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Our policy on illegals is criminal
Dimitri Vassilaros is a Tribune-Review editorial page editor. He can be reached at dvassilaros@tribweb.com or 412-380-5637. He also blogs at KDKA
Literally, too.
As the federal government ponders whether to enforce our immigration laws or just rename this nation "New Mexico" and be done with it, many illegals already are changing the face of America by committing identity theft.
If you think this is a problem only along the porous border from California to Texas, you probably have not heard of John Morganelli. He has been the Northampton County district attorney for 13 years and is past president of the Pennsylvania District Attorneys Association.
Not only are illegals overrunning his Pennsylvania county next to New Jersey; they also are taking on new identities.
"Ninety-five percent of the identity theft cases in Northampton were committed by illegal aliens," Morganelli said. "I really believe this is the No. 1 crime and security issue facing our country. But when we call immigration officials, they could not care less."
The experience of a man in California illustrates what can happen when an identity is stolen.
"Unbeknownst to him, an illegal alien was using his identity for six years," he said. "The victim could not prove it was not him working in those states. A federal tax lien of $42,000 was placed on his assets. Creditors also placed liens. He could not qualify for loans because of his supposed bad credit history. It was a mess."
In a recent raid, 27 illegal aliens were arrested, Morganelli said. "Not one was detained even though they had stolen identities. The county judge said they only were here to work. They were released one week after being picked up."
Even if they plead guilty, they usually spend no more than a week in jail, he said. A judge accepting their guilty pleas will issue a "determination of guilt" that essentially says they do not deserve to be punished. "If Immigration does not detain them, the illegals get letters telling them to show up for their hearings. If they show, they show. If they don't, they don't."
There also are 400,000 deportation orders issued nationally, but the whereabouts of the criminals are unknown, he said. "They had three months to get out of the country but they do not leave. They are roaming around in the country."
There are others roaming, too.
"In the last six months, 5,000 OTMs ("other than Mexicans") were stopped trying to enter this country, he said. "Many spoke Arabic languages. Others like them probably got in but we do not know where or when," Morganelli said.
Illegals also are destroying the quality of life for everyone near them. "We have areas with large concentrations of illegals, 30 to 40 in a house," Morganelli said. "They usually wait outside to be picked up for work. And sometimes they try to lure in little girls. People are sick about it."
So is Morganelli. That's why he created the USA/PAC political action committee (www.usapac.us) five weeks ago.
Illegal aliens make up 25 percent of the violent criminals in the national prison population, Morganelli said.
There are 100,000 to 200,000 illegals in Pennsylvania, he said. It cost this state $13.3 million in 1999 to incarcerate predatory illegal aliens, but the feds only reimbursed the state $5 million. Pennsylvania taxpayers ponied up the rest.
"This is a growing problem," Morganelli said.
Figuratively and literally.
