OPINION:
The Department of Homeland Security said illegal immigrants who come forward to report crimes may themselves be arrested — that they’ve no federal guarantee a blind eye will be turned toward their unauthorized status in the nation when they come to court to tell of their victimhood.
Hurrah. This is a statement that’s been a long time coming. Illegals are illegal. Be they criminals or crime victims, fact is they’re still illegal. That’s not to say they deserve to be victimized; they don’t. But it’s an apples-oranges argument. The definition of illegal doesn’t change.
Let the gnashing of liberal teeth begin. This, to the left, is an astonishing announcement, particularly since the past administration policy, under Barack Obama, was not only to coddle and comfort illegals victimized by crime, but in many cases, the perpetrators, too. Just check your local sanctuary city crime listings for proof.
But President Donald Trump’s DHS policy is a bit different.
David Lapan, a spokesman for the agency, said victim status doesn’t automatically confer a citizenship sticker on your forehead.
“Some victims and witnesses themselves are potentially criminal immigrants who may pose a threat to the country,” Fox News reported, paraphrasing Lapan’s remarks to reporters.
His statement comes as Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck reported a 25 percent drop in sexual assault reports from Latinos in the last month. Beck, along with other Los Angeles authorities, say the drop in crime isn’t so much reflective of a real drop in crime, but rather a drop in reporting of crime because many victims, themselves here illegally, fear being detained or deported.
Beck also said his city’s seen a 10 percent drop in the number of domestic violence cases in the same Latino population.
He blames Trump — says it’s Trump’s rhetoric and border policy crackdown that makes the victimized illegals fear coming forward.
But here’s the thing, and this is why leftists are loons: The problem is with the illegal population itself, not with the president, or his immigration policies.
If Los Angeles police want to have truth-in-reporting in crime statistics, and to help victims of crime, why would they find fault with Trump — and this is the head-shaking part — when his view is that these victims, if they’re illegal, shouldn’t be in the country in the first place? When his view is that a lot of these illegals are the ones causing the crimes — and once again, they shouldn’t be in the country in the first place?
L.A.’s logic is puzzling because it blames Trump for causing mental, emotional and even physical harm to illegals who are victimized by crime — even though Trump doesn’t want illegals in the country. L.A. does.
That’s not just a strange way of thinking. It’s lunacy. And sending a message not only to illegals, but also to sanctuary cities, that being illegal in America is considered a crime in and of itself is a welcome change of federal heart. Illegals should be hesitant to report being victimized by criminals. They’re illegal and don’t have the legal rights or protections of citizens — nor should they.
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