SANCTUARY STATE IS A HAVEN FOR CRIMINALS

Another murder, another undeported illegal, another law unenforced. 

By Debra J. Saunders – 8.13.15

I am not remiss to say that from Washington, D.C., to Sacramento, there is a blood trail to Marilyn Pharis’ bedroom,” Santa Maria, California police Chief Ralph Martin charged last week. On July 24, two burglars allegedly broke in to Pharis’ home as she slept. They sexually assaulted and beat her. Pharis, 64, a U.S. Air Force veteran, died in the hospital Aug. 1. It turns out that one of the two men charged for the crime, Victor Aureliano Martinez Ramirez, 29, is an undocumented immigrant against whom Immigration and Customs Enforcement issued a detainer in 2014. Ramirez has pleaded not guilty.

The case seems like Kate Steinle all over again. On July 1, Steinle was strolling on Pier 14 in San Francisco with her father, when a bullet pierced her heart. Authorities charged Juan Francisco Lopez-Sanchez, a seven-time convicted felon and undocumented immigrant who had been deported five times, with murder. He pleaded not guilty. If the San Francisco sheriff had honored an ICE detainer, Lopez-Sanchez would not have been in San Francisco on July 1.

I always thought there was a covenant with those who come to this country, legally or illegally. They’re supposed to be on their best behavior as a condition of staying. I thought President Barack Obama understood that when he promised to focus on deporting “felons, not families, criminals, not children, gang members, not a mom who’s working hard to provide for her kids.” But the administration has overly narrowed its view of criminal behavior, such that ICE targets only felons and undocumented immigrants convicted of three or more serious misdemeanors.

To me, racking up misdemeanors should make an immigrant who is here illegally a suitable subject for deportation — but the law has evolved.

Santa Barbara, California, law enforcement first booked Ramirez in 2009 for driving without a license. In May 2014, authorities booked Ramirez on felony sexual assault and drug possession. The charge was changed to misdemeanor battery. It was not reduced, Santa Barbara District Attorney Joyce Dudley told me. “The standard for arrest is probable cause.”

 Last month, authorities charged Ramirez with felony possession of a concealed dirk or dagger and misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia. On July 20, he pleaded “no contest” to a misdemeanor knife charge; he was supposed to start serving a 30-day sentence in October.

For his part, the Santa Maria police chief is steamed because he has watched state and federal law work together to undermine law enforcement. The voter-approved Proposition 47 downgraded classification for drug possession, shoplifting, and theft from felonies to misdemeanors. And a 2013 California law, the TRUST Act, prevents local law enforcement from honoring ICE detainers absent a serious or violent felony conviction. (Ramirez has no prior felony convictions.) “We’re a sanctuary state,” explained Michael Rushford, president of the Criminal Justice Legal Foundation in Sacramento.

There is a cascade effect: Washington relaxes standards for deportations, and Sacramento cranks out bills and ballot measures to reduce the number of crimes classified as felonies. Deportation is not the law enforcement tool it once was. When there are laws against laws, the immigration and criminal justice systems are destined to fail.

Via: American Spectator

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For Kate and America’s Sake, Don’t Let Them Get Away with It

C’mon Nancy, are you really going to go there? How could you stoop so low? Haven’t you the slightest bit of compassion for murdered Kate Steinle and her grieving family? Must scoring political points even trump American lives?

For my relatives who only get mainstream media spin, here is what’s really going on. An illegal alien shot and killed complete stranger, 32 year old Kate Steinle, while enjoying strolling with her dad along a San Francisco pier. Kate’s scumbag murderer had been convicted of 7 felonies and deported five times. And yet, this criminal kept returning to the US without consequence.

The reality is many bad people are entering our country illegally unabated. Heck, Obama even rolls out the welcome mat. Uneducated and unskilled, Obama is confident he can woo them with taxpayer funded handouts, making them future Democrat voters. Consequently, the Obama Administration has released thousands of criminal illegal aliens.

While the coddling of criminal illegals has been going on for many years, Kate’s senseless murder was the straw that broke the camel’s back in the hearts and minds of many Americans.

In his heart-wrenching appeal to congress to pass Kate’s Law, Kate’s dad said the last words he heard his daughter say before she died was, “Help me dad.”

In a nutshell, Kate’s Law says when these deported illegal criminals get caught sneaking back into the US, they get a mandatory five years in jail. Politicians/officials who disobey this law also go to jail. Makes sense? Of course. Will Kate’s Law save Americans lives? Absolutely.

Via: Canada Free Press

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GUTIERREZ: STEINLE DEATH ‘A LITTLE THING’

Luis V. Gutiérrez (D-Ill.) explained on Telemundo that the murder of Kate Steinle was just “a little thing” and every time an extreme example like this occurs, it’s used to eliminate. He is referring to sanctuary cities.

Under Barack Obama’s guidelines, deportations of criminal illegal aliens are down by more than 42%. At least 30,000 criminal illegal aliens are released each year since Barack Obama has been in office, but 2013 was a banner year with with more than 68,000 criminal illegal aliens let out onto our streets.

