Americans can defend lawful deportations and condemn wrongful enforcement
The Bulloch County, Georgia, Sheriff’s Office announced that it had arrested 26-year-old Kenneth Moreno Guzman, who is accused in the Jan. 12 invasion of a mobile home and subsequent rape of an 11-year-old girl.
That Statesboro Herald reported that Guzman allegedly held the victim and her 10-year-old sister at knifepoint. Guzman is an undocumented immigrant who came into the country five years ago, according to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement,
A flyer claimed the progressive group “Dream Defenders” is organizing a walkout Friday after third period at Ola High School in McDonough to “raise awareness about immigration issues communities,” the flier says. The flier also includes the line, “No one is illegal on stolen land.”
An Instagram post by the Party for Socialism and Liberation Atlanta claims students at 75-plus schools (in Georgia) are participating in the walkout.
There will be no walkout to raise awareness about the victims in Bulloch County or about Laken Riley or any of the other victims of crime by undocumented immigrants.
Biden administration saw record increase in unlawful entries
Progressives will often say they are OK with criminals being deported, provided they have been found guilty of an underlying crime. Many progressives and Democratic politicians refuse to admit that crossing into the United States illegally is a crime.
It actually is a crime under 8 U.S.C. § 1325. The first offense is a misdemeanor and there are civil penalties. But it is a crime. Progressives want more leniency for entering the country illegally.
Had Kenneth Guzman been detained and deported, a 12-year-old near Statesboro might not have been held at knifepoint and raped. Mr. Guzman has no known prior crimes.
The Pew Research Center estimates that the number of undocumented immigrants grew from 10.5 million in 2021 to 14 million in 2023 when Joe Biden was president.
“The increase of 3.5 million in two years is the biggest on record,” according to Pew.
Some came with legitimate claims for asylum. Most did not. While here, undocumented immigrants consume taxpayer resources, most often related to emergency room visits. Public schools also accommodate their children.
Progressives argue that undocumented immigrants are statistically less likely to commit crime than Americans citizens, but the predicate act of entering the United States is a crime. Additionally, a reduction in undocumented immigrants would lead to a reduction in crime.
Laken Riley, who was killed by an undocumented immigrant from Venezuela, would still be alive.
On the flip side that we do not often talk about is the abuse often inflicted on undocumented immigrants. My very first case as a lawyer was representing an undocumented immigrant who had purchased a mobile home. The seller cheated him and insisted if my client complained he would be deported. A few years ago, I found a wallet in my backyard. A man’s entire life was in it. He had international calling cards, money, his Mexican identification card and more. He clearly was an undocumented immigrant my landscaper used.
When I called to return the man’s wallet, the landscaper denied the man worked for the company. I drove to their office, dropped off the wallet, and fired the company not because they used undocumented immigrants, but because they treated one of their workers that way, unwilling to retrieve and return his wallet.
Border czar’s measured plan is better than the status quo
Progressives often ask who will pick crops or take care of the elderly or work drive-through lines. We fought a war over 160 years ago over slave labor and should not accept a serf class of undocumented immigrants in the United States who are often treated poorly.
I have been critical of how Border Patrol chief Gregory Bovino and his Border Patrol agents have managed the deportation issue. American citizens and legal residents have been swept up and detained. Americans have a constitutional right to travel. They should not have to carry papers documenting their right to be in the country. People cannot be detained except for probable cause. The Border Patrol has been dishonest about those being detained, often claiming aggression where there had been none.
The lies and dishonesty came to a head in Minnesota recently with the death of Alex Pretti. Mr. Pretti died after being shot and killed by Border Patrol agents and, it appears from video, disarmed. He was no threat. It was a tragedy made worse by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, and other Trump administration officials lying that Mr. Pretti was a “domestic terrorist,” a would-be assassin, or wanted a mass casualty event.
Noem elevated Bovino over Tom Homan, the White House border czar, who favored a more controlled plan of targeting known criminals, gang members, drug dealers and undocumented immigrants detained by local authorities as suspects, people arrested for driving under the influence, etc. Homan also favors detaining recent arrivals. His plan makes sense.
Importantly, Homan’s plan can be executed without mass roundups, which he opposes. But his plan still requires local law enforcement cooperation to flag undocumented immigrants who are detained. In many places, like Minneapolis, the local government prohibits such cooperation. Without it, agents need to stay in Minneapolis. Deporting undocumented immigrants is sound public policy. The United States is not stolen land. It is a sovereign nation and its borders and enforcement of those borders must mean something.
Erick Erickson is host of the nationally syndicated “Erick Erickson Show,” heard weekdays from noon to 3 p.m. on WSB Radio. He is also a contributor to the AJC.
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