coragryph explain how when you said no one is above the law yet your claim has some problems.Please explain why those laws can be broken without worry of punishment,fines,jail time.
Just when you thought our government couldn鈥檛 sink any lower in the dereliction of their duty to protect this nation and uphold our laws, you get an e-mail from a reader with a link to this鈥?br>
If you鈥檙e caught with two pounds of pot that you plan to sell, plan on going to jail for up to seven years.
With 500 pounds, you can kiss your completely freedom goodbye.
But head down to Southern Arizona, near the border, do the exact same thing, and in many cases you get off scott-free.
No prosecution, no penalty, no prison鈥n fact - not even a slap on the hand.
County prosecutors say it鈥檚 enormously frustrating and for the drug cartels, enormously profitable.
But this sweet deal only applies if you鈥檙e illegal and smuggling 500-pounds or less.
And therein lies one of our country鈥檚 dirty little secrets: Mexican drug runners getting a free pass back to Mexico if they鈥檙e caught with less than a quarter-ton of pot.
Cochise County attorney Ed Rheinheimer spells it out. 鈥淚f a seizure is made of an amount less than 500 pounds, the case doesn鈥檛 get prosecuted.鈥?br>
You read that right.
Drug runners doing business without punishment.
But don鈥檛 blame the county attorneys.
Remember: These are federal cases and should be federally prosecuted.
But guess what?
They don鈥檛 get prosecuted by the feds and now, they don鈥檛 get prosecuted by guys like Ed Rheinheimer, either.
鈥淪ince 2003 we stopped prosecuting federal referrals because of a lack of resources.鈥?[snip]
And while these 鈥渨eight limits鈥?are unfamiliar to most Americans - drug cartels know them well and plan accordingly.
Sergeant Terry Parish warehouses the seizures. We walked through store rooms holding marijuana from floor to ceiling.
Lisa Fletcher: 鈥淗ow many of these guys do you think are aware of this sort of unspoken rule that if you鈥檝e got less than 500 pounds, you鈥檙e probably not going to get prosecuted?鈥?br>
鈥淚 think probably more of them are aware of it than individual officers are. Their intelligence is very good, it鈥檚 what they do for a living.鈥?br>
And they do it every night鈥ll along Arizona鈥檚 border.
War on drugs? Don鈥檛 make me laugh. This a full frontal assault on the American citizen and our society. Think I鈥檓 wrong? Well, consider this, it seems George Orwell鈥檚 famous quote, 鈥淎ll animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others鈥?has never been more accurate than it is in America today.
Is it any wonder Americans are outraged over the current illegal immigration situation? While our government winks and nods at Mexico, we鈥檝e watched as illegal immigrants are afforded more and more rights in our society than American citizens - American citizens who happen to get stuck with the bill to pay for all of this generosity and are hauled off to prison if we dare to think of breaking any of the laws that illegal aliens receive a free pass for breaking.
Our rewards for being Americans and legal American citizens are higher taxes, higher crime rates, lower wages, higher insurance premiums and on and on while illegal aliens are rewarded for their crimes against our borders and our society with:
Free health care - U.S. taxpayers pay the medical bills for illegal aliens yet the cost of most American鈥檚 monthly health insurance premium for even a small family has now exceeded their monthly mortgage payment and if we fail to pay for our insurance and need medical care, our home will have to be sold to cover the costs.
The right to be above the law - Illegal aliens can hide in 鈥檚anctuary cities鈥?that say, 鈥渨e care more about the rights of criminal aliens than the rights of our own citizens鈥?yet American criminals are not afforded a place to hide, in fact, they are hunted down.
In-state tuition - Senators Hillary Clinton, Dick Durbin, and other members of our Congress are proud sponsors of the illegal dream yet American children have to pay more for their college tuition than their illegal counterparts as some states have already implemented in-state tuition for illegal aliens in direct violation of our federal law.
