Shock: People Here Unlawfully to Be Removed by Those Enforcing Laws

By William Teach

That “good news” is not snarky in the least: the government deporting more people who are unlawfully present in the country is most certainly a good thing. Unless you are a liberal who supports people breaking the law unreservedly:

(NY Times) President Trump has directed his administration to enforce the nation’s immigration laws more aggressively, unleashing the full force of the federal government to find, arrest and deport those in the country illegally, regardless of whether they have committed serious crimes.

Documents released on Tuesday by the Department of Homeland Security revealed the broad scope of the president’s ambitions: to publicize crimes by undocumented immigrants; strip such immigrants of privacy protections; enlist local police officers as enforcers; erect new detention facilities; discourage asylum seekers; and, ultimately, speed up deportations.

The new enforcement policies put into practice language that Mr. Trump used on the campaign trail, vastly expanding the definition of “criminal aliens” and warning that such unauthorized immigrants “routinely victimize Americans,” disregard the “rule of law and pose a threat” to people in communities across the United States.

If they’ve committed a crime, that means they’re a….let me consult a dictionary and a law book….criminal! Besides the fact that they’re in the country in violation of the law to start with.

Of course, the rest of the front page article is chock full of bits which are against Trump, and yammer on about creating an atmosphere of fear for….people who are living outside the law. It makes them super worried about being deported. Well, good. They should be.

“Under this executive order, ICE will not exempt classes or categories of removal aliens from potential enforcement,” a fact sheet released by the Department of Homeland Security said, using the acronym for Immigration and Customs Enforcement…

…“All of those present in violation of the immigration laws may be subject to immigration arrest, detention, and, if found removable by final order, removal from the United States.”

The Times is aghast that this could include those who have abused any official government assistance program! The horror! Illegals should be allowed to take money that could otherwise be used for citizens and those lawfully present! Dreamers will supposedly be exempt, except for those with criminal backgrounds. It also vastly expands “expedited removal.” And well it should. You’re caught in the country illegally? Goodbye. Quickly.

For truly unhinged, we have to flip the page to the opinion section, where the Editorial Board has climbed into the belfry and dropped most of their marbles along the way.

Mr. Trump’s ‘Deportation Force’ Prepares an Assault on American Values

The homeland security secretary, John Kelly, issued a remarkable pair of memos on Tuesday. They are the battle plan for the “deportation force” President Trump promised in the campaign.

They are remarkable for how completely they turn sensible immigration policies upside down and backward. For how they seek to make the deportation machinery more extreme and frightening (and expensive), to the detriment of deeply held American values.

Much of the unhinged editorial repeats what’s in the article, just with more apoplexy. It notes that Mr. Obama focused on criminals and recent border jumpers and stuff, but:

Mr. Kelly has swept away those notions. He makes practically every deportable person a deportation priority. He wants everybody, starting with those who have been convicted of any crime, no matter how petty or old. Proportionality, discretion, the idea that some convictions are unjust, the principles behind criminal-justice reform — these concepts do not apply.

Doooooom! Of course, we’re not sticking them all in jail: we’re just sending them out of the U.S., back where they came from. At the end of the day, this is not on us, because the illegals made a choice to break the law. Actions have consequences. Some good, some bad.

When every local law enforcement encounter can be a prelude to deportation, unauthorized immigrants will fear and avoid the police.

So, maybe they self-deport.

And when state and local officers untrained in immigration law suddenly get to decide who stays and who goes, the risk of injustice is profound.

Nowhere in the plan does it say they get this power. Of course, it’s all pretty easy. “Are you here in the Unites States legally?” “No.” “OK, bye!”

Mr. Kelly promised before his confirmation to be a reasonable enforcer of defensible policies. But immigrants have reason to be frightened by his sudden alignment with Mr. Trump’s nativism. So does every American who believes that the country is, or should be, committed to the sensible, proportionate application of laws, welcoming to immigrants, and respectful of the facts.

The facts? They’re unlawfully present, whether they came illegally or overstayed their visas. The Law says they shouldn’t be here. As far as it goes, both the news and opinion sections became apoplectic when ICE swept up hundreds and hundreds of illegals the other week, most of whom had serious criminal backgrounds, such as rape, assault, molestation of a child, and coming back to the US after being deported again and again. What is this proportionality they’re yammering about? Should we let child abusers stay? People who have committed identity theft? The law is the law.

Of course, in Liberal World, the law is a moving target based on political votes.

Read more stories at The Pirate’s Cove.