Time for Governor to Stop Playing Liberal Games

The Eye takes a different view from Gov. Martinez on how to approach the illegal alien driver’s license issue. Driving is a privileged granted by the State of New Mexico and not a “God given right” or a “Constitutional right.” Even if it was a “Constitutional right,” these people are illegal aliens; therefore, they are not entitled to a “Constitutional right.” The Governor should administratively revoke all illegal alien drivers’ licenses. If the illegal alien wants to fight this issue, they would have to file an appeal like the rest of us do legally.

In a Reuter story (read it here), Judge Sarah Singleton in Santa-Fe, “issued a temporary restraining order blocking the program, arguing in a brief ruling that ‘irreparable injury’ would occur from "constitutional deprivations to the applicants." If illegal aliens have these rights that Singleton claims, none of this would be an issue and every state in the United States would issues licenses to everyone.

The Governor needs to put her foot down and cut the “nicy-nicy” baloney!

Most recently, several churches, including the Catholic Church, have chimed in and given their two cents in favor of illegal aliens having driver’s licenses. Whatever happened to the “Separation of Church and State?” Did all these Churches take a poll to see if the parishioners’ approved of them speaking on their behalf as a communal body? Martinez won the election, and part of her promise was to stop the illegal aliens from obtaining licenses in New Mexico. One last thought, before any church even thinks about looking in Martinez’s closet; they better look in their own closet and clean it first.

If all the liberals are “that” concerned, here is an alternate idea, the State should issue “Illegal Alien Driver’s Licenses.” This would remove the cloak for the crooks. The Illegal Alien Driver’s Licenses would clearly state the person in possession of the license is an illegal alien. Any law enforcement, government agency, or any other party dealing with the alien would know immediately that the person is an illegal alien.

The license would be clearly marked and state, “Illegal Alien” and state the person who presented this information passed a New Mexico driving test. The license would clearly state, “DO NOT RELY ON THE INFROMATION ON THIS CARD!” The reverse side of the card would state, “Confirm subjects’ information independently.” The license would not resemble the New Mexico standard license in any formative manner.

Let the Governor do the job she was hired to do. If you don’t like it; move or run for office and spew your vial after you’re elected.

Easy ID

We've long been concerned about providing drivers licenses to "undocumented aliens." It seems to us that the State of New Mexico is aiding and abetting the commission of a crime... that of being in this country illegally or should we say "undocumentedly."

Karim Shaaban Kassem Ibrahim, who is now facing charges of forgery and identity theft, came to the attention of the Bernalillo County Sheriff's Department after he applied for a job at Talin Enterprises, a grocery store at Louisiana SE. He applied using the identity of Rami Al Nasa, an Egyptian man living legally in North Carolina.

-ABQ Journal (subscription)

We'll admit that when we read the name Karim Shaaban Kassem Ibrahim we were more than a little concerned that Ibrahim had more than a job at the Talin Market in mind when he assumed the identity of Rami Al Nasa. After all, it's not like Ibrahim made a run for the border and ended up here.

In fact with our history of being attacked by certain people from a certain part of the world, it would be less than prudent to ignore the possibility that someone might exploit our state's propensity to provide drivers licenses to anyone with a pulse for terrorist purposes. Fortunately for us, Rami Al Nasa was worried about protecting his identity even if the state is not worried about protecting us from the identity crime of others.

New Mexico is one of the states that don't require proof of U.S. citizenship to obtain a driver's license...

Al Nasa subscribes to a service that alerts him whenever a credit check is run in his name, and was alerted when Talin Enterprises ran such a check. He contacted the sheriff's department and said he had never applied for a job in New Mexico.

-ABQ Journal (subscription)

The fact is that the Bernalillo County Sheriff's Department would never have known about the illegal use of Al Nasa's identity here in New Mexico if Al Nasa hadn't contacted them. The Legislature and the Governor in the infinite and suspect wisdom made it legal to provide identification regardless of legal status.

