Coyotes and
other criminal gangs make billions of dollars and put countless lives
at risk through their alien smuggling activities. As former U.S. Attorney David Iglesias, who emigrated to the United
States from Latin America as a child, stated: ``Smuggling aliens across
our borders is a dangerous business. All too often, people entrust
their lives to smugglers, only to die in the broiling desert, or
suffocate in the back of locked, airless trucks while the smugglers
profit.''
``These smuggling rings, which facilitate illegal entry into the
United States and mercilessly exploit human beings for money, are a
danger to immigrants and a threat to our national security. . . .''
The Democrats are engaging in a huge amount of obfuscation. In the
past, House Democrats claimed the House passed legislation that would
have strengthened Federal alien smuggling laws, would have had the
effect of putting priests and nuns at risk of prosecution. The
Democrats' clear implication was that these problems didn't exist under
then-current law which remains current law. Let me quote. Democrat members of the House Judiciary Committee,
including John Conyers, Jerry Nadler, Zoe Lofgren, and Sheila Jackson
Lee, they stated that the bill then under consideration goes far beyond
increasing penalties for alien smuggling and jeopardizes the well-being
of millions of Americans, neighbors, family members, faith
institutions, and others who live and work with undocumented
immigrants. Former Speaker Pelosi, the current minority leader, stated: ``Under
the guise of an expansive definition of smuggling,''--the bill--``it
could make criminals out of Catholic priests and nuns, ministers,
rabbis, and social service workers who provide assistance and acts of
charity to those in need.''
The Democrats can't have it both ways. They can't argue one day that
we can't change current law because that would result in putting
priests and nuns at risk and argue the next day that, without any
evidence, current law already puts them at risk.
Keywords matched
emigrated undocumented immigrants