[For the immigrant murder du jour: Alienation and Immigrant Mass Murder Syndrome, by James Fulford]
The media in Washington—the Washington on the left side of the country—run Terapon Adhahn stories every day, every hour and everywhere. The blogs are bogged. Adhahn's mother: "'My son is sick. I am angry at him'", screamed the headline of The Seattle Times last Friday. [by Nancy Bartley, July 20].
For those not being inundated with the Adhahn atrocity—the New York Times finally picked up an AP story today (July 23) but it didn't mention the word "immigrant"—here's a recap:
Terapon Adhahn, a Thai legal immigrant, kidnapped, raped and murdered 12-year-old Zina Linnik on July 4th. Adhahn of course is technically innocent until proven guilty. However, part of his van license plate number was spotted by the victim's father. And Adhahn told authorities where to find Zina Linnik's body.
But there is more. . . .
On July 19th, prosecutors in Pierce County, Washington, filed twelve charges against Adhahn—including the kidnapping and rape of an 11-year-old girl in 2000 and the rape and sexual assault of a teenager who lived with Adhahn from 2001 to 2005. [Adhahn pleads not guilty in sexual assaults on two girls, By Christine Clarridge, Seattle Times, July 20, 2007] In the first case, investigators have DNA evidence linking Adhahn to the crime and in the second case, the victim told authorities that she was repeatedly raped and fled when Adhahn threatened her with a gun.
But there is more. . . .
Adhahn is also being investigated for other similar, unsolved crimes in Washington—and in the case of the death of 9-year-old Amber Hagerman in Arlington, Texas, in 1996. (The country's Amber Alert system is named for this child.) Adhahn lived in Texas, although police are not sure if he was in the area at the time of Amber's death.
Were there any clues that Adhahn might pose a threat to little girls? Yes, indeed.
According to news accounts, Pierce County prosecutors filed rape charges against Adhahn in 1990 but he agreed to a plea bargain for incest as the victim was a 16-year-old relative. Incest is only a misdemeanor, so Adhahn served a mere 60 days in jail and received five years of sexual-deviation therapy. Adhahn's therapist, Michael Comte wrote, "long-term intensive psychotherapy and monitoring of his behavior will be necessary to ensure the safety of the community." [Linnik suspect's life holds troubling contrasts, By Nancy Bartley and Christine Clarridge, Seattle Times, July 19, 2007]
After conviction for incest, Adhahn was required to register as a sex offender wherever he lived—which happened to be right around the corner from his latest victim, Zina Linnik.
Guess what? He was not registered as a sex offender—but he was registered to vote in Pierce County, according to current blog chatter.
Does this all sound terribly familiar? Remember the Korean immigrant, Seung-Hui Cho who slaughtered dozens at Virginia Tech earlier this year? He was a legal immigrant, just like Terapon Adhahn. They were both clearly mentally ill. Cho was considered a "danger to others" and Adhahn was considered a threat to the "safety of the community." Unlike Cho, Adhahn had a misdemeanor conviction for incest too. But why didn't the alarms go off in both instances?
Since the continuous onslaught of news about Terapon Adhahn began, not one single government official, local or federal, has said anything about why Adhahn, a convicted sexual predator, was still in the country.
The Tacoma (WA) News Tribune did run a story which in which a "spokesman" for Immigration and Customs Enforcement [ICE] explained that incest, the crime Adhahn copped to, is a misdemeanor and legal immigrants cannot be deported for misdemeanors but…wait a minute. Adhahn is mentally ill and a danger to the community. How many slaughtered children does it take before we can deport a legal immigrant?
"Under federal law, a single conviction for a 'crime of moral turpitude' doesn't warrant deportation for a legal permanent resident, Lori Haley, a spokeswoman for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said Friday.
"'One conviction wouldn't render him deportable, because he was a legal permanent resident more than five years,' Haley said.
Haley added that immigration officials knew about Adhahn's 1990 conviction at the time.
The same laws say a second conviction could have triggered deportation. Adhahn was convicted of intimidation with a weapon in 1992. The case was filed in Tacoma Municipal Court. Immigration officials didn't know about that conviction.
"'We weren't aware of the 1992 conviction at the time,' Haley said. 'That happened in Municipal Court, so we were unaware.'" [Residency meant he could stay By Sean Robinson; The News Tribune, July 14th, 2007]
Obviously, illegal aliens are in some ways a more pressing problem for America, because there are so many of them and we know nothing about them—whether they are criminals, are diseased, likely to become a public charge, etc.
Nevertheless, legal immigrants who display blatantly disturbing problems should be shown the door.
And there are many, many of them.
For example, have you ever heard of Preston Dean Douglas of Whidbey Island, Washington? He married an American and entered the country legally from Jamaica. He battered his wife; she divorced him; he was ordered to leave the country but didn't. Then he moved to Whidbey Island from the East Coast. In June 2002, he sexually molested a six-year-old and murdered her mother and grandmother. He then pistol-whipped two other people before turning his shotgun on himself. [5 Shot, 3 Dead In Whidbey Murder-Suicide | KOMO-TV, Seattle, Washington, June 20, 2002]
My suggestion: After Douglas committed spousal abuse, he should have been given a makeshift raft and a paddle and a push-off toward Jamaica.
One would think that the President has the power to act right now. What difference does it make that these murderers are not Muslim terrorists? Dead is dead whether people are slaughtered one at a time or dozens at a time. Surely the President can direct Homeland Security to deport dangerous immigrants who have committed crimes.
Why do Americans have to shut down Congressional switchboards to get leaders to listen?
More important, how many people must die before our government acts to protect Americans?
Where, oh where, is Homeland Security to explain why serial rapist and murderer are still in the country? Where was Congress? [VDARE.COM NOTE: Where's the Wall Street Journal's James Tarantoad?]
Well, we know where Washington State's U.S. Senators Patti Murray and Maria Cantwell were.
They were trying to give amnesty and in-state tuition to illegal aliens. Both voted the Bush-Kennedy Amnesty/ Immigration Surge Bill right to the end.
Linda Thom [email her] is a retiree and refugee from California. She formerly worked as an officer for a major bank and as a budget analyst for the County Administrator of Santa Barbara.
