Actions have consequences - even in Iowa
On the road again....hotel again...USA Today again.
This time, USA Today is papering over the illegal acts committed by illegal immigrants and once again focuses on the problems that "fractured" families face now that some parents and families got picked up in the raids by the Feds at the Swift meatpacking plants in Iowa.
You remember, the place where
This is nothing more (and certainly not less) than simple emotional blackmail. In this case, the tactic is to use the suffering of some to affect the emotions and heartstrings of the general public in an attempt to sway public perception.
The problem with this tactic is that the USA Today reporter, Judy Keen, seemingly believes that emotions trump the rule of law.
MARSHALLTOWN, Iowa — When José Mora tucks his 7-year-old niece into bed at night, she often asks, "Where's my mommy?"He doesn't want to say that her mother is in a Des Moines jail awaiting a hearing that could result in her being deported to Mexico.
My response is "what kind of parent puts their children at risk by doing illegal things?" Yet, that fact seems absolutely absent in this whole discussion.
Sure, the kids are innocent - legally, parents are responsible for them (or should be, but given what some government actions - legislative, judicial, or bureaucratic - often seems to seem otherwise). Reading the MSM, I get the impression that the parents should get a pass because of the emotional toll on the kids.
This is a perfect example of emotional blackmail by the use of kids. I think that society took a wrong turn somewhere - instead of holding guilty parents responsible, we want to ditch our laws because of them.
Immigrants fearful
For Mora, the raid was the beginning of upheaval in his family: His nieces' mother was detained a week later. "I don't have a problem having the girls because I love them," he says. "My question is only: Why do that? Why take parents away from their children?"
Wrong question. The implication is that the Feds were the ones in the wrong. Again, emotion is being put before the rule of law. It is so easy, nowadays, to point the finger at someone else, to blame others before finally (if ever) acknowledging who is actually in the wrong. Why is it that society not only allows this, but seemingly condones it?
The simple answer to the question is that the parents took themselves out of the picture.
The legal status of about 6,000 Hispanics in this city of 27,000 is often a mystery even to their friends: Police don't ask for proof of citizenship, and schools require only students' birth certificates and don't check parents' documents.
I am so sick of this nonsense that only certain law enforcement officers can only check for or deal with certain laws. A duly appointed officer, seeing any law being broken, should be able to "do the right thing". Why should any public official (elected, appointed, or having taxpayers pay their salaires) willingly turn a blind eye to lawbreaking?
Two weeks before Christmas, agents from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrived at the Swift plant here at 7 a.m. They also raided plants in Colorado, Nebraska, Texas, Utah and Minnesota. A total of 1,297 people were arrested, says ICE spokeswoman Jamie Zuieback. Of those, 274 — including 30 from Marshalltown — face criminal charges, she says.
Tom Vilsack, then Iowa's governor, said in a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff that the raid "created undue hardship … and led to resentment and further mistrust of government."
For upholding the law???? For doing their job???? Who CARES if illegals mistrust the government - it isn't theres and they know that they should not be here!
Yet, a Governor......trust me, no vote from me for President for this guy..... Of all the folks, he should be upfront and state that while the laws may not suit all, they must be obeyed until changed.
Comments
Posted by: TimOliver | February 14, 2007 4:47 PM