Criminal Aliens skipping due process

Jan. 17, 2009
　
　
To: The Citizenry of Washington State
From: Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.
Re.: tax budget, immigration, justice
　
　
　
I am the ghost of Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. I was born on March 8, 1841, I laid to rest on March 6, 1935. I was an American jurist who served on the Supreme Court of the United States from 1902 to 1932.

Governor Gregoire of Washington State has proposed that a way to save tax dollars in an attempt to rescue a miserable budget crisis is to modify the current method of dealing with Illegal Alien criminals. The term Illegal Alien Criminals is in itself redundant. To be in this country illegally is to be a criminal by definition. However, we are addressing those who enter illegally then commit more crimes once they are here as undocumented residents.

These folks are currently picked up by the local police agents just as anyone else and processed just as anyone else. After they are in the local jail they are then encountered and interviewed by either a Border Patrol Agent or an ICE agent. When this interview reveals they are in the country out of status they are then processed by this federal authority to proceed with deportation or at least an immigration hearing after they have satisfied all local legal concerns.

Apparently, the Washington State Governor wishes to skip a little step to save some money to help her failing economic house of cards. To implement a plan that deports these criminal aliens before they appear in local court and serve their local time I submit everyone loses.
How could everyone lose you ask?

Well first there is the criminal alien (shouldn’t he come first?) he is being denied time to prepare his immigration case. Yes, sports fans that’s right -- quite often while he is sitting in jail, after his interview with La Migra and before his sentencing on local charges, he is conferencing with his free legal counsel offered for free by the U.S. taxpayers to fight his immigration case in immigration court.

Second, the State of Washington (I mean the actual citizens -- not its office holders). They lose because there is suddenly this huge hole in the Justice System. For example, Joe and Bud are out drinking. After they are both blitzed they get in their large SUV’s and drive off. Both drunk idiots hit and kill a child.
Joe was born in Skagit County and is now looking at felony charges leading to a jail sentence, criminal record, loss of job and bankruptcy. (Before Joe joined Bud in acting the stupid criminal he paid his taxes as a state and federal citizen).
Bud is deported back to Crazystan and is free to sneak back into the country 2 weeks later with a new fraudulent ID (Bud has never paid any taxes in the U.S. and has benefited from the state school system and used free “Emergency care” for his family and -he works under the table). Where is the Justice for the family who fell victim to Bud’s actions?

Third, the federal agents who encounter, interview, and transport these illegal aliens from the local jail to the federal facility also use the time that the criminal aliens are in local jail on local charges to process their case files and prepare them to be deported or presented to court. If they become ready for deportation as soon as they are recognized to be out of status they will still have to wait in jail until their file is prepared. So federal taxes pay for that. Are not Washington State taxpayers also federal taxpayers? So if they are also criminals at the state or local level shouldn’t they be presented for that too? If Bud the Criminal alien wrongs you as a federal citizen then takes a deep breath and wrongs you as a state citizen don’t you deserve justice on two fronts?

Perhaps Governor Gregoire of Washington State should use this energy to try to get more Border Patrol and ICE agents assigned to her state to continue to do more of the current program to get people out of her state that drain its economic resources without paying taxes.
Two heavy words to ponder in context of this topic: due process and equality.
　
　
　
From the Afterlife,
　
　
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.