Legal Versus Illegal Immigration

                To paraphrase The Kinks, “It’s a mixed up, muddled up, shook up world.” And perhaps nothing proves it more conclusively than U.S. immigration policy.

                Kate Steinle, a kind and beautiful 32-year-old woman, was shot and killed by Jose Ines Zarate, an illegal immigrant who had previously been deported five times. Kate was strolling on a pier in San Francisco with her father when she was gunned down in July of 2015. The murder weapon was stolen, though Zarate at one point claimed he “found it.” Zarate admitted that he shot Steinle, though he and his lawyers claimed “the gun just went off.”

                Zarate, who had committed seven previous felonies, was acquitted by jury. (Of both murder and involuntary manslaughter, though there was more than enough evidence to convict him of either).

A jury that was not allowed to hear that he had been deported five times and had committed seven previous felonies. 

When Zarate was arrested, he told police he was shooting at a seal. He must be an incredibly bad shot. Be that as it may, that is an intentional act. The California Supreme Court has previously determined that discharging a firearm into an area with people nearby is inherently dangerous, and chargeable as a felony for second-degree murder.

In any case, he has pled that the gun somehow just went off, and that he was shooting at a seal. At least one of those statements is a lie, and that fact should have discredited the defense’s case ipso facto. Instead, the jury in the most “progressive” city in the nation only found Zarate guilty of being a felon in possession of a firearm. This is in keeping with the blame the gun, not the hardened-criminal mentality of leftist looneys. The only thing he did wrong was possess a gun. That damn gun “just went off,” as they are wont to do. Had nothing to do with the felon wielding it. People don’t kill people. Guns kill people.

Federal officials vow that Zarate will now be deported, as if that will help. You know what they say: “The sixth time is the charm!” Actually, the more relevant trope would be: “Doing the same thing and expecting different results is the definition of insanity.” And deporting Zarate for the sixth time will not bring Kate Steinle back.

In related news, Sergio Jose Martinez, who has been deported from the United States on 20 different occasions, has been convicted of 10 counts, including sexual assault in Oregon. Martinez pled guilty to kidnapping, sexual assault, and various other crimes, according to Portland’s KOIN television. Martinez smiled throughout the trial, and, upon leaving the courtroom, yelled at his victims’ relatives: “See all you guys in Hell.”  

The Trump administration is desperately trying to do the right thing, trying to effectively carry out the number one job of any government: protecting its citizens. Tragically, so-called “sanctuary cities” and radical, renegade, unelected judges have made this task nearly impossible. Ironically, the very same local political entities who worship big, centrally-controlled governments that dispense money (to them) like a frenzied Pez-dispenser, who mock republicanism and “alt-right, anti-government yahoos,” pick this issue to make a Founder’s-like stand against the tyranny of a far-off ruling body telling them they need to observe the law of the land.

It is nothing less than insane- and immoral- that those seeking to legally immigrate to the United States are subjected to numerous impediments, while those entering illegally are treated with kid gloves and are granted special privileges- privileges that even American citizens don’t enjoy.  Those that arrive at Ellis Island seeking only freedom and a chance, after studying American history, and who correctly answer questions such as: “Who is the author of The Declaration of Independence?” or “Which Major League baseball team won the World Series in 1991?” are routinely screwed. Those wanting only to raise their hands in the air and proudly swear, “I am an American” are considered a dime-a-dozen while those brazenly, illegally, crossing the border to avail themselves of the country’s vast entitlement programs are excused, exalted and feted in inexplicable ways.

To quote a Bob Seger song, “Sanctuary never comes, without some kind of risk, illusions without freedom…never quite add up to bliss.” Sanctuary cities come with an existential risk. Progressives’ illusions about illegal immigrants steal away our freedoms…and too many of our lives.