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Robert W. Goodlatte released the data which also showed that the 30,558 criminal aliens ICE knowingly released back into the community in 2014 had amassed nearly 80,000 convictions, including 250 homicides, 186 kidnappings and 373 sexual assaults.

Also according to the statistics, the aliens released by ICE had amassed 13,636 convictions for driving under the influence, 1,589 weapons offenses, 99 aggravated assaults, 56 arsons and 31 smuggling offenses.

Their criminal convictions in their home country are never considered.

In May of this year, the Obama administration’s Police Task Force had a new “recommendation” that law enforcement better follow. Local police are no longer to report illegal alien felons to any agency that could deport them.

Local, State and County law enforcement will no longer have any jurisdiction over this class of criminal when it comes to deportation – Homeland Security will have sole responsibility.

In 2014, ICE reported that there are more than 870,000 aliens, including criminals, on its docket who have been ordered removed, but who remain in defiance of the law.

When the criminal illegal aliens are released onto our streets, they are spread out in a number of zip codes. You can check those on this link.

Let’s go through a few more of the “little things”.

Haitian immigrant Jean Jacques, who was released from prison in January after serving a sentence for attempted murder, is accused of murdering a 25-year old Connecticut woman, Casey Chadwick, on June 15th and stuffing her body in a closet.

His prison file was marked “Detainer: Immigration”. Connecticut officials say he was released in January to the custody of the U.S. Department of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

His crimes included the illegal use of a gun during a 1996 deadly shooting. ICE spokesman Shawn Neudauer said he can’t talk about it.

An Illegal alien from Chiapas, Mexico, Aurelio Hernandez-Gomex, 23, pictured above, kidnapped a 13-year-old girl from Polk County, Florida last week and brought her to a house in Michigan, according to police.

He is charged with kidnapping and rape, according to The Ledger.

Sue Payne hosted the Pat McDonough Show in Baltimore on July 11th. She spoke first to former representative Tom Tancredo and he mentioned one case in Colorado that was particularly upsetting to him.

Via: Independent Sentinel

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[EDITORIAL] S.F. 'sanctuary' policy violates common sense: Our view

A little bit of common sense and discretion might have prevented the killing this month in San Francisco of Kathryn Steinle — a victim not only of random gunfire but of the mindless handling of the city's immigration policy.

Her accused killer is Juan Francisco Lopez-Sanchez, a Mexican immigrant who had a felony drug record going back 20 years, had been deported five timesand had repeatedly sneaked back into the USA (which raises serious questions about border security that the current, polarized debate isn't addressing in a helpful way).

OPPOSING VIEW: Sanctuary policy makes San Francisco safer

Lopez-Sanchez was in the San Francisco County jail in April and should have been deported yet again. Federal immigration authorities had lodged a "detainer," seeking to get custody and do just that. All they needed was a call or other contact from the sheriff's office.

The contact was never made, not because of some ghastly mistake or miscommunication but because of a city ordinance that prohibits police from honoring detainers except in rare cases. And, according to the San Francisco Chronicle, because of a policy by the local sheriff that bars contact with immigration authorities. After a local charge against Lopez-Sanchez was dropped, he was held for three weeks, then put on the street.

On July 1, less than three months later, Steinle, 32, was dead, collateral damage in a long-running feud between the local and federal governments over deportation.

San Francisco is one of nearly 300 cities and counties across the country with sanctuary laws or policies aimed at separating federal immigration enforcement from local policing, in order to build trust between immigrant communities and local police. The reasoning goes like this: If immigrants, including millions of undocumented ones, see local police officers as a tool for deportation, they will not report crimes or come forward as witnesses, even when they are victims, and public safely will suffer.

In that context, there's a certain logic to the "sanctuary" idea, but not when carried to extremes. Sanctuary policies set by cities, counties and states differ from place to place, but San Francisco's violates all common sense. Protecting a hard-working undocumented immigrant charged with a misdemeanor is one thing. Putting a long-term felon and serial illegal entrant on the street is the antithesis of ensuring public safety.

That's especially true when there is a more reasonable approach, one used, according to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, by many police departments under sanctuary laws. Officers pick up the phone to call immigration when they plan to release potentially dangerous immigrants wanted for deportation. Immigration comes to pick them up.

Kathryn Steinle's death ought to be a cause for sober reevaluation of sanctuary policies. Without a cease-fire and a working agreement in this war that has pitted local law enforcement against federal immigration authorities, there will be more innocent casualties.

USA TODAY's editorial opinions are decided by its Editorial Board, separate from the news staff. Most editorials are coupled with an opposing view — a unique USA TODAY feature.

Via: USA Today

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[VIDEO] DHS boss can’t say if admin reaching out to SF murder victim’s family

Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson could not say Tuesday whether the Obama administration was reaching out to the family of the young woman killed earlier this month on a San Francisco pier, allegedly by an illegal immigrant, after the family complained that no one had been in touch. 

