Our two-Tiered System of Laws

September 10th, 2007 at 08:57pm Mike McGarry 214

Our Two-Tiered System of Laws

Illegals Prevail While Citizens Go to Jail

By Mike McGarry

“Our laws are the wise restraints that make us free.  No one is above the law”.--Sen. Edward Kennedy, 1998

“They [criminal aliens] are only guilty of common, garden-variety immigration offenses”—Sen. Edward Kennedy, 2007   

“Legalizing convicted felons, who have already shown disdain for our justice system, simply exacerbates the problem."--Sen. John Cornyn, 2007 

When this year’s now-failed U.S. senate shamnesty bill was metastasizing it’s way through to final form, Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) offered and amendment that would have excluded from the “path to citizenship” convicted felons, along with hundreds of thousands of fugitive absconders, those who had been issued final removal orders by immigration courts but who then disappeared into the woodwork, failing to comply with those orders. 

Cornyn's amendment would have permanently barred from legalization all convicted felons, including members of terrorist organizations, gang bangers, repeat drunk drivers, sex offenders and those convicted of felony ID theft, prompting Sen. Kennedy’s absurd, alcohol-saturated “”garden variety” outburst. 

The original language of the bill Cornyn was challenging would have abrogated most of the removal decisions issued to date by immigration courts after the fugitive aliens had been given all the due process they were entitled, essentially retroactively putting those courts out of business.  Cornyn’s amendment was defeated with the help of senators McCain, Clinton and Obama.   

In former days, aliens were required to demonstrate “good moral character” to qualify for citizenship, but not any more. That’s because we now live under the tyranny of a two–tiered system of laws, one that gives a pass to foreign criminals and another that holds citizens legally accountable for their actions. I have had official documents in my hands that showed that a convicted criminal alien who served time in prison for child molestation was rewarded with U.S. citizenship. It’s the New American Dream. 

Did you know that in federal judicial districts along the border with Mexico, some offices of the U.S. Attorney will not prosecute marijuana drug smuggling offenses unless the cases meet a threshold of 500-pounds-or-more of the weed? They just toss the lite-weight smugglers back across the border. And, of course, not being stupid, smugglers are now muleing 450 pound loads.     

Rhetorical question: Do you think if you were running 450 pounds of pot from Colorado into Kansas, you would be given a pass for not meeting a 500-pound threshold, or would you probably be headed to federal prison to serve a lengthy mandatory sentence under our two-tiered system of laws.

The Military Selective Service Act requires all males 18-25 years old, including illegals, residing in the U.S. to register for the Selective Service. Failure to register could bring penalties as great as $250,000 and/or five years in prison. During the last year of the Clinton administration I wrote to the then-director of Selective Service, Gil Coronado, and asked him how many U.S. citizens had been prosecuted over the previous 20 years for violating that law. Coronado said about 30.

I then asked him how many illegals had been prosecuted. He said none. Astonished, I asked him how that could be possible, given that millions of male illegals in the U.S. are in the required registration age range. The director dismissed the question as not important. Our two-tiered system of laws in action.

It is not an uncommon practice for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to work special deals with criminal aliens held in local jails for misdemeanors and serious felonies. It’s really a sweet deal, too. If the alien agrees to a “voluntary removal” to his home country, the criminal charges against him are then dropped. These deals happen every day.

Rhetorical question: Do you think if you were in jail for committing a crime, the police would drop the charges against you if agreed to go straight home. A two-tiered system of laws: one for criminal aliens and one for citizens.     

Last week presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani said of illegal immigration:  “It's not a crime. I know that's very hard for people to understand, but it's not a federal crime.”  Oh, really, Rudy!    

Apparently Rudy, the former U.S. Attorney, hadn’t read the entire U.S. Criminal Code, to wit: Title 8 Section 1325 of the US Code, Improper Entry: Any alien who
(1) enters or attempts to enter the United States at any time or place other than as designated by immigration officers, or
(2) eludes examination or inspection by immigration officers, or
(3) attempts to enter or obtains entry to the United States by a willfully false or misleading representation or the willful concealment of a material fact, shall, for the first commission of any such offense, be fined under title 18 or imprisoned not more than 6 months, or both, and, for a subsequent commission of any such offense, be fined under title 18, or imprisoned not more than 2 years, or both. (Bold emphasis added)�
 

Rhetorical question: Do you think that if you committed a federal crime(s), Rudy, the former Mayor of Sanctuary City, would say publicly that you really didn’t commit a crime. Please remember, we have a two-tiered system of laws. 

Closer to home, a few years ago three inside crooks were sentenced for selling for selling some 300 Colorado driver’s licenses out the back door of the licensing station in Glenwood Springs. The police said the eager customers were all likely illegals. Knowingly possessing such a license is a felony carrying a presumptive intent to defraud. 

