Wolves In Sheep’s Clothing
Yesterday, Big Dog wrote an excellent post about how illegal immigrants displaced by Katrina are afraid to seek help for fear of deportation. Some organizations believe that they should be given “protected human status” because they’ve already lost so much thanks to Katrina.
Illegal immigrants are…well…illegal. They’re committing a crime and I agree that they shouldn’t be awarded for committing the crime. All that does is make committing the crime more appealing to people who haven’t yet, but were thinking about it — which I know may sound heartless. I’m not saying they shouldn’t be given immediate relief and aid; I’m saying they committed the crime and they should be deported.
But I don’t really want to get distracted by my feelings on illegal immigration. I want to talk about how Katrina essentially took the city of New Orleans and it’s surrounding areas and shook it up and mixed all the bad apples in with the good.
More and more stories are coming out about how background checks on refugees requesting/accepting Federal aid have criminal backgrounds. Many have warrants. Some are sex offenders.
Now think about that for a second.
Around the nation, state and local authorities are checking refugees’ pasts as they are welcomed into homes, schools, houses of worship and housing projects. In some states, half the refugees have rap sheets. [“Authorities search for criminals among hurricane refugees (CNN.com)”]
How scary is that?
And guess what! Some of them are just going to walk free because Louisiana can’t or won’t extradite them!
So, what I ask is this: do these people, these so-called criminals, deserve a “protected human status” as well? What about the man with rape charges? What about the ones who are registered sex-offenders? Haven’t they suffered the same tragedy?
Just think of all the ones who could just “disappear” in the confusion. Just think of all the ones who’ll be let go because Louisiana can’t do anything about them right now.
Just think that he or she might be sitting next to you on the bus, might be sleeping next to you in the shelter, might be eating at your generous dinner table…
tags: immigration, Hurricane Katrina
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on September 22, 2005 at 4:05 pm
Big Dog said:
It is a scary thing and I wonder how long it will be before we hear about the family that was cut to pieces by a criminal who they took in.
I think it is good they are being identified and I hope they will be put somewhere until they can be dealt with at a later date.