Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Illegal is Illegal
From an AP News story:
| Buncombe County Sheriff Van Duncan told Spanish-language paper La Voz Independiente last week that he's worried that so many people are being pulled over and jailed through 287(g) on simple traffic violations. "It is not a perfect program," Duncan said. "One of the things that is hard to explain away is that for otherwise law-abiding citizens, other than the fact that they are here undocumented, what IDs them is a minor violation or even driving to work, having to drive with no operator's license." |
I don't get it. Why do people keep missing the point about so-called "undocumented law-abiding citizens?" That phrase is so full of contradictions it's surprising people don't choke when saying it. It's a perfect example of newspeak. First, "undocumented" means that person entered the country without filling out the correct paperwork - in other words, against the law. If you don't enter the country correctly, you can't become a citizen. So how can a person who enters a country illegally be considered a law-abiding citizen?
There are legal ways to enter the country and become a law-abiding citizen. It's takes time and a ton of paperwork, but it can be done. I know since I've gone through the process. And since I've spent the time, effort and money involved in the process, I don't think someone who doesn't do that is entitled to one penny of my taxes.
The way I see it, the sheriff isn't using a traffic violation to put away law-abiding citizens, he's using a traffic stop to arrest law-breaking illegal immigrants who don't care enough about the country they have sneaked into to bother to follow the country's laws.
Labels: crime, government
