorities from 2008 to 2012, according to the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse at Syracuse University.
10,182….The number of ICE detainers state and local enforcement authorities declined to honor last year.
What is extremely clear is President Trump, with his executive order to enforce immigrations laws, is doing the right thing. He is standing firm against the protests and accusations.
Deportations of illegal aliens with criminal records is the correct thing to do, and those that can’t see the logic in this initiative are hiding their heads in the sand. The safety and sanctity of our country are at stake. We are a nation of laws, and they have to be enforced. Failure to do this, failure to protect American citizens against illegal aliens with said records, is the very definition of dereliction of duty and violation of the oath of office. Obviously, President Trump understands this. Sadly, a great deal of our nation’s other politicians do not.
Jon Harris is an OpsLens contributor and former Army NCO, civilian law enforcement officer, and defense contractor with over 30 years in the law enforcement community. He holds a B.S. in Government and Politics and an M.S. in Criminal Justice.
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