Alien Nation

Don't give criminal immigrants a free pass.

by Christine M. Flowers

If an alien (the kind with antennae and limited language skills) alighted on Earth today, he, she or it would assume that the immigration debate is a battle of extremes. On the one hand are the immigrant-rights groups who call Mayor Lou Barletta a racist because he wants to ensure that the residents of Hazleton, Pa., are authorized to live and work in the town. On the other hand are people like Rep. Tom Tancredo of Colorado who think that efficient use of immigration laws includes deporting an honor student who was smuggled into the United States as an infant.

Our intergalactic visitor would be justified in wondering if there was any middle ground in the battle, a place where rhetoric gives way to reality.

Contrary to what the militants on both sides believe, there is such fertile ground.

It involves criminal aliens.

While there are differences of opinion about what to do with the vast majority of immigrants who enter the U.S. to work, and who have never had a brush with the law, there should be no doubt about how to treat undocumented aliens who have committed crimes. They must be apprehended, processed and unless eligible for some type of legal waiver, deported before they have an opportunity to become repeat offenders.

Easy for me to say, right? Immigration officials will tell you that they are overtaxed, underpaid and that they can't arrest everyone who commits a minor offense. Also, some officials in the Justice Department don't place a high priority on immigration.

According to a recent report from the Associated Press, immigrants represented only 3 percent of the individuals arrested and prosecuted in 2005. There are two ways to look at this statistic, and both sides in the rhetoric war will find an interpretation that suits their agenda.

Immigrant advocates will say that the incredibly small number of prosecutions highlights the degree to which foreigners are law-abiding, especially when compared to the rest of the population. Immigration restrictionists will complain that this is merely further evidence of the government's unwillingness to police our borders. There is a kernel of truth in both views.

But there is another, more disturbing truth: People are dying because of the government's failure to effectively prosecute criminal aliens.

Consider the following: On Aug. 4, 2005, an undocumented alien named Marcos Ramos Medina plowed his car into a Lexus driven by Peggy Keller, dean of distance education at Yakima Valley College in Washington state. She died at the scene. Ramos Medina had a prior record of drug arrests and was using at least eight aliases when apprehended.

That same year, Ramiro Gallegos was operating his car under the influence and killed Scott Gardner, a father of two in North Carolina. Gallegos had multiple previous charges of drunk driving and was unlawfully present in the United States at the time of his arrest.

On Oct. 27, 2006, Pastor Rios Sanchez drove his car across the center line, killing three students in North Carolina. Rios Sanchez was carrying a forged "green card" and had been charged with driving without a license on three previous occasions.

Then, earlier this month, Hector Velasquez-Nava, an undocumented alien from Mexico, was involved in a traffic accident that caused the death of Bob Clark, director of the perennial Christmas classic A Christmas Story. While the facts are unconfirmed, police believe that he drove his sports utility vehicle into the wrong lane, crashing headlong into Clark's car. Tests at the site showed that Velasquez-Neva's blood alcohol level was 0.24, about three times the permissible level for California.

These few examples are not meant to be representative of the undocumented population. A review of the available statistics would show that drunk driving is a serious problem, regardless of the immigration status of the perpetrators.

We can't demonize the undocumented. But what we should do is guarantee that those aliens who have been apprehended and successfully prosecuted for these offenses don't get the opportunity to repeat their crimes.

Prevention is the key. And that's not an alien concept.

Christine M. Flowers is a Cente

r City attorney.