The August 20 death of 23-year-old Matthew Denice in a horrific hit-and-run crash illustrates the terrible erosion of America’s criminal justice system. Once it focused on protecting the innocent public from dangerous felons. But more recently, powerful political forces insist that violent foreigners be treated with amazing preference and permissiveness.
The sad fact is that public safety matters very little to liberal elites in sanctuary states like Massachusetts when compared with the well-being of foreign criminals.
The crime itself outraged the town of Milford and received national attention for its brutality. Matthew Denice, a recent IT graduate of Framingham State University, was struck while riding his motorcycle by Nicolas Guaman, a drunk and unlicensed illegal alien driver from Ecuador who should have been deported for various previous arrests, including assaulting a cop.
Denice was not killed instantly. He was caught under the truck. But Guaman continued to drive for a quarter mile, despite bystanders pounding on the vehicle and screaming for him to stop. Guaman finally did stop—when his pickup ran off the road, after which he backed up over Denice who had become dislodged, and then sped off.
Another measure of Guaman's recklessness (or intoxication): the presence of his 6-year-old son in the pickup. When police arrested Guaman a few blocks from the crime scene, the boy jumped out and began punching and kicking the officers, screaming at them to let his father alone.
Apparently the little Ecuadoran apple doesn't fall far from the tree.
The family and friends were of course heartbroken and outraged. At first, Matt's mom, Maureen Maloney, seemed to speak mainly of the drunk driving behavior and the need for tougher laws for that crime. But later, presumably after learning of Guaman's history of violent criminal activity without jail time or deportation, she has spoken out about the need for immigration enforcement as a part of public safety.
Along with the non-violent crimes on Guaman's rapsheet (e.g. driving without a license), in 2008 Guaman assaulted a police officer in connection with a home invasion. But the only punishment was probation. Guaman is a dangerous man and should have been a prime candidate for deportation following incarceration for his previous record. But nothing like that happened.
A big roadblock has been Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick, a stubborn Open-Borders enthusiast. Patrick clearly believes that protecting his diverse illegal alien constituency (estimated at 220,000) is more important than crime prevention.
Regarding the Matthew Denice death, Patrick remarked: "Illegal immigration didn't kill this person. A drunk driver killed this person, and we have laws about that."
We have laws about illegal immigration as well, don't we, Governor? Even if the Obama Administration has arbitrarily decided not to enforce them.
There is only one encouraging aspect to this terrible loss of a fine young American: the local community did not let the crime pass unnoticed. An estimated 2000-2500 people showed up for a vigil to honor Matt, in addition to a motorcycle procession. (See Thousands at vigil for Denice, By Brian Lee and Lee Hammel, Worcester Telegram, August 27, 2011.)
The Facebook page, Justice for Matt appears to have been an effective organizing tool, as indicated by the 200 concerned citizens who showed up for a rally and town meeting in the rain September 7.
One purpose for the rally: to meet with officials from the Ecuadoran consulate. Needless to say, this was a waste of time given the opposing views—Ecuador likes its remittances from ex-pat immigrants and illegal aliens, so it doesn’t care about respecting American sovereignty. (In 2010, Ecuador received $2.32 billion in remittances).
And consulate mouthpiece Pablo Calle couldn’t pass up a chance to smear Americans, remarking: “We see they don’t want any immigrants coming to the country but that is something not this country not Ecuador, not anybody can fix. The answer is not in our hands.”[Residents Call For Crackdown On Illegal Immigration, WCVB Boston, September 8, 2011]
No, Pablo, the problem is a flood of lawbreaking aliens who disrespect everything about this country except the money. America has the most generous system of legal immigration in the world, but benevolence has attracted millions of criminals and ungrateful grifters.
The Milford town meeting provided an opportunity for another illegal alien crime victim to have a say. Maureen Laquerre spoke to the meeting and Ecuadoran officials on behalf of her late brother Richard Grossi, killed in 2009 by an illegal alien from Portugal who ran a stop sign. Accused killer Marie Tavares Leite was deported six months after her release on bail—before her scheduled trial.
"She and her family got a free ride," said Laquerre, remarking about the different criminal standards for Americans and lawbreaking foreigners. Her brother’s case shows that aliens can get away with no punishment at all for killing a citizen. Laquerre warned that the same denial of justice might happen to the Denice family. [Another Family Speaks Out [Video], By Mary MacDonald, Milford Patch, September 8, 2011]
Denice’s family has kept up the heat since the town meeting. They have called for statewide implementation of Secure Communities, the federal program which allows local police to check the fingerprints of arrested persons for immigration status as well as criminal history. Most Americans would consider this procedure to be basic common sense. A 2009 Rasmussen poll found that 73 percent of voters believe police should check status at traffic stops, and those people haven’t even been arrested. Yet many news reports characterize Secure Communities as “controversial”—no doubt a result of intense lobbying against public safety by the Raza gang.