I telephoned then-district attorney Mac Myers and asked when I could expect to be reading in the newspaper about the arrests and prosecutions of the 300 felons. (I first had to voice my objection to Meyer’s using the word “victims” when referring to the 300 criminals.) 

Meyer's told me that to protect his witness opportunities for prosecuting the three insiders, he needed the cooperation of some of the 300, suggesting he couldn’t get that cooperation were he prosecuting them. Tilt! The insiders never went to trial; their cases were disposed of through plea bargains.

He then posed the plaintive question, “How would I know how to find them?”  He seemed oblivious that all those otherwise lawfully issued driver’s licenses bore the pictures, names, addresses and finger print information of their felonious holders—a prosecutor’s dream— and that information was very likely in the files of the state department of revenue.

None of the 300 criminal aliens was prosecuted. The jive I got from the DA demonstrates just how deeply entrenched out two-tiered system of law has become.

Rhetorical question:  Do you thing if you, a citizen, had committed a felony carrying a felonious presumptive attempt to defraud you would be referred to as a “victim” and  you wouldn’t be prosecuted by the DA’s office. 

Then there is the “don’t ask, don’t tell,” policies and practices of local police forces throughout the state. Basalt police chief, Keith Ikeda, has publicly stated he does not ask about the immigration status of suspects during police contacts. The chief’s supposed rationale for his bonehead policy is that illegals who are victims of crime won’t report those crimes for fear of being exposed as the illegals they are.

That a curious policy, because if you needed assistance from the police—let’s say you filed an in-person complaint with the police saying you were being followed by a suspicious character—the cops typically would take the information from your driver’s license and “run” your information. I know because it happened to me. If I had had a simple bench warrant issued for me for a failure-to-appear on, say, a speeding ticket, the cops would have taken me into custody. Indeed, they would have been compelled to. Isn’t that interesting.

”Rhetorical question:  Why doesn’t chief Ikeda and all the other “don’t ask, don’t tell” law enforcement jurisdictions in Colorado extend that courtesy to citizens who are victims of crimes but who have outstanding warrants for minor crimes or infractions. There’s that funky, quaint two-tiered system of laws—again!                
 

In 2003 the state legislature passed The Secure and Verifiable I.D. Act. Under the Act, a secure and verifiable document means “a document issued by a state or federal jurisdiction or recognized by the United States government and that is verifiable by federal or state law enforcement, Intelligence, or Homeland Security Agencies.”  The Act bars state agencies and those of the state’s political subdivisions from accepting as valid ID any document that does not meet the definition of the Act. (There are some reasonable exceptions. If, for example, a law enforcement officer is trying to ascertain the identity of a dead body, the officer may use the information from a non-complying document to begin his investigation.)

Throughout the State of Colorado, the Act—the Law—is being willfully ignored. Last year a Garfield County sheriff’s deputy pulled over illegal alien Richard Ramirez for speeding. Ramirez had no driver’s license, no vehicle registration and no proof of insurance. He did however have an “identity card issued by the Mexican government.” Mr. Ramirez was allowed to leave the scene based solely on the strength of that illegal card. He now is the fugitive prime suspect in the Basalt 7-Eleven shooting.

Rhetorical question: Do you think if you, a citizen, were pulled over by a Garfield county sheriff’s deputy for speeding, you had no driver’s license, no insurance proof and no vehicle registration, that you would get a pass by producing your gym card.  Nope, but illegal aliens do, because of our two-tiered system of laws.                        

In the last state legislative session the legislature passed HB (House Bill) 1343  Among the bill’s provisions is a requirement of contractors who bid on contracts with any state agency or political subdivision to use the Basic Pilot Program, a service the Department of Homeland Security, to determine the immigration status of the contractors’ workers.

It seems the Glenwood Springs City Council thinks complying with the law is too much of a burden. “It’s not our job to require that they follow the law,” said Glenwood mayor Bruce Christensen. “It’s the U.S. government’s job….” The Glenwood Post Independent reported the city council voted not to pass a motion that would force contractors to comply with HB 1343.
 

So you see, we have a two-tiered system of laws—a Bizarro World, where everything is opposite—where illegals prevail while citizens go to jail.       

Stan Weekes is the current director of the Colorado Alliance for Immigration Reform, and he is a legislative annalist. Stan works with state legislators on immigration-related legislation. Stan takes great exception to the wholesale flouting of the law by local, state and federal agencies and law enforcement personnel.

Stan Weekes will discuss his concerns regarding noncompliance of state laws, on Con Games (KNFO 106.1), Wednesday morning, September 12, 8-AM-9AM.        

Entry Filed under: Politics, Immigration, Basalt, Glenwood Springs, Aspen, Colorado, Crime, Pitkin County, Garfield County, Eagle County