Jose De Jesus Euzondo Balseras, who killed two people while driving drunk, has been sentenced to five years in prison. The N&R article notes he could face deportation when he’s released.
The illegal immigration issue got a lot of play in the N&O over the weekend, especially after Ruth Sheehan’s column on Wake County’s part in the federal program to identify and detain illegal immigrants. Sheehan’s point of view was supported by Alamance County attorney Hannah Gill:
For Gill, immigration is the civil rights battlefield of our age. She acknowledges, as any thinking person would, that the current system of immigration and enforcement is deeply flawed.
But to Gill, that means that current laws are not working. She wants to see those laws fixed rather than seeing immigrants intimidated, harassed and bullied.
To her, this effort is an example of immigration enforcement being outsourced by the federal government. The problem is, this delicate function is being outsourced to a workforce inexperienced in the intricacies of immigration law.
Oh sure, the newly hired jailers will be trained under this program. But the entire sheriff’s department reports to an elected official who, with every deportation, can expect to receive political attaboys from the anti-immigrant crowd.
Gill said that in Alamance County, the immigration checks and stream of deportations have destroyed the trust between law enforcement and the Latino community.
The only problem with that point of view is, unless you count the flawed immigration bill, that failed earlier this year, the federal government pretty much admits it doesn’t have the manpower and resources to curb illegal immigration. Outsourcing to local law enforcement officials is the only practical answer at this point, right?
Sheehan’s column got plenty of reaction from N&O readers, including Arthur T. Pittman of Raleigh, who writes:
Shouldn’t criminals constantly be in fear? I would hope so, since it would give them a reason not to be in the position of being a criminal. Illegal means “not according to or authorized by law.” So anyone not in the United States legally is a criminal.
It amazes me that Ruth Sheehan (column, Nov. 9) and UNC-Chapel Hill’s Hannah Gill, whom she quotes, want to use so many words to get around facing the truth. Illegal aliens are criminals. There are no ifs, ands or buts about it. Being against criminals is not being anti-immigrant. That statement is an outright lie.
