Virginia’s crackdown on illegals pays big dividends
Posted by Bill Dupray
on Oct 28 2009 Filed under Politics.
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In 2003, several counties in Northern Virginia banded together to form a joint task force to crack down on illegals and gangs. Then in March of last year, Prince William County made national headlines by upping the ante even further. They passed an ordinance that required County police to verify the immigration status of any criminal or traffic suspects when there was probable cause to think they were in the country illegally. The suspects were held and transferred to ICE, irrespective of the disposition of the underlying charge.
Almost immediately, the Washington Post started whining about the unfairness of Prince William County’s program. First of all these racist county officials, were wreaking havoc on Latino soccer leagues, some of which had to cancel games or even disband teams (the horror!) because of the exodus of players to liberal sanctuary states like Maryland across the Potomac. Even the Latina hookers were having a rough go of it. The effort was so successful, the County developed a nickname in the Latino community; Condado del Diablo, The Devil’s County. Within weeks of the new law going into effect, the illegals were leaving for Maryland in droves. Marylanders didn’t want to be Virginia’s dustpan for illegals, but because it is one of the bluest states in the country, the Maryland politicians ignored the public clamor and refused to beef up their own immigration laws.
Fast forward to today, when we learned the results of 6 years of local, focused, diligent police work enforcing the immigration laws.
Crackdowns on illegal immigrants and other law enforcement efforts are driving gangs out of Northern Virginia and into Maryland and the District, a report released Monday concluded.
“Many gang members from Northern Virginia are moving or driving to Prince George’s and other Maryland counties, into the District of Columbia or further south and west into Virginia to avoid dealing with police departments that are unrelenting in their efforts to keep gangs under control,” authorities wrote in the Northern Virginia Regional Gang Task Force report.
The report said the task force’s success is the result of Virginia law enforcement’s use of anti-gang policing measures, including the referring of suspected illegal immigrants to federal authorities. Since the task force was created in 2003, it has arrested 952 gang members, more than 40 percent of whom were illegal immigrants, the report said.
Note that last stunning little statistic: More than 40% of gang members are illegal. Not to put too fine a point on it, but is there any doubt that there would be less crime if those 40% had not been here in the first place? Put another way, had we sealed the border, there would be half as many gang members in the country preying on our citizens. Anybody care to defend that abomination?
And it looks like Maryland has turned into Virginia’s dustpan for illegals. If they choose to turn a blind eye to the problem, that is their call, but all decisions have consequences.
Experts say jurisdictions such as Montgomery County, where police are told to look away from immigration violations, have become safe havens for gangs.
The bottom line for Virginians?
The task force has brought federal and local law enforcement agencies together, and the report credits it with helping drive down the region’s violent crime rate by 17 percent over the six years of the study.
Maybe somebody in Washington should take a look at this little laboratory of democracy in Virginia and think about using it as a model for true “comprehensive immigration reform,” one that benefits the American people.
Related Posts
- New Mexico facing flood of illegals from Arizona
- The Hammer Falls on Illegals in Virginia. Lawmaker: They Should “Be Afraid.”
- Maryland Doesn’t Want to be Virginia’s Illegal Immigrant Dustpan
- Virginia Poll on Illegals
- U.S. Born Children of Illegals Pay Out-of-State Tuition in Virginia
Short URL: http://libertypundits.net/?p=8078
Good for NoVA. Not to diminish what these counties in NOVA are doing, but what is ICE doing? are these crooks actually being deported. No. Why doesn’t ICE do their job? why won’t a Congressman ask that question?
That is the way it should be. Oklahoma did something similar (not so much for gang control), and illegals fled for other states.
Sanctuary states apparently want them, so it works out great for everybody.
Sanctuary states want them because that means more $$$$ from the federal government which they can then misappropriate as they see fit. Don’t you think?
Thanks for reporting this information. This reminds me of the days when Liberals protected all violent criminals on the streets and Americans finally got tired of being victims and took about the judcial power to victimize us with mandatory sentencing laws. Finally, they put the armed robbers, rapists and murderers in jail for a looooong time!
Good piece, Bill.
Wow, common sense works. Who woulda thunk it?
Nope. I think their zeal for feel-good laws shows a shocking naivete and ignorance of real life, common sense, and economics.
Well, you, me, and our whole gang of course.
[...] a Northern Virginia task force targeted gangs, almost half of which were illegals, they also went over the river. “Many gang members from Northern Virginia are moving or driving to Prince George’s and other [...]