This is the kind of journalism we need to set the record straight.
From the article:
The way some people talk, illegal immigrants are inherently more dangerous to society than most law-abiding Americans.
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Wait, how would he know? How many immigrant do you think this guy knows?
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The latest statistics from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, paint a different portrait in Forsyth County, according to Bill Schatzman, the county's Republican sheriff.
"The undocumented population in our county does not present a significant law-enforcement issue," Schatzman said.
In Forsyth County, more than 10,000 fingerprints were processed at the county jail during the 13 months ending Sept. 30 through a national program known as Secure Communities. The fingerprints represent all stripes, including U.S. citizens, immigrants who had legal permission to be in the United States, and immigrants who did not.
Out of all those fingerprints, ICE identified a total of 258 immigrants, or about 2.5 percent. Out of those immigrants, 102 were "removed" from the U.S., including some who had legal permission to be in the country.
Thirty-three of those who were removed had no prior criminal convictions. Seventeen people removed had prior criminal convictions of what ICE classifies as the most serious crimes, such as rape, murder and major drug offenses.
As a segment of the 10,000-plus people fingerprinted, the 17 most serious offenders represented less than two-tenths of 1 percent.
Schatzman was not surprised by the numbers.
"Surely, there are some (immigrants) that break the law," he said. "But clearly, they're not the largest population in our jail, and they're not the largest population that goes through our court system. It would be my experience, based on facts, that this is a law-abiding community."
...
Janet Napolitano, the secretary of homeland security, said in a letter dated Aug. 18 that her department and the U.S. Department of Justice are doing a case-by-case review of about 300,000 individuals currently in deportation proceedings, with the aim of giving criminal cases top priority.
"This process will also allow additional federal enforcement resources to be focused on border security and the removal of public safety threats," Napolitano said.
Gheen, the Americans for Legal Immigration PAC president, doesn't believe the government's numbers.
"How do you know that the DHS is lying? They're talking," he said.
Asked to guess how many immigrants convicted of the most serious crimes such as rape and murder made up the 10,000-plus fingerprints processed at the Forsyth County Jail in the 13-month period, he said: "a couple hundred."
Told that the number was 17, Gheen responded, "I had hoped they had caught more."
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And there it is. Presented with the facts, this guy still will not face them. Which is precisely why we need more stories like this!
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http://www2.journalnow.com/news/2011/nov/06/wsmain01-immigrant-data-shatter-crime-misconceptio-ar-1578916/
I believe that most of our Latino immigrants are good people looking for work to feed and raise their families. We arrest many more white Americans than anyone else. There is good and bad in every race, religion, culture, and so on.
ReplyDeleteImmigrants are part of our economy. This is an issue that has to be worked out. Sending everyone home is not the answer.
I so agree with you Fischmeister! The immigrants are just scapegoats and are blamed for everything negative in this country. Most are here to work and take care of their families, as you said. I find it hard to believe that people honestly believe that drawing attention to oneself is something someone would do when they know the consequences of not having proper documentation! There was a woman on the news the other night saying that she is campaigning to get rid of all illegal immigrants because her child was killed by a drunk undocumented driver. Geez! Does that mean that if an Irish drunk driver on St. Patrick's day does the same thing, we will all be driven back to Ireland?
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