Immigration Raids Yield Over 600, Creating Fear in Illegal Aliens

What, exactly, is making illegal aliens fearful? The majority of people caught up in the sweeps were targeted because they are felons. People who have done very wrong. People who should have been deported the minute they were let out of jail. So, if most illegal aliens are just “good people,” why be concerned?

(NY Times) Federal immigration officials arrested more than 600 people across at least 11 states last week, detaining 40 people in the New York City area, law enforcement officials said on Sunday.

It remained unclear whether the actions by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents were part of continuing operations to round up illegal immigrants with criminal convictions or a ramping-up of deportations by the Trump administration.

President Trump proclaimed on Twitter early Sunday morning: “The crackdown on illegal criminals is merely the keeping of my campaign promise. Gang members, drug dealers & others are being removed!”

But Gillian Christensen, acting press secretary for the Department of Homeland Security, said, “The focus of these targeted enforcement operations is consistent with the routine, targeted arrests carried out by ICE’s Fugitive Operations Teams on a daily basis.”

The contradiction heightened an already swelling fear among immigrants and their advocates.

Notice that the initial focus of the article is on Trump, not the good news that hundreds of people unlawfully present in the United States with criminal records were rounded up. And, if wasn’t for a few small quotes, there wouldn’t even be a mention of most of the people being criminals, with crimes like rape and assault, and worse.

And this is making people who are unlawfully present in the US fearful

(Chicago Tribune) Pastor Fred Morris looked out over his congregation Sunday as news ricocheted around the world that American authorities were rounding up immigrants in an enforcement surge that President Donald Trump promised on the campaign trail.

Parishioners did not smile as on any other Sunday morning. They stared down at their feet. Others didn’t attend at all.

“There is a dreadful sense of fear. It’s more than palpable. It’s radiating. People are terrified,” said Morris, whose United Methodist mission is in a predominantly Hispanic neighborhood of Los Angeles. “They were just sitting there in stunned silence.”

For days, fear and confusion have gripped immigrant communities after word spread that federal agents were rounding up hundreds of immigrants in cities across the country. The scope of the operation remained unclear on Sunday.

And well they should be, if they are, even at a minimum, here in the U.S. illegally. This meme is repeated in article after article after article. And it is causing liberals to howl. Even though the vast majority are, again, serious criminals, liberals have found it in themselves to support them. Why? Ask them. They won’t answer.

But, hey, CNN’s Joey Jackson says we need a new reality check

But while these raids are not new in and of themselves, advocates and others watching these raids unfold are right to worry whether this President is casting a wider net and expanding the objective in ICE enforcement beyond national security. Of the 160 illegal immigrants arrested during the Trump raids, the vast majority had felony convictions and merited deportation. To be sure, the federal government has a solemn obligation to secure the borders and to protect the public. But there are questions as to the other arrests. The concern from a justice perspective, then, is not the enforcement effort itself. The executive branch enforces the law, and any President is entitled to do so in the manner he deems most effective in keeping with his philosophy. Instead, the concern lies in whether enforcement will be over broad and unduly aggressive.

It’s all right there: an obligation to secure the borders and protect the public. There is no “but”. There is no “unduly aggressive” when it comes to arresting and deporting those who are unlawfully present. Unduly aggressive is giving a ticket to kids running a lemonade stand and requiring them to get a permit, or shutting them down. Unduly aggressive is suspending a child who bit a Pop Tart into the shape of a gun. If you’re concerned with arresting criminals, perhaps you should reevaluate your personal philosophy.

It’s one thing to be tough on immigration. It’s yet another to be fair. Those watching closely are right to be worried about current trends, but should take comfort in knowing that immigration courts will serve as a check upon any overreach by ICE in conducting these raids and carrying out the President’s enforcement initiatives. But we should really reality-check ourselves, too, and ask whether a country like the United States, which sets the standard for the world in human rights, can’t provide a better example to the world.

Why don’t we ask the citizens who had their lives ruined due to identity theft from illegals. Who have seen their wages stagnate partly due to illegal aliens? Who have been harmed by illegals? Who have seen emergency rooms shut because illegals use them too much? Who drain resources away from citizens? What of the human rights of those who are citizens? Should they not come first?

Crossed at Right Wing News.