OPINION:
The Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, now known as U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), was founded March 1, 2003. It is charged with the difficult job of apprehending and deporting illegal aliens to prevent and curtail their trespass and access to U.S. resources and taxpayer paid citizen benefits.
ICE’s mandate does not restrict or interfere with U.S. citizens, legal immigrants or properly documented students and visitors.
Was it misleading political terminology — which lumped both legals and illegals into the term “immigrants” — that the triggered sympathies which lured Renee Good and Alex Pretti to adversely react at the scenes of their unfortunate demise in Minneapolis? Will we ever hear both sides of these tragic events?
Obstructing, threatening, following and otherwise abusing federal officers when they are legally discharging their duties is not a constitutional right. Under these circumstances, aggressively protesting with potentially lethal weapons is misguided and foolhardy.
Harboring fugitives from federal law enforcement doesn’t make anyone except the fugitives safer or more comfortable. In a lawful society, citizens and their representatives do not get to cherry-pick which laws to defy and which police jurisdiction to disrespect — unless we want steel grates on our windows, with a shotgun at the ready.
The fact that illegal aliens have achieved dominant political attention in some sanctuary cities and states make ICE’s function more imperative than ever. This should be a non-partisan issue because ICE’s functions benefit all U.S. citizens.
Erie County, New York, has already had negative experiences resulting from New York City’s sanctuary spill-over. The United States does not have the capacity to act as the world’s welfare program.
LOUIS L. BOEHM
Orchard Park, New York
Please read our comment policy before commenting.