From a newspaper article today comes the following quote:
Immigration prosecutions have steeply risen over the last five years, while white-collar prosecutions have fallen by 18 percent, weapons prosecutions have dropped by 19 percent, organized crime prosecutions are down by 20 percent and public corruption prosecutions have dropped by 14 percent, according to the Syracuse group’s statistics. Drug prosecutions – the enforcement priority of the Reagan, first Bush and Clinton administrations – have declined by 20 percent since 2003.
The quote reflects a study done by Syracuse University. The Justice Department officially announced that prosecutions for immigration related crimes rose 40% from the year 2000 through the year 2007. It then claimed that prosecutions for other crimes remained steady. However, when those facts were checked by Syracuse University, they arrived at a different conclusion. You see, money for the Justice Department has not increased significantly. So, I can see why a question might arise about the figures that prosecutions on immigration had risen by 40% without impacting other prosecutions. It turns out that was not true.
So, the next time you pass by a construction site where you can see the illegal aliens working, the next time you pass by a farm where migrant workers are picking the crops, the next time you leave your hotel room and see a little brown woman, who can barely speak English, waiting to clean your room, I want you to feel safer because the federal government is going after them instead of going after the much less dangerous organized crime figures, the much less dangerous weapons dealers, and the clearly much less damaging officials corrupting their office with corruption. And, when you next find yourself looking for a job and cannot find one, remember that we are controlling those dangerous illegal minimum-wage immigrants while prosecuting fewer white collar crime figures such as Bernie Madoff.
What makes this so ironic, to me, is that I am listening to President Bush’s last official news conference right now. He has brought up the issue of immigration and cautioned the Republican Party to not be identified as a party that dislikes “other” people. He clearly stated that some of the Republican statements on immigration have had the effect of having “other” people wonder if, since the Republicans appear to dislike immigrants, they also dislike them. There was very careful wording by the President, but it came down to the warning to his fellow Republicans that apparent xenophobia can all too easily be interpreted as apparent racism. He has urged the Republican Party to return to being known as a party that cares for the people.
Frankly, that is a very good word by the President to the Republican Party. May they listen carefully to it. May God bless President Bush. May God bless President-elect Obama. On a final note, as I look around the world, I am thankful that our transitions are peaceful. May God bless America.
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