Our Eyes Behind the Badge tell us that they stop holders of these legal illegal IDs on a nightly basis. It's hard to believe that all of these folks are innocently trying to make their way regardless of their illegal status. It's more likely that at least a few of them have shall we say less than honorable intentions. With that in mind, is it really any surprise that Albuquerque is experiencing a crime wave led by gangs?

Bernalillo County Sheriff Darren White said New Mexico's lax laws on driver's licenses are making the state a magnet for illegal immigrants.

"We attracted sex offenders when we didn't have a Megan's Law, and now we're attracting people who are here illegally because of how easy it is to get a driver's license," he said. "I would strongly urge the Legislature to revisit it to see if there should be some changes."

In some cases the blind eye that New Mexico turns towards identification verification aids a struggling immigrant simply yearning to breathe free. In others, it aids less honorable immigrants in their desire to do harm to the very people that the state is sworn to protect. In both cases, the State of New Mexico is aiding criminals in the commission of a crime... that of being in this country without permission.

Wanted: A Sanctuary for the Innocent

By now everyone has heard about the recent San Francisco triple homicide allegedly committed by known illegal alien Edwardo Ramos (read it here). As is typical, Ramos had been through the system on previous occasions and had spent some time in jail. The City of San Francisco's 1989 law prohibited law enforcement from notifying federal officials that they suspected that Ramos was in our country illegally. Last month that law cost three lives.

Last year, APD created a controversial SOP that basically said that officers could not notify federal authorities when they had a reasonable suspicion that a suspect in their custody had entered the country illegally. There was minor furor over the issue and APD quickly "clarified" (read changed) their position on the issue (Read our take here and here).

Last month's triple homicide in San Francisco caused one of the most liberal mayors in the country Gavin Newsome, rescinded the city's policy - a policy that the nutty mayor had actually promoted through a series of public service announcements. (Hat tip: Jim Villanucci)

All of this got us wondering... what is the current policy of APD? We did a little googling and found the following.

Officers shall not inquire about or seek proof of a person's immigration status, unless the person is in custody or is a suspect in a criminal investigation for a nonimmigration criminal violation and the immigration status of the person or suspect is pertinent to the criminal investigation.

-ABQ Journal (Subscription)

At first blush that doesn't look to bad. The problem is that little "and the immigration status of the person or suspect is pertinent to the criminal investigation." What comes before the "and" is really irrelevant. Unless immigration status is "pertinent" to the investigation, officers with reasonable suspicion that a suspect is in this country illegally are prohibited from notifying ICE that they may have an illegal in custody. In reality we're back to being what San Francisco wisely discarded - a sanctuary city.

Our Eyes behind the badge also tell us about another troubling aspect of all of this - illegals receiving state driver's licenses legally. The State of New Mexico will issue "undocumented" aliens a driver's license. These licenses are popping up all over the place and officers see them on a daily basis.

All of this has us wondering... In light of the recent spike in murders and the long standing property crime problem, how many of these crimes are being committed by illegals? How many of them have had contact with police and have presented a legal New Mexico license? How much of the crime here in Albuquerque could be prevented by a simple phone call?

We believe that whenever someone enters this country illegally and benefits from taxpayer provided schools, healthcare, etc., they are already guilty of larceny. Officers should be free to pursue notification of appropriate federal authorities whenever they come into contact with someone who they have reason to believe is in this country illegally. Further, the State of New Mexico is knowingly participating in a crime by making it easier for illegals to blend in and access taxpayer funded programs.

It's no surprise that people who come here illegally would be less averse to breaking our other laws. The Almighty Alcalde's first duty as mayor is to protect the public. That means removing the restraints that bind APD and allowing them to use their judgment when interacting with illegals. Let's make Albuquerque a sanctuary for the innocent rather than a play land for criminals. Who knows how many lives we can save?

Scam-era Sanctuary

The Almighty Alcalde's weekend announcement that he's forming a task force to cover his a... uh, study Albuquerque's scam-era program got us skulking around the web for red light camera stories after a couple month hiatus on the topic. We were curious whether there were any new victims of "public safety" minded greedy municipalities. It didn't take long to find out that our neighbors to the southwest in Tucson are in the early stages of this public policy fleecing in the name of public safety.

