Napolitano Retreads Tired "Criminal Alien" Track

by Dave Bennion · 2009-01-29 20:51:00 UTC
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New DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano is starting to set priorities and give the public an idea of what she'll focus on as head of the agency.

If you're a criminal and you're not entitled to be in the United States, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano wants you out of the country. Napolitano wants what she calls "criminal aliens" off American streets. She is looking at existing immigration enforcement programs to see if taxpayers are getting the most bang for their buck.

"That sounds very simple, but it's historically not been done," Napolitano said, speaking to reporters and senior Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials Thursday.

About 113,000 criminals who were in the U.S. illegally were deported last year, Immigration and Customs Enforcement said. The agency estimates there are now as many as 450,000 criminals in federal, state and local detention centers who are in the country illegally.

As the law stands now, some of the "criminal aliens" that Napolitano wants to deport could include:

  • Someone who shoplifted years ago and is now married to a U.S. citizen.

  • An elderly black man who has lived here since the 1960s, has adult U.S. citizen children and U.S. citizen grandchildren, but was arrested in his youth by a much more racist NYPD.

  • A longtime permanent resident convicted of "attempted possession" of a controlled substance 20 years ago who has a U.S. citizen wife and U.S. citizen children.

  • Someone who was never been arrested or convicted of any crime, but who mentioned to the officer at his green card interview that he had on occasion smoked pot as a kid.

  • Someone whose spouse filed bogus protection orders against him/her during a contentious divorce.

So, Secretary Napolitano, let's start rounding them up!  These criminal aliens are shredding the fabric of our law-abiding society--they've got to go!  Families or no, what's important is that we get these people off our streets (out of their living rooms) and into our jails.

We've heard this before:

ICE is identifying and arresting those who pose a very real threat to public safety on our roads and highways. We will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to take those criminal illegal aliens who have no legal right to remain here out of our communities and off our streets.

Former DHS Secretary Chertoff, 2006

But Napolitano seems to think the only problem with this approach is that it wasn't pursued vigorously enough by her predecessor ("That sounds very simple, but it's historically not been done.").

My friends, that's not change we can believe in.

Dave Bennion
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