More Lily and HB404 – and none of it positive

I have blogged before about HB404 here in NH – a bill that would turn all of NH into a sanctuary state (here, and here).  Basically, this bill is a free pass to illegal aliens to roost here.  It seems that other people are starting to notice

From the Nashua Telegraph 

CONCORD – U.S. Attorney Thomas Colantuono, four federal immigration agents and three police chiefs warned Tuesday that a proposed bill would block state and local law enforcement officials from going after suspected terrorists who were also illegal immigrants.

Colantuono said the state might also risk the loss of up to $200,000 that local communities and the state get from the federal government for detaining foreign-born residents unlawfully in this country.

“It is unrealistic in the way law enforcement operates in the 21st century in the wake of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001,” Colantuono said.

“The bill, as written, would be a disaster.”

Ah yes, the Law of Unintended Consequences….or is it?  Let me be positive for just a sec – even with the best of intentions (and I doubt that this bill is actually that – the best for NH citizens), things go wrong because the "moves" were not thought out correctly.  In an immediate response to a perceived ill or wrong, a bill may sound good emotionally but can fail at critical junctions.

It seems that the people who know best, the "boots" on the ground in law enforcement, are not exactly thrilled with the efforts of Lily Mesa and Susi Nord (both Democrats):

The legislation (HB 404) – introduced by Rep. Lily Mesa, D-Manchester – would prohibit state and local police from detaining or arresting anyone whose sole offense is the violation of federal immigration laws.

So, as I noted before, we have legislators that have sworn oaths to uphold the law of the land subvert that law. 

Gee, I always believed that do bad things meant that bad consequences should follow.  Once again, these two Democrats wish to continue the process of not holding people accountable for their actions and decisions.  What a way to run a society…..no responsibilities at all….unless you are a citizen/taxpayer…. 

A four-person subcommittee of the House Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee is studying the measure, which the House of Representatives sent back to committee last spring.Speaking at a subcommittee work session Tuesday, Londonderry Police Chief Joseph Ryan said the bill’s adoption would stop his officers from assisting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents who were detaining suspected aliens at Manchester-Boston Regional Airport.

“To think state and local officers have to turn our backs is contrary to everything I believe in,” Ryan told the subcommittee. 

Absolutely true.  Once again, we are a nation whose main principle is the Rule of Law.  Take that away, and anything can happen.

Rep. Timothy Robertson, D-Keene, said police and prosecutors were overreacting.

Great, another Democrat weighs in……

“It doesn’t say you can’t help the immigration service,” he said. “It says you can’t be the immigration service.”

No, it means that you do not want the immigration service would never be able to be clued in.

Unlike the open borders people, I believe that laws should be enforced.  That is all law – local, state, and federal levels.

Hudson Republican Reps. Andrew Renzullo and Jordan Ulery want the House to kill the bill outright in January.

“This is an attempt to create in New Hampshire a sanctuary state for illegal immigrants,” Renzullo said.

Huzzah!

But Arnie Alpert of the American Friends Service Committee said it instead seeks to reduce distrust that exists between the immigrant community and some local police departments.

I detect a missing word here – illegal.  Frankly, the AFS is an open borders group that seemingly wishes to label anyone that disagrees with their stance as rascist bigots.

They never seem to get to the "illegal" part…..

“If the local police are involved in immigration enforcement, there will be an increase in profiling,” Alpert said.

Actually, all one has to do is really go to the AFS site and review who they say makes up most of the illegal immigrants.  Their own stats show that these folks are from Mexico.  So, profiling?

I have the same problem with CAIR – if all of the terrorists seem to be Islamic, doesn’t it make sense to put more of one’s scarce looking where a problem might be rather than 180 degrees the other way?

ICE Associate Legal Adviser Jorge Artieda said with only 23,000 beds nationwide to detain illegal aliens, his agency has no desire to indiscriminately lock up anyone without proper papers of citizenship.

“We don’t have the bed space to get everybody,” Artieda testified. “We want the worst of the worst.”

Mesa said she brought forward this proposal to stop profiling of foreign-born residents by local police, which she claimed has occurred in her home city of Manchester.

“We know there are presently police who will stop people on the street and ask for documents whether they are citizens or not,” she said.

Sorry, it may be extremely politically incorrect to say so, but one has to pick priorities.  Instead of bellyaching about asking only certain folks their status, change the bill to hve police ask EVERYONE EVERYTIME what their immigration status is.

You know why Mesa and Nord won’t?  Because illegals would still be caught – the exact opposite of what they want. 

Mesa volunteers at the Latin American Center in Manchester. Victims of these incidents are afraid to come forward publicly to speak about them, she said.

If they are here legally, what’s to hide.  If they are here illegally, of course they are afraid!  And that is fine by me.  I don’t care if these folks are from my ancestral homes of Sweden or Ireland (go ahead, do this in Boston too!).

I’d be fearful, too, if I was living in a place where I should not be.

After all, look what Mexico is doing to the illegals that cross their Southern border (the hypocrites). And I still maintain why should we not deport the illegals who are nothing more than "line jumpers"?  Do it the right way – emigrate lawfully.

“My intent was to help people who look different like me, have an accent and speak broken English.”

The issue emerged in part from the 2005 ruling of Jaffrey/Peterborough District Court Judge L. Phillips Runyon III, who quashed the bid of police in New Ipswich and Hudson to use state criminal trespass laws to arrest suspected illegal aliens.

The New Hampshire Legislature rejected attempts led by these police chiefs and others to let local enforcement prosecute immigration laws.

Hudson Police Chief Richard Gendron and Lyndeborough Police Department Administrator Richard Darling also lent law enforcement support at Tuesday’s hearing but did not speak.

Immigrant advocates are wary that chiefs in Hudson, Londonderry and the Carroll County sheriff all have expressed a desire to form a memorandum of understanding with ICE officials.

This agreement could allow local police to carry out immigration duties under the supervision of federal officials.

Once again, huzzah for those that wish to enforce all laws!  I bet that the ‘advocates" are wary – once that MoU is set, deportations may start – which they are struggling at all costs to defeat.

Colantuono said Mesa’s bill would keep local and state police out of investigating a suspected terrorist whose only known offense is his illegal alien status.

“If we suspected someone was operating a bomb factory, we’d want a full SWAT team and the bomb unit to be backing up ICE,” he said.

“This would completely tie the hands of state and local police to assist.”

Mesa said she’s open to changes but noted this bill has sparked a spate of threatening e-mails sent to her. The unknown authors called her “stupid, filthy” and warned she was being watched, she said.

“I understand the fear about 9-11, but I don’t see why we have to blame everybody that is different because of that,” she said.

She just doesn’t get it.  While I will admit that there are some out there that would threaten her or her family, I have also said that behavior is despicable.  

I also maintain that this is not about race, broken English, or racial profiling.

This is about maintaining and upholding the Rule of Law.