One of the lies promulgated by the Treason Lobby: so-called “otherwise law-abiding” illegal aliens will fear to report crimes because of possible deportation, so overall law enforcement. But if the foreign lawbreakers are scared, it’s their self-appointed tribal leaders who instill that fear, because the policy of ICE is that victims and witnesses get a pass:
Immigration and ‘Secure Communities’, By Mike Stopa & Jessica Vaughan, Boston Globe, May 24, 2011
“ . . We attended the public hearings in Framingham, Lawrence, Waltham, Chelsea, and Brockton, and watched representatives of ethnic and civil liberties groups, the Socialist Workers Party, and a service workers union speak against Secure Communities. These advocates declared that, far from enhancing safety for all, the information-sharing would undermine it, as immigrants would stop reporting crimes because they fear they would also be deported.
But this fear is unwarranted. It is not based on experience, but on the misleading portrayal of Secure Communities by its organized opponents who seem to believe that Massachusetts should remain a sanctuary for illegal immigrants. What they should be telling immigrants instead is that not a single innocent crime victim, not in Boston nor in the 41 other states where Secure Communities operates, has been deported after reporting a crime. It is longstanding ICE policy that victims and witnesses are not targets of immigration law enforcement.”
Despite the pushback from Massachusetts liberal Establishment, responsible parties are moving forward. Sheriffs from three counties (Bristol, Worcester, and Plymouth) want to bring Secure Communities to their jurisdictions and are working to make it so.
Worcester Sheriff Lewis Evangelidis released a statement saying in part,
“I want to be emphatically clear that if the Secure Communities Act was already in place, a criminal alien such as Nicolas Guaman with a prior arrest record could have been identified by the Department of Homeland Security and ICE giving them the opportunity to deport Mr. Guaman in advance of this horrific crime on Aug. 20."
It was reported on September 13 that Milford selectmen want to meet with ICE officials to see how they can get deportation happening from their town. Selectman Brian Murray noted: “Milford police cannot deport anybody; the Board of Selectmen cannot deport anyone. ICE can. For some reason, there’s a disconnect here.”
On September 14, Senator Scott Brown sent a letter to Governor Patrick about Secure Communities, urging the “full and immediate Massachusetts participation in the program to help combat the very serious problem posed by illegal immigration.”
Senator Brown brought up the topic in a September 13 hearing with DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano, asking her what could be done when a governor refuses to implement Secure Communities. (Watch.)
Massachusetts has a reputation as a very blue state. But that characterization diminished considerably when Republican Scott Brown won a 2010 special Senatorial election following the blessed demise of the evil Ted Kennedy. Elite Democrats were stunned at the first reversal of their total control of Washington, and in a seat they thought they owned.
In addition, a 2010 Rasmussen poll found that an impressive 70 percent of Massachusetts voters favored a ban on public benefits for illegal aliens.
A Suffolk University/News 7 poll of state voters in May 2010 found that more than half approved of Arizona’s tough immigration enforcement law, and 84 percent thought Massachusetts should require proof of citizenship to receive benefits.
So perhaps the Kennedy spell is finally wearing off in the Bay State.
But the response from the liberal Establishment is too little, too late. Governor Patrick agreed to meet with the Denice family to express condolences, as reported September 14. But he is still maintaining his opposition to Secure Communities.
Milford Selectman William Buckley commented about the Patrick meeting: "It's clearly become personal for the community, and sometimes statewide officials like the governor might become isolated from day-to-day effects. But the bottom line is there's a real impact. People are dying."
It’s deeply disturbing the lengths to which honest citizens must go to convince the government to do its basic job of protecting us from violent foreigners—from killer jihadists to all-too-common drunk-driving illegal aliens.
We now live in a country where demographic change driven by massive legal and illegal immigration is having the effect desired by its instigators—electing a new people: replacing traditional Americans with tribally inclined foreigners who fit neatly into the ethnic divisions so easily manipulated by the Democratic Party.
Citizens are expected to accept lesser status than that of illegal aliens, who are favored by leftists as friendly to oversized government and comfortable with gangster-style politics.
We cannot even count on law enforcement to prioritize public safety when the politicians in charge have a different agenda.
Brenda Walker (email her) lives in northern California and publishes two websites, LimitsToGrowth.org and ImmigrationsHumanCost.org. She normally adds a witty quip to this bio, but is too disgusted in this case.
