Foreign drunk drivers residing legally in the United States have long been given a free pass to wreak havoc on our highways . . . courtesy of the federal government.
The chaos of immigration litigation in the federal immigration bureaucracy has gotten so bad that even a criminal alien resident convicted of repeat felony drunk driving—who was drunk behind the wheel and killed someone—can't be ordered to be deported and stay deported from the United States. (See the Lara-Cazares case below.)
Doesn't America have enough dangerous drunk drivers of its own without the federal courts and the U.S. Supreme Court rigging the system to allow criminal alien resident drunk drivers to stay in the U.S. too?
If you learn only one thing from my work, it should be that the Immigration Act and the federal immigration bureaucracy are rigged behind the scenes in order to allow illegal aliens and criminal alien residents to remain in the United States for as long as possible.
The reason: the Treason Lobby wants it that way. The federal courts are making immigration policy one alien at a time. And Congress has done nothing to intervene.
Concerned citizens are rightly worrying about how many Border Patrol agents are out on patrol. But few have any idea that this behind-the-scenes lunacy is happening.
Meet some of the drunk drivers imported from abroad who have already injured or killed others on American roads:
Since Trinidad-Aquino is an illegal alien, there is no telling if he has managed to sneak back into the country after his second deportation.
But Lara-Cazares and Leocal have actually been allowed to keep their permanent resident status and remain on our shores with the blessing of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and the U.S. Supreme Court, respectively.
Except for the innocent victims, the general public remains blissfully ignorant of the damage these aliens, their court cases and their Treason Lobby handlers have inflicted on immigration law and public safety.
The legal problem: DUI crimes, even involving serious injury or death, are not considered a "crime of violence" under the "aggravated felony" provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act.
So aliens convicted of drunk driving may not be deportable at all. And if they are, they probably will be able to apply for relief from removal as part of the smorgasbord of alien-friendly goodies available in Immigration Court proceedings before the Department of Justice's Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR).
The same proceedings that are supposed to be detaining and deporting them invariably allow them to remain in the U.S., or might even give them a brand-new "green card" through an application for adjustment of status to permanent residence.
But some folks are wise to what's happening. For example, this VDARE.com reader who recently sent me these comments on the Lara-Cazares [PDF] case via e-mail:
"Stunning. Killing someone is not a 'crime of violence' if it's gross vehicular manslaughter.
"For some reason, the 9th Circuit sure has a soft spot for loaded LPRs – the majority of whom happen to be Mexican. First it was the Trinidad decision [PDF], now this [Lara-Cazares PDF]. Is there any crime involving alcohol the 9th Circuit would designate as removable?—apparently not even murder!"
Another VDARE.com reader conversant with the federal immigration bureaucracy e-mailed me these comments on the fallout from the DUI decisions.
"There are large numbers of illegal aliens in prison serving time for felony DUI, which means it is at least their third DUI, and they must be placed in removal proceedings before an immigration judge because we can't use administrative removal.
"The only charge in proceedings is 'present without admission or parole.' That means they can seek adjustment of status if they had a visa petition filed for them before the sunset of Section 245(i). For the LPRs with felony DUI and DUI with injury or death, we can do nothing. Actually, CIS [Citizenship and Immigration Services] probably is forced to naturalize them if they file!"
"Leocal [PDF] involved DUI & causing serious bodily injury, and it seals the deal for all of the [federal appellate] circuits . . . I emailed MADD repeatedly but got no response!!"
"It is difficult to explain to a person who lost a family member or friend to a drunk driver that if the criminal alien who caused the accident happens to have a green card, he gets to retain that great privilege and stays in our country because neither his prior, multiple DUI convictions nor his Intoxicated or Involuntary Manslaughter conviction render him deportable."
These VDARE.com readers are right on the money.
So what can be done to make sure that dangerous alien drunk drivers get deported . . . and stay deported?
I thought you'd never ask!
The simple answer: amend the Immigration Act!
So with a little help my VDARE.com-reading friends, I will show you just how to do it. (Note to Congress: steal this legislation!)
I hereby introduce:
"THE HOW TO MAKE SURE THAT DANGEROUS ALIEN DRUNK DRIVERS WHO INJURE OR KILL AMERICAN CITIZENS GET DEPORTED AND STAY DEPORTED ACT OF 2005."
Click here for legal details.
The bottom line: the three amendments I propose to the Immigration Act will slam the door on the Treason Lobby's favorite techniques for avoiding deportation for their criminal alien clients.
Conveniently, all of these usual suspects have already identified themselves on the record before the U.S. Supreme Court, filing briefs in support of resident alien drunk driver Leocal:
But let the Treason Lobby squeal! The time is long overdue for Congress to do something about this outrageous loophole in the immigration law—and get dangerous alien drunk drivers off of our highways and out of the country for good!
Juan Mann [send him email] is a lawyer and the proprietor of DeportAliens.com.
