Patterico's Pontifications

5/30/2007

“Deport the Criminals First” — Part One of an Ongoing Series

Filed under: Deport the Criminals First,General,Immigration — Patterico @ 12:00 am



[“Deport the Criminals First” is a new recurring feature on this blog, highlighting crimes committed by illegal immigrants — with a special focus on repeat offenders. I argue that, instead of arresting illegal immigrants who work hard for a living, we should use our limited immigration enforcement resources to target illegal immigrants who commit crimes in this country — especially violent crimes.]

As regular readers know, I have repeatedly argued that our federal government should devote all its ICE agents (at least those not working on border enforcement) to the task of identifying and deporting those illegal aliens who commit crimes while in this country. In my view, it is outrageous that we would use a single ICE agent to arrest someone working hard for a living, while countless thousands of illegals sit in county jails and state prisons — their illegal immigrant status unknown, waiting to be released onto the streets once their sentences are completed.

This seems like an utter no-brainer to me — but no matter how much I talk about it, the policy isn’t getting implemented. I recently read a Steve Lopez column in which a pro-illegal immigration activist argued that (as Lopez put it) “the tone of the debate has been and will continue to be changed by humanizing it.” I promised to try to “humanize” the problem of crime committed by illegal immigrant criminals, by seeking out and reporting stories of crimes that would have been prevented by pursuing my “deport the criminals first” policy.

This is another in my ongoing series of anecdotes about crimes that could have been prevented by simply following my policy.

Today’s example is very poignant: a law enforcement officer gunned down by an illegal immigrant with a long rap sheet — someone who should have been deported several times over:

KENOSHA – The man now charged with killing Kenosha County Sheriff’s Deputy Frank Fabiano is an illegal immigrant with a long criminal record.

Despite a rap sheet going back six years, Ezeiquiel Lopez was never deported. Only after he was charged with killing Fabiano did anyone try to have him kicked out of this country.

Lopez, 44, is accused of murdering the 17-year sheriff’s department veteran while high on cocaine. Lopez’s history with the law dates back to 2001, when he was arrested in Utah for lewd and lascivious conduct.

In 2003, he was arrested in Texas on a gun charge.

In 2003, Lopez was picked up in Missouri for driving drunk.

In 2004, Kenosha police arrested him on charges of domestic battery, disorderly conduct and bail jumping.

And yet, this is the first time immigration enforcement had heard of him. “We can find no record of having had contact with this individual before or having had him referred to us by another law enforcement agency,” said Tim Counts of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

While immigration officials were busy raiding businesses and arresting hardworking illegals, Ezeiquiel Lopez committed crime after crime after crime — and nobody ever bothered to check his status in jail.

Kenosha County Sheriff’s Deputy Frank Fabiano is dead as a result.

deputy-fabiano.jpg

Here’s the kicker:

In court on Friday, Lopez said nothing. But a fellow inmate at the jail said Lopez had plenty to say Thursday night.

“He was saying ‘I’ll kill another one of you guys, give me a chance and I’ll kill another one of you guys,'” said the inmate, who wanted to remain anonymous.

We’ve given him plenty of chances already. Why shouldn’t we give him another?


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