Since misery loves company, we skimmed through a couple of stories and found that the scam is pretty much following the same pattern as it did right here in Eye Land. The city with the aid of the main stream media, market the scam as a way to cut down on accidents and speeding (read it here and here). At first the public generally accepts the idea - the first cameras are installed and the money starts to roll in.

Once those flashes start to count and drivers realize that it's not always the other guy that has to pay the fines, the first questions start to be asked; in this case, a question that we should have asked here but failed to consider. It seems that citizens of our sister city to the south thought to ask the question - what happens when the scam-era catches a vehicle from Mexico or any other foreign country for that matter?

"Right now, if a car from another country blows through a red light at the intersection of Tanque Verde and Grant Roads, police cannot track that driver."

"'Even a police officer who observes a Mexican plate on the street cannot run it for registration information," said Lieutenant Mike Pryor with the Tucson Police Department's traffic division.

Lt. Pryor says there's just no uniform system of tracking outside the United States."

-KVOA News 4 - Tucson

Albuquerque is already a defacto sanctuary city. Now we find out that in addition to getting a pass from APD due to their don't ask and especially don't tell ICE SOP, illegals get sanctuary from RedFlex scam-eras too. Makes us want to make a run for the border to register the Eye Mobile in Mexico.

-----Correction-----
Thanks to the reader who correctly pointed out that we meant "border" not "boarder." One is an international boundry - the other is someone who pays rent. Since illegals don't even pay scam-era fines, it would be ridiculous to think that they'd be paying us rent to be here.

Illegals: A Source of Crime

A few weeks back we posted some statistics we found all over the web regarding the link between crime and illegal aliens. Last week 770 KKOB aired an hour long special on immigration hosted by Laura McCallum. The show started with a litany of statistics supplied by former INS Senior agent Mike Cutler, that should scare the bejeezus out of everyone.

- 86% of Warrants for Murder in Albuquerque are for Illegal Aliens
-75% of People on the FBI's Most Wanted List are Illegal Aliens
-48% of ALL Inmates in New Mexico Prisons are Mexican Nationals here Illegally
-66% of Drivers in New Mexico Do Not have a Drivers License, Insurance, or Registration - 98% of Those are Illegal Aliens

One thing is abundantly clear; people that come across our border illegally are responsible for an inordinate amount of crime and violent crime at that. If there was an apartment or home in your neighborhood that accounted for half of the crime in the area, you can bet Marty would be out there with his Safe City Strike Force seizing property. For some reason the mayor and his administration expect someone else to take responsibility for this obvious source of crime in our midst.

"APD secures Albuquerque, it does not secure the boarder," says Director Payne on Marty's radio show. (We'll let you guess what that sucking noise is.) If APD is not in the business of removing a known criminal element illegal alien or otherwise, then APD isn't securing anyone or anything.

We doubt that even in their heyday the organized crime families of New York and Chicago were responsible for 86% of all murder warrants. Illegal aliens are coming here, they are a major source of violent crime, and therefore they are our problem; which makes them APD's problem. The cavalier and dismissive attitude of the Almighty Mayor is at best a failure to fully grasp the problem, and at worst a willful dereliction of his duty as mayor.

APD's SOP has got to be crystal clear. Illegals must be reported to ICE if arrested, in custody, or charged with a crime. Further, officers should be encouraged to report those who give them probable cause to believe that they are here illegally unless they are victims of or witnesses to a crime that is serious enough to warrant some sort of leniency.

This isn't about some member of the huddled masses coming to America to find a better life for himself and his family. Illegal aliens are putting pressure on our health care and social services, in addition to our legal and penal systems. It's time for them to go home and stay there and it's time for APD and Mayor Chavez to take responsibility for fighting crime that illegal aliens represent.

The Meaning of Illegal

It's not about race, it's not about color, and it's not about point of origin, Eye readers decide that illegals means illegal. With 174 participants, this week's Eye Poll overwhelmingly determines one thing illegals need to be reported to federal officials. Readers disagree on exactly when they should be reported but 79% of readers believe that illegals should be reported to federal authorities in this unscientific poll.

