so, M. Johnson are you an American? or are you an illegal immigrant? or are you a libtard moonbat?
On May 8, 8:09 am, "M. Johnson" <[email protected]> wrote: > How Immigration Crackdowns BackfireThe trouble with Arizona's draconian new > lawSteve Chapman| April 22, 2010 > Arizona legislators are fed up with being terrorized by illegal immigrants, > and they have passed a law to get tough. Under the measure, passed this week > and sent to the governor, police would have to stop and question anyone they > suspect of being in this country without legal authorization. > The bill passed after the fatal shooting of Robert Krentz, a 58-year-old > rancher whose killer apparently entered illegally from Mexico. Pinal County > Sheriff Paul Babeu says police are also under siege: "We've had numerous > officers that have been killed by illegal immigrants in Arizona." > Even Sen. John McCain, once a supporter of immigration reform, has called for > the immediate placement of 3,000 National Guard soldiers along the border. > It's no surprise that Arizonans resent the recent influx of unauthorized > foreigners, some of them criminals. But there is less here than meets the eye. > The state has an estimated 460,000 illegal immigrants. But contrary to myth, > they have not brought an epidemic of murder and mayhem with them. Surprise of > surprises, the state has gotten safer. > Over the last decade, the violent crime rate has dropped by 19 percent, while > property crime is down by 20 percent. Crime has also declined in the rest of > the country, but not as fast as in Arizona. > Babeu's claim about police killings came as news to me. When I called his > office to get a list of victims, I learned there has been only one since the > beginning of 2008deeply regrettable, but not exactly a trend. > Truth is, illegal immigrants are less likely to commit crimes than native > Americans. Most come here to work, and in their desire to stay, they are > generally afraid to do anything that might draw the attention of armed people > wearing badges. > El Paso, Texas, is next door to the exceptionally violent Ciudad Juarez, > Mexico, and easily accessible to illegal entry. Yet it is one of the safest > cities in the United States. > In 2007, scholars Ruben Rumbaut and Walter Ewing investigated the issue for > the Immigration Policy Center and concluded that "if immigrants suddenly > disappeared and the country became immigrant-free (and illegal-immigrant > free), crime rates would likelyincrease." > That's not to say Arizonans don't have a right to be upset when Mexicans > trespass across private land on a regular basis. But you could solve that > problem by making it easier for them to immigrate legally. > It's also worth remembering that this used to be a rare phenomenon. What made > it common was not a new avalanche of people coming to the United States > without permission. It was a federal offensive to intercept them in major > border cities where they used to arrive. > "Closing the old entry points diverted them into places which didn't have > many undocumented immigrants before," Princeton University sociologist > Douglas Massey told me. Instead of sneaking into San Diego or El Paso, they > are prone to entering somewhere elseoften in the Arizona desert, where the > chance of being caught is lower. > Turning the border into a 2,000-mile replica of the Berlin Wall may sound > like a simple cure for the problem. But besides being hugely expensive, it > would have effects the advocates would not relish. > How so? Massey says the number of people coming illegally has not risen > appreciably in the last couple of decades. But the number staying has > climbed, because anyone who leaves faces a harder task returning. > Had the government not cracked down at the border, he says, "the undocumented > population would be half what it is now." A fence intended to keep illegal > immigrants out is serving beautifully to keep them in. > Assigning local police to enforce federal immigration laws would also have > unhealthy side effects. The Major Cities Chiefs Association, representing 56 > police departments, says it hinders law enforcement by deterring members of > immigrant communities from cooperating with cops. > Last year, Police Chief George Gascon of Mesa, Ariz., (now chief in San > Francisco) told a congressional committee that in some cases, this approach > "is setting the police profession back to the 1950s and '60s, when police > officers were sometimes viewed in minority communities as the enemy." > If there is anything we've learned about getting tough on illegal > immigration, it's that it rarely works as intended. Like punching a wall, it > may feel good for a moment, but it hurts a lot > longer.http://reason.com/archives/2010/04/22/how-immigration-crackdowns-bac > > -- > Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. > For options & help seehttp://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum > > * Visit our other community athttp://www.PoliticalForum.com/ > * It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls. > * Read the latest breaking news, and more. -- Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum * Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/ * It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls. * Read the latest breaking news, and more.
