A reminder to Patrick: illegal means illegal
Governor refuses to sign off on program to deport dangerous criminals
Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick has a long history of pandering to illegal immigrants. During his first term, Patrick reversed a decision by the previous Massachusetts governor, Mitt Romney, which gave state troopers the power to arrest illegal immigrants. Let me point out that Romney’s policy makes sense because, as the title may imply, illegal immigrants are here illegally. They are breaking the law. As such, they should be arrested. Shocking, I know. Deval Patrick’s rationale for promptly reversing Gov. Romney’s decision was that state troopers “have a very big job as it is, without having to add enforcing federal immigration laws on top of it.” Ah, well there we are. Those poor state troopers are just too busy enforcing other laws. So if they pull over someone for speeding and it turns out that the individual is also an illegal immigrant, too bad! After all, according to Patrick, they have more important things to do—like enforcing laws that don’t alienate one of Patrick’s key special interests (the immigrant community).
But that’s just the tip of the iceberg. In November, Patrick announced that he would be pushing for in-state tuition for illegal immigrants, along with giving them driver’s licenses. This is interesting, because in-state tuition, as the term implies, is a lower tuition rate paid by those who are legal residents of the state. Illegal immigrants, as I am forced to repeatedly point out, are not here legally. As such, my tax dollars should not be subsidizing the education of criminals. When asked during the 2006 gubernatorial debate if he would allow illegal immigrants to pay in-state rates at public colleges, Patrick’s responded: “[Yes, but] this is one issue where I think both sides have a point. The folks on the other side of the question from where I am say we should only reward people who play by the rules and they’re right. I understand that immigration is a serious problem. But people are not coming here for in-state tuition, they’re coming here for jobs. We need to come down hard on employers.” Once again, that impeccable Patrick logic is in play. He admits that immigration is a serious problem. He also admits that he agrees that we should only reward those who play by the rules. But he will support in-state tuition for illegals, apparently on the basis that it is not the reason they come here. I fail to see how their motivations for being in Massachusetts factor into the reality that they are here illegally.
And who wouldn’t want to give illegal immigrants driver’s licenses? After all, it’s estimated that they cause over 5 percent of traffic incidents in the United States, which, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, would equate to 309,050 accidents, 2,132 deaths, and 139,400 injuries. In addition, they would be responsible for $11.5 billion of taxpayer money in associated costs. Patrick’s rationale in this case is that he would like to keep tabs on illegals. Of course, I’m not sure why he wants to know their locations and activities since he’s made it impossible for state troopers to arrest them.
Furthermore, he has made it more difficult to deport illegal immigrants. And this time, we’re not talking about any old illegal immigrant — we’re talking about illegals who have been arrested for committing crimes! The Secure Communities program leverages information sharing between the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Department of Justice (DOJ). Usually, when a criminal alien is booked by a local law enforcement agency, their fingerprints are checked not just against the FBI’s records, but also against DHS’s immigration records. Governor Patrick has decided that Massachusetts will be opting out of this program, despite his affirmation of support for it while he was running for re-election. His logic behind the 180-degree change in position? Back then, he thought it was mandatory. I know, Patrick should’ve been a logician. An individual’s support for a program, project, or anything else is typically based on the pros and cons of the program, not on whether or not that program is mandated. The Patrick administration was apparently concerned that the program was not serving its purpose. Apparently, more than half of those deported under Boston’s program were non-criminals and only one in four were “hard-core” criminals. This is directly contradicted by Mayor Thomas Menino, who stated that he had not seen a single individual deported who was not a criminal. Let me just throw in my favorite reminder: if you are here illegally, you are a criminal, whether or not you’ve killed somebody.
There has been a recent fascination among certain fringe groups as to whether Barack Obama was born in America, leading to the release of his official birth certificate. I’m curious why they haven’t focused more attention on Governor Patrick … after all, every policy he has supported has made illegal immigration a “second-tier” crime. He’s protected them and pampered them probably beyond any other group in Massachusetts, which leads me to wonder … is Governor Patrick here legally?!