The ultra liberal, Democratic Party controlled City of Philadelphia is solidly in the corner of illegal immigrants as one of America's leading sanctuary cities. Deemed as such because they basically offer themselves as a sanctuary or place of refuge to illegals, it is Philly's stated policy that they will in no way assist in any types of investigations of immigration status. Philadelphia police have been specifically instructed to disregard a person's immigration status.
This is entirely amusing when you consider that the word "illegal" is right there in the terminology that properly defines these individuals. What Philadelphia is in fact saying is that "we don't care if you are breaking the law, you're welcome here to our town!" And we wonder why tens of millions have flocked from our city, businesses have shuttered up and moved away, and our crime rates have soared in the recent decades? Philly's policy on illegal immigration is yet another of many examples of how the liberal Democrats have driven the city into the ground, and continue to do so and get away with it.
On the other hand, Arizona has stood up and said "we're not going to take it anymore" in their border state that is on the front lines for the illegal immigration battle. In a poll taken just two weeks ago, Americans across the country stated by a 71-29 margin that they would support requiring their own police departments to determine people's U.S. status if there were reasonable suspicion that the people were illegal immigrants. Where Philly pols are out of step with Americans yet again, Arizona was way ahead of that national curve.
Arizona began recently to institute a new law that allows police officers to question anyone about their immigration status, and also to request further to see documentation proving the contrary if they suspect the individual is in the country illegally. Critics of the law compare the measure to a Nazi tactic, and express fears of Americans being randomly stopped simply due to a brown skin color. President Obama himself, the leading liberal in the country, has called the law "poorly conceived", an amusing quote coming from a man who has led the nation into an incredibly bad debt situation.
Their criticisms ring hollow when faced with the undisputed fact that little to nothing is being done to stem a flood of illegal immigrants crossing America's borders with impunity, over-burdening America's emergency rooms for standard medical care, taking jobs away from American families, and skipping right over all of the law-abiding foreigners who are patiently waiting in line to become legal American citizens. Many liberal pols and their media shills are trying to paint the issue with the 'racist' code word. Real Americans are no longer intimidated by such tactics.
As a Philadelphia police officer and a 20-year professional in the law enforcement industry who has served in patrol, in an investigative role, as a supervisor of police officers, and now as a trainer, I can tell you with absolute certainty that the Arizona police will not and Philly cops would not abuse laws such as these. The very few incidents where any abuse would occur, and it happens with any situation or law where individual freedoms are challenged and liberty is taken away, such as arrests, would be dealt with severely and criticized harshly from within. Possible theoretical abuses should not take away from necessary measures to combat real, serious problems.
Families in border states such as Arizona have been victimized by these illegals for years if not decades. Damage to property, threats and assaults on Americans, abuse of our nation's resources. This is the legacy of illegal immigration. It is long past time that the nation secured our north and south borders with physical barriers, technological safeguards, and armed sentries and began to hold accountable both those who enter illegally and anyone here in America who aids or supports these individuals.
Many states have expressed interest in extending Arizona's law into their own state. In Minnesota, Ruthie Hendrycks is running for a state senate seat. She heads a group called 'Minnesotans Seeking Immigration Reform', and summed up the situation perfectly: "
This is not about race, it is about the law," she said. "I
t comes down to enforcing our law. We are a nation of laws and it's high time that officials at both federal and state levels start enforcing our laws and not reward those who are breaking the laws."
Image by roberthuffstutter via Flickr