We've said that this is an 80% issue and our readers proved us correct. 45% of readers believe that illegals should be reported to ICE whenever APD officers come into contact with them, 22% believe that illegals should be reported to ICE except when they are victims of crime, 17 % believe APD officers should follow the new SOP (whatever that truly is), 12% believe that APD should use department resources to actively pursue illegals, 2% believe they should never be reported, 1% don't know, and 1% don't care.

Whew! Remind us to make our Eye Poll answers shorter! This poll while unscientific illustrates just how much people generally believe that respect for our laws is a prerequisite for those who wish to come to our country. The United States is a place of liberty and prosperity that is guaranteed by our mutual respect for the law. Our Constitution guarantees us the ability to change those laws or at least the politicians who created them. (Look out scam-era supporters in the Chavez administration and on the council.)

This week the Eye Poll takes aim at the recent controversy surrounding APS Police and whether they should be given the tools necessary to protect the students and faculty in their care. Don't forget to vote!

Bigger Problem

We've often looked at immigration as a problem faced primarily by cities like Las Cruces, El Paso, Tucson, or San Diego. This Week's APD SOP fiasco got us looking around at crime statistics and what we found was to say the least, eye opening.

INS/FBI Statistical Report on Undocumented Immigrants

2006 (First Quarter) INS/FBI Statistical Report on Undocumented Immigrants

CRIME STATISTICS 95% of warrants for murder in Los Angeles are for illegal aliens.

83% of warrants for murder in Phoenix are for illegal aliens.

86% of warrants for murder in Albuquerque are for illegal aliens.

75% of those on the most wanted list in Los Angeles, Phoenix and Albuquerque are illegal aliens.

24.9% of all inmates in California detention centers are Mexican nationals here illegally

40.1% of all inmates in Arizona detention centers are Mexican nationals here illegally

48.2% of all inmates in New Mexico detention centers are Mexican nationals here illegally

29% (630,000) convicted illegal alien felons fill our state and federal prisons at a cost of $1.6 billion annually

53% plus of all investigated burglaries reported in California, New Mexico, Nevada, Arizona and Texas are perpetrated by illegal aliens.

50% plus of all gang members in Los Angeles are illegal aliens from south of the border.

71% plus of all apprehended cars stolen in 2005 in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada and California were stolen by Illegal aliens or “transport coyotes".

47% of cited/stopped drivers in California have no license, no insurance and no registration for the vehicle. Of that 47%, 92% are illegal aliens.

63% of cited/stopped drivers in Arizona have no license, no insurance and no registration for the vehicle. Of that 63%, 97% are illegal aliens

66% of cited/stopped drivers in New Mexico have no license, no insurance and no registration for the vehicle. Of that 66% 98% are illegal aliens.

BIRTH STATISTICS 380,000 plus “anchor babies” were born in the U.S. in 2005 to illegal alien parents, making 380,000 babies automatically U.S.citizens.

97.2% of all costs incurred from those births were paid by the American taxpayers.

66% plus of all births in California are to illegal alien Mexicans on Medi-Cal whose births were paid for by taxpayers

-Stephen Frank's California Political News and Views

Now before some of you become apoplectic we admit that we are unable to find the original report that these statistics are reputed to come from, but they're literally repeated all over the Internet; which doesn't make them true. Even sites like Snopes.com fail to refute them and other sites like the non-partisan Center for Immigration Studies seem to confirm at least some of the stats in a report entitled Crime and the Illegal Alien. What is undeniably true is that there is a link between illegal immigration (no matter where they're from) and crime.

What we do know is that Albuquerque has a serious property crime problem. Back in June, The Albuquerque Journal reported (Subscription) that 2006 was a "banner year" for property crime. Over 5,000 vehicles were stolen and more than 6,000 homes were broken into. That's almost 14 vehicles per day and almost 17 homes per day.

Our Eyes behind the badge (and sometimes on it) tell us that APD believes that an auto theft ring based out of Mexico is behind a large number of the thefts. We'd be willing to bet that a large number of those involved aren't exactly in this country legally. After all, you don't need to be a legal U.S. resident to get a driver's license in the state.

