One Reporter's Opinion – A Light at the End of the Tunnel

George Putnam
Saturday, Jan. 15, 2005

It is this reporter's opinion that there have been many setbacks in our 35-year battle against the illegal alien invasion of America, most recently the president's determination to install a worker amnesty program. And we reported on the Mexican government's printing and distributing of a 32-page booklet offering a plan for Mexican migrants with details about how to come to the United States in violation of our immigration laws. And then there are the constant attacks by La Raza and other Mexican activist groups on the sovereignty of our nation.

Worst of all are the special orders limiting law enforcement within our own communities. For example, in Los Angeles today, when a police officer sees a gang member on the street who is in our nation illegally, a 1979 city directive prevents the officer from apprehending that illegal alien because of immigration status alone - even if the officer has knowledge that the subject has been previously deported because of a violent crime and even though it is a felony to re-enter the U.S. after deportation.

But perhaps we are about to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Some American citizens are standing up and taking charge. One brave police commissioner in Suffolk County, New York, is willing to commission his police officers to deal with illegals. And now comes a tough move on the part of Arkansas State Representative Michael Lamoureux, who proposes legislation aimed at reducing illegal immigration problems in his state.

Lamoureux, a Republican, is a sponsor of House Bill 1012, a proposal that would allow LOCAL law enforcement officers to enforce FEDERAL immigration laws. Ironically, Lamoureux's measure is co-sponsored by State Representatives Jeremy and Timothy Hutchinson, nephews of Department of Homeland Security Under Secretary Asa Hutchinson. The bill allows the Arkansas State Police to designate some or all of their employees to take part in the program.

If the Lamoureux bill passes, it will allow local officers to be trained by the Department of Homeland Security through a "memorandum of understanding" among state and federal officials. Officers would complete an eight-week training course to be fully certified.

Upon request by a city or county, the Arkansas State