Corruption drives illegal immigration

By: RICK REISS - For The Californian | Tuesday, December 7, 2004 9:51 PM PST ∞

Last week, a Murrieta Valley High School student narrowly missed becoming another Amber alert. Murrieta police arrested an illegal alien suspected of luring the 14-year-old girl and for reportedly carrying bogus resident alien identification.

It's bad enough that our communities have to contend with homegrown rapists and pedophiles. But on top of this we also have all of the criminal perverts exported from countries such as Mexico and beyond.

This is one trade deficit that America cannot endure.

The cost of locking up illegal aliens in California alone averages $1.4 billion per year. Keep in mind that these criminal aliens are not doing time for jaywalking or littering. These are hardcore criminals convicted of gang-related crimes, murder, robbery, drug-trafficking and sex offenses.

These undesirable criminal aliens blend in with illegal day laborers and others who violate our border with impunity.

Of course these crime statistics matter little to those immigration rights special-interest groups. Many of these groups actively support illegal aliens once they have trespassed into the United States.

One Escondido-based group named "Confia en ti" serves as a hiring hall and even provides blankets and meals to illegal aliens. Roughly translated, "confia en ti" means "trust me."

So how much trust should Americans give the misguided "Confia" when considering the prospect that they could provide aid and comfort to criminal aliens?

These appeasers would surely plead ignorance and retort that they are only helping immigrants drawn by America's demand for cheap labor. But this explanation is only one side of the coin.

The real driving force behind the waves of illegal immigration out of Mexico is the utterly corrupt and incompetent Mexican government. The failed state of Mexico drives her people north.

Mexico's system of justice is based on the Napoleonic Code, meaning that an arrested person is presumed guilty and must therefore prove his innocence. This arcane system fuels corruption and spills over into civil law.

Any Mexican crime lord can easily "prove" his innocence by bribing a judge or police chief. Deprived of such financial resources, the average Mexican can expect to face significant jail time if arrested, whether innocent or guilty.

The rot of the Mexican justice system extends all the way up to President Vicente Fox. Instead of reforming Mexico for his people, he merely borrows a page from Fidel Castro's playbook. Fox engages in his own subdued version of a Mariel boatlift by encouraging disgruntled Mexicans and hoodlums to emigrate north. This relieves him of the pressure to reform Mexico.

Yet there are a few rays of hope.

Despite President Bush's desire for a Mexican amnesty worker program, the Republican Congress is bucking the White House under pressure from grass-root Americans. Congress is poised to enact even tougher laws curtailing illegal immigration.

The prospect of tougher laws will surely put Vicente Fox in a sour mood. But like the proverbial fox guarding the henhouse, we simply cannot trust Fox to look after the best interests of our homeland security.

Rick Reiss of Temecula is a regular columnist for The Californian. E-mail: RickReiss6@netscape.net.

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