To make Albuquerque even more inviting, APD's SOP prohibits pursuit unless the suspect is exhibiting reckless behavior before their emergency equipment is engaged. What's worse is that officers believe that criminals know that APD will not pursue.

(Sidebar)
For some reason the most commonly stolen vehicle seems to be a Ford Truck. Good for your local Ford dealer - not so good for you or your insurance rates. If you own an F-150, F-250, or F-350, it'd be a good idea to hide it in your garage; except in the case of a F-350 which probably needs to be hidden in a barn.
(End Sidebar)

What that means to all of us is if APD officer spots a criminal stealing your brand new F-150 and engages his lights, when the suspect flees in your still being paid for pick-up they must let them go. Now that you've recovered from shock, let us say that again. They have to let them go!

Consequently, when a crook sees the red and blue lights of an APD cruiser, they simply keep going. Now if it's the solid reds of the State Police or BCSO, criminals know they've got a problem on their hands. One thing that's absolutely sure, if you create an environment where criminals know that they have a chance they're gonna' to take advantage of it.

It's no different in the immigration game. When illegal aliens enter this country from anywhere - Mexico, France, Central America, even Canada, where do you think they'll go? Where would you go? We'd head to the place with the most available jobs or the most number of potential victims if the crime connection holds, and the least likelihood that we'd get caught. That means sanctuary cities like Albuquerque has become thanks to the new APD SOP.

Winter Calls for APD to Report Illegals

This afternoon we received a press release from Councilor Brad Winter's office. He's calling for a re-write of Albuquerque's illegal immigrant friendly ordinance that stipulates that APD shouldn't go out of its way to determine the status of suspected illegals.

WINTER: APD SHOULD REPORT CRIMINAL ILLEGALS TO FEDS

Councilor to Address Mayor’s “Sanctuary City Policy” at APD

ALBUQUERQUE – City Councilor Brad Winter said today he will introduce a measure to allow the Albuquerque Police Department to determine the immigration status for individuals arrested for, or suspected of, committing a crime, and require that those suspected of being in the country illegally be immediately reported to federal immigration officials.

Winter said he intends to amend a 2001 resolution that sought to make Albuquerque an “immigrant friendly” city. Winter’s resolution will include the following language, “If a person is in police custody or is a suspect in a criminal investigation, law enforcement shall take reasonable steps to identify that person’s immigration status and shall immediately notify federal immigration officials if they suspect that person is not lawfully in the United States, where applicable.”

“The 2001 resolution was passed unanimously to protect the rights of immigrants and was never intended to make Albuquerque a sanctuary city for illegal immigrants who commit crimes,” said Winter.

Earlier this week, a copy of APD’s new change in “procedural orders” was obtained by a local news station. It stated clearly that “officers shall not inquire about… a person’s immigration status, even if an arrest is made for a non-immigration criminal violation.”

APD Police Chief Ray Schultz held a press conference to tout the new policy and said that local activist groups helped write it. After intense public outcry over the change, a new and altered copy of those “procedural orders” was released to the press. While Mayor Martin Chavez’s administration claims the second document was a “clarification,” it effectively did nothing to alter the original policy change.

“Our diversity is our strength and Albuquerque should always remain a welcoming and immigrant-friendly city. Anyone who is a victim or a witness to a crime should be able to call police for help without fear of having their immigration status investigated. But Mayor Chavez has gone too far. We can’t turn a blind eye to criminals who are in the country illegally,” said Winter.

Winter said he also wants to set up a task force to take a look at the larger issues raised in the 2001 resolution.

“We need to immediately clarify what city law requires of its local law enforcement, and then we need to take a look at the bigger picture,” said Winter. “We live in a border state in a post-9-11 world. The people of Albuquerque deserve input on how we deal with these issues.”

- Press Release

Look, immigration is about an 80% issue. Most people in this country are of the opinion that people from other countries should respect us enough to enter this country legally. It simply makes sense for law enforcement agencies to at least make a phone call when someone is suspected of being in our country illegally.