Day laborer centers - American taxpayers fund illegal day laborer centers yet there are no 鈥榞athering places鈥?being built for unemployed American workers.
No ID necessary - 鈥淭he stigma and humiliation of constantly proving lawful status is unacceptable鈥? says the ACLU yet Americans are expected to show 2 forms of verifiable ID to obtain a driver鈥檚 license.
Fair share of Katrina disaster aid - Hillary Clinton - defender of the illegal alien, made sure that illegal aliens got their 鈥榝air share鈥?of the Katrina disaster aid paid for courtesy the American taxpayer.
Using our courts to see that crime pays - 2 illegal immigrants won an Arizona ranch in court. Do you think an American trespasser could get that lucky in court?
Turning our sense of right and wrong on its head - The Minuteman Project and other anti-illegal immigration groups are targeted as bands of racists and even called 鈥榲igilantes鈥?by our President and 鈥榖igots鈥?by a member of the U.S. Senate. Americans who are trying to help the border patrol, because of our government鈥檚 total disregard for the citizens of this nation, are rewarded by being vilified by the very officials failing to live up to the office they occupy. In this topsy-turvy world, criminals are now accepted as the victim and law-abiding citizens are handed the bill and openly accused of racism if they disagree. Or arrested if they dare to protest.
Our Border Patrol agents languish in prisons while known drug smugglers are given immunity.
And now, American citizens can expect to face prison time for small amounts of marijuana while illegal aliens can possess a quarter of a ton - and bring it across an international border - with absolutely no ramifications?
Orwell was right, 鈥淪ome animals (and people) ARE more equal than others鈥?
coragryph, tell me why are these people above the law when you clearly said nobody was or is above the law. How do you explain this?Looks like they are above the law, even though you said this does not happen, you know cause you are a lawyer. How do you explain these guys being above the law? Only Bush is "above" the law -- because he has manipulated to system to get complete immunity.
Other people can EVADE the law -- mainly because they have enough money or connections to abuse the system.
Sometimes it's a matter of corruption, as you point out. Sometimes, we simply choose not to allocate enough resources to prosecute all the lawbreakers, as you point out.
My statement that "nobody is above the law" reflects the way the laws are written, and the ideal that should follow under a system where we are ruled by laws. Sadly, we often fall short of that ideal.
I'm a US citizen, been one all my life. It took me 8 months to renew my passport, and two full days at the DMV to get my driver's license transferred between states -- all because I have moved more than the "expected" number of times (all inside the US). So, I know all about the problems of having to prove my legal status over and over again.
Yes, the system is broken. It's not right, and it's not good -- but sadly it's reality. 7 states offer instate to illegals including Texas and Illinois.
"in-state tuition for illegal aliens in direct violation of our federal law."
Can you please show me the federal law that prohibits this? Is this all you base your arguments on? Some random e-mail on a minutemen website? you addressed several issues here, but on the first one, not prosecuting, I totally agree with you, they should be prosecuted just like anyone else. If we gave them a stiffer sentence, maybe it would stem the flow of drugs, anything over a set amount should carry a death penalty. The reason Arizona does not prosecute these people is because there is not enough room in the prisons now. I am a resident of Az. and know for a fact that a lot of crimes are let unpunished for this reason. We don't have the tax base to build enough prisons, we need 3X what we have now. See the news clip on the prison riot in Illinois? That was Az prisoners that had been moved from here for lack of space. coragryph explained it pretty well
he did leave out the fact that Bush's cronies are also above the law This is why I laugh at all those who think we can deport all the "illegal aliens".
Last year the Border Patrol did only about 16000 formal deportations. ICE did another 16000. All the rest came out of the prisons or agreed to go home voluntarily.
WE DONT HAVE THE RESOURCES TO PROSECUTE ALL THE SMUGGLERS, SO FORGET ABOUT THE ILLEGALS!!!! Want better service ,than raise the taxes. |