During a Capitol Hill hearing, Rep. Steve Chabot, R-Ohio, asked Johnson if the administration had reached out to the Steinle family. 

Johnson initially said: "To who?" 

Chabot clarified he was talking about Kathryn Steinle, 32, who was killed in San Francisco, allegedly by an illegal immigrant who had a lengthy felony record and had been deported several times before. (Johnson, who had spoken about her case earlier in the hearing, later told Fox News he simply couldn't hear the question.) 

Asked again if the administration was reaching out, Johnson said: "I'm sorry, I don't know the answer to that question, sir." 

Chabot urged Johnson to check, and he said he would. 

Via: Fox News

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‘The Law Is the Law!': Megyn Kelly, Jose Antonio Vargas Face Off over Sanctuary Cities

Fox’s Megyn Kelly and journalist Jose Antonio Vargas tussled tonight over “sanctuary cities” and whether cities with those laws need to be changed following the death of Kate Steinle.

Vargas said the issue here squarely comes down to ICE not acting when they could have issued a warrant for the killer’s arrest. He pointed out that sanctuary cities are beneficial for immigrants who “can actually report to police.”

Kelly still insisted, “The law is the law, and fidelity to the law is what binds us together.”

Vargas––who has made it clear he wants the media to start calling out Donald Trump on this issue––made it clear that the San Francisco killer doesn’t represent millions of other illegal immigrants. Kelly agreed that anyone making that leap is “engaging in hyperbole,” but still called sanctuary cities “lawless.”

Watch the video below, via Fox News:

Via: Mediaite

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Jack Kelly: Don't blame Trump

Kate Steinle, 32, was walking with her father along the Embarcadero in San Francisco in the early evening July 1 when she was shot – apparently at random -- by Juan Francisco Lopez-Sanchez, 45, an illegal alien from Mexico who’d committed 7 previous felonies in the U.S.

Mr. Lopez-Sanchez had been deported five times. It would have been six, but for the fact San Francisco is a “sanctuary city.”

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement had Mr. Lopez Sanchez in custody after his release from federal prison in March, but turned him over to sheriff’s deputies for San Francisco county, where a drug warrant had been issued for him.

ICE asked to be notified if San Francisco released Mr. Lopez-Sanchez, so he could be deported. But San Francisco does not honor such requests from federal immigration authorities.

In Laredo, Texas, the day after Kate Steinle was murdered, Juan Francisco de Luna Vasquez, an illegal immigrant from Mexico, beat his wife to death with a hammer.

Mr. de Luna Vazquez had been deported four times. It would have been five if Laredo police had informed the Border Patrol of earlier violent episodes with his wife.

In 2013, ICE released back into local communities 36,007 illegal aliens who among them had nearly 88,000 criminal convictions – including 193 homicides, 426 sexual assaults, 303 kidnappings, and 1,075 aggravated assaults.

All were being processed for deportation, but were freed while awaiting final disposition of their cases. Most of the releases were discretionary (not required by law.) After their release, at least 1,000 committed additional crimes.

The 36,000 were in addition to 68,000 other illegal aliens with criminal convictions encountered by ICE in 2013, but released without being processed for deportation.

Last year ICE released 30,558 criminal aliens who, collectively, had almost 80,000 convictions, including 250 homicides, 386 kidnappings, 373 sexual assaults, 994 aggravated assaults.

Illegal immigrants comprise about 3 percent of the population in the U.S., 30 percent the federal prison population, 38 percent of those convicted of federal crimes in FY 2013. More than 40 percent of federal criminal cases filed by U.S. attorneys last year were in five districts along the Mexican border.

These statistics go unmentioned by Democrats and journalists who’ve assailed Donald Trump for remarks he made about illegal immigrants when he announced his candidacy for president June 16.

“When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best,” Mr. Trump said. “They’re sending people that have lots of problems, and they’re bringing those problems with us. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists.”

This was a crude statement from someone notorious for making crude remarks. The vast majority of illegal immigrants have broken no other U.S. laws. Most work long hours for low wages at scut jobs to provide a better life for their families.

Illegals are far more likely to be victims of violent crime. As many as 80 percent of illegal immigrant women are raped during their perilous journey here. In every major population group, only a relative handful of people commit violent crimes. The proportion of violent felons among illegal immigrants probably is about the same as for the native born.

But violent felons among the illegal immigrants commit lots of crimes -- crimes that would not have been committed if they hadn’t gotten into the country in the first place, been deported promptly, or kept in custody until they could be deported.

Mr. Trump deserves criticism for how he said it, but the thrust of what he said is indisputably true. Criticism of his infelicitous remark is hypocritical coming from those who’ve asserted or implied Republicans who seek stronger border security measures are “racist.”

I don’t like Donald Trump. I wish he’d said what he said in a more accurate, less provocative way. But it isn’t he who deserves condemnation. It’s the politicians whose policies have made them accessories before the fact in the murder of Kate Steinle, and so many others.

Via: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

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