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Amber Alert Opens
Can Of Illegal Worms
by
thegunnerscorner (Mike Minton)
Last Wednesday, April 20,
an Amber Alert was issued out of Tompkinsville, KY, for a 16 year old girl who
was said to have been dragged into a red minivan by a group of five Hispanic
males. Immediately, people across Kentucky, and probably America, (myself
included), began praying for the girl, and looking inside every red minivan seen
on the road in hopes of recovering Janeet Quijano.
At a time when young girls in America, and especially in Florida, have been the
victims of kidnappings, sexual assaults and murder at an unprecedented rate, one
tends to fear the worst when they hear an Amber Alert about yet another young
girl being abducted. Thank God, this one turned out to be all right.
The next day, Thursday, April 21, Janeet called the F.B.I. to inform them that
she was safe and sound in a motel room in Vernon, TX, with a 25 year old man
with whom she had apparently willingly gone. The pair’s prior relationship is
not immediately clear, and for the purposes of this article, that part of the
story really is irrelevant. The point is that this girl, praise God, is safe.
However, from this story spring a whole new set of issues which REQUIRE
investigation and follow up. You see, in reporting that his 16 year old daughter
had quite possibly been abducted, her father, Tubercio Quijano, had to reveal
that the whole family had been living in Kentucky illegally for the past four
years; they are citizens of Mexico.
While nobody, except perhaps her family, is happier than I that Janeet is safe,
we are now forced to deal with the fact that all members of the family are
illegal immigrants. (As an aside, the man with whom Janeet left, Salvador Perez,
25, is reportedly also a citizen of Mexico, although the story in the Louisville
newspaper, The Courier-Journal, did not specifically state his immigration
status, only that he has been living intermittently in Kentucky for the past
year).
Although it was an unfortunate, and almost tragic, situation which brought the
legal status of this family to light, in my mind, there is no question, not the
slightest doubt, that this family should be deported to their native Mexico as
soon as possible. Furthermore, Mr. Perez, if he is here illegally, should be
deported as well, after he answers to the American justice system for any crimes
he may have committed in this fiasco.
There are undoubtedly many in this country who will argue that it is just plain
wrong to use circumstances such as these as the genesis of deportation. To such
persons, I have a question--a hypothetical, if you will. Suppose a man reports
that he has been robbed. During the course of the investigation, police discover
that the robbery victim is also a fugitive from another state, wanted for raping
an innocent woman. Would you also say that it is wrong to use this man’s
unfortunate circumstances as the genesis of HIS being apprehended and having to
pay for his crime? I’ll bet 99% of you would say that would be perfectly fine.
Now, you may think this analogy ridiculous, but is it? In both cases we have a
distressing situation that has brought to light criminal activity. As hard as it
is for many people to hear, entering this country illegally IS CRIMINAL
ACTIVITY, and needs to be addressed as such.
Unfortunately, at least one member of the Bureau of Immigration and Customs
Enforcement (ICE), apparently doesn’t feel that it is that big a deal. To Quote
the Courier-Journal article, viewable at:
http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050422/NEWS0104/504220469&SearchID=73206076887216
, Carl Rusnock, a spokesman for ICE, said, “if the family has no criminal
record, it likely will not be targeted by immigration officials.”
Let’s see if I have this straight. We now have a family who we KNOW WITHOUT A
DOUBT is, and has been for four years, living in the U.S. illegally, but as long
as they don’t have a criminal record, nothing will be done about it? The only
reason they have no criminal record is that they didn’t get caught coming in
ILLEGALLY! And besides, what in the world does that have to do with the price of
eggs in China? If they are illegal, they are illegal. It really matters not how
this information came to light.
Come on, now…either we are going to enforce immigration laws or we aren’t. I
mean, if we are not, and have no intention to, will someone please let me know
so my children and I can at least learn what will inevitably become our national
language (Spanish, of course)?
This story appeared in Friday’s (April 22nd) issue of the paper, so I had no
time to contact ICE over this matter to see what the plan was, but I will do so,
and keep you, concerned reader, informed of the proceedings.
Of course, being the Gannett-owned, liberal newspaper that the Courier-Journal
is, there was no shortage of bleeding hearts to verbalize the plight of the
illegal immigrant in America. Celia Lopez, director of Bowling Green, KY’s,
Centro la Esparanza, which, according to my online Spanish-English dictionary,
translates into The Center of Hope, poses the following question and statement,
“Can they trust the police?" Lopez said. "Since 9/11, more and more police
departments and sheriff's offices are actually doing the work of the immigration
officers.”
Well, to answer Ms. Lopez, it would appear that the Quijano family felt they
could trust the police enough to call them and ask them to find their little
girl---which, by the way, they did. However, if Ms. Lopez is asking if the
illegal community can trust the police to aid and abet their ongoing illegal
activity, I would hope that the answer would be a resounding NO!
In a statement that is a disappointment to those of us concerned about illegal
immigration, a quote in the Courier-Journal story states the following: “Adam
Ruiz, director of Centro Latino services agency in Shelbyville, (KY), said his
experience has been that police often are understanding and rarely use crises to
enforce immigration laws.” WHY??? Not that I wish hardships on people,
regardless of immigration status, but…the law is the law!
To give a real-life example, I have a friend who had called the Louisville
Police Department to report illegal drug activity in his neighborhood. The
police came to take a report. During the taking of information from “John,” they
discovered he owed something like $75.00 in court costs from a prior traffic
citation (or something similar). Bet you’ll never guess what happened (HAHA!).
Yep, he was arrested, and his bond was set at the amount of the unpaid court
cost.
As far as we can tell, nothing has been done to date to address the drug issue.
Someone PLEASE explain this lunacy to me! If, in the course of an investigation,
it is discovered that someone is in this country illegally, there is NO DOUBT
that they need to be immediately deported. No explanation should be needed,
although it appears that the message has to be pounded into the heads of many of
our law makers, as well as law enforcers. PEOPLE IN THIS COUNTRY ILLEGALLY ARE
CRIMINALS…THEY HAVE BROKEN THE LAW! PERIOD!
Now, if you will indulge me, this story takes yet another strange twist. For at
least part of their four years of illegal residency in the U.S., both of
Janeet’s parents have worked (obviously, illegally) for a company called
Southern Kentucky Hardwood Flooring, headquartered in Gamiliel, KY. It was not
immediately known if the employer was aware of the Quijano’s illegal status.
It may very well be that Southern Kentucky Hardwood Flooring had no idea that
they were employing illegal aliens, as, many times, illegals are able to easily
obtain fraudulent Social Security numbers and other documentation which would
lead a potential employer to believe that the applicant is perfectly legal to
work in the United States.
If, however, the company DID know that they were employing illegal aliens, they
could potentially face some serious trouble. According to an article at the
Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) website,
http://www.fairus.org/ImmigrationIssueCenters/ImmigrationIssueCenters.cfm?ID=1188&c=13,
“Penalties for Hiring Illegal Aliens (INA Section 274A) Fines beginning at no
less than $250 and up to $10,000 per alien may be assessed for knowingly hiring
an illegal alien. The amount of the fee escalates depending on whether there are
repeated violations. If there is found to be a pattern or practice of
violations, employers may be sentenced to up to six months of imprisonment.”
Again, I am not suggesting the company was aware of the status of their
employees. I am just pointing out what could happen if they were.
However, I DO believe that a full investigation should be conducted into the
hiring practices of Southern Kentucky Hardwood Flooring, to ensure that they do
not make it a common practice to knowingly hire illegal aliens. And, if it is
found that they do, that a stop be put to those hiring practices IMMEDIATELY!
As with the deportation of the Quijano’s, I will utilize my resources and find
out who to contact so that I can follow up on this part of the story as well,
and I will keep you informed of the goings-on.
For a list of resources you can use to report illegal aliens, or employers who
hire them, please visit: http://www.alipac.us/content-20.html.
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