Why do police officers check your license and registration when you get pulled over for a traffic infraction? Why don’t they just write you a ticket for that infraction and let you go? Why the extra checks?
Why? Because they’re checking to see if you’ve broken any other laws. Are their warrants out for you? Was your vehicle used in a bank robbery? Are you following all the vehicle licensing and registration laws? If not, they take appropriate action. Some think this analogy shouldn’t apply to certain types of crime, for instance: illegal immigration.
That said, I’m not opposed to legal immigration, or legal immigrants. I’m opposed to people breaking the law and getting away with it. Why have laws if they’re not enforced?
Take this story from C|Net News, which makes the argument against the CLEAR Act (Clear Law Enforcement for Criminal Alien Removal Act of 2003), on the basis that using local law enforcement agencies to enforce immigration laws would be too much a financial burden on already overworked resources.
What a load of crap! We pay cops (of any agency) to enforce the laws. ALL the laws, not just those that are “easy to enforce” or the “easy to convict” or “politically correct.”
If there are people [ living | working | doing business | driving | etc. ] illegally in this country, they, by definition, are criminals! If [ cops | agencies ] are not [ arresting | prosecuting | deporting ] these criminals (as the nature of the crime dictates) that officer or agency is guilty of incompetence or deriliction of duty at best, and obstruction of justice at worst!
It’s time to crack down. Seal the boarders. Send a message to everyone: We will not tolerate criminal behavior of any sort. That includes illegal immigration.
