Athens Banner Herald

Inger Eberhart: Illegal alien’s crimes were costly

Abel Gonzalez-Perez, the 15-year-old awaiting sentencing after pleading guilty to vehicular homicide and other charges in the hit-and-run death of a 19-year-old woman last year in Athens-Clarke County, entered the United States illegally, worked illegally here, drove a vehicle alone, participated in underage drinking, drove while under the influence and hid from the law for a week (Story, “Teen guilty in fatal hit-and-run,” Jan. 27).

The crime that began the cascade of other crimes was Gonzalez-Perez entering the United States illegally. This set the stage for a 3-year-old to grow up without his mother.

U.S. Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., has introduced legislation to provide amnesty to illegal aliens currently in the United States. There are more than 20 million illegal aliens within our borders, meaning Reid’s bill is not a viable solution. Amnesty rewards illegal behavior and encourages increased illegal immigration.

In 2005, the Government Accountability Office conducted a study of 55,322 illegal aliens. The study found 96 percent had more than one arrest and 58 percent had more than six arrests. Forty-five percent of offenses were drug- or immigration-related, 15 percent were property-related, and 12 percent were for violent offenses such as murder, robbery, assault and sex-related crimes.

The late Barbara Jordan, the Bill Clinton-appointed chairwoman of the Commission on Immigration Reform, stated, “To make sense about the national interest in immigration, it is necessary to make distinctions between those who obey the law and those who violate it. … Unlawful immigration is unacceptable.”

As an African-American conservative, I think the United States must get serious about illegal immigration. How many more victims of illegal aliens must we have before the Obama administration acknowledges we must secure our borders and deport illegal aliens permanently?

Inger Eberhart – Acworth

• Inger Eberhart is on the board of advisors for the Dustin Inman Society, a group opposed to illegal immigration, illegal employment and open borders.

Originally published in the Athens Banner-Herald on Saturday, February 07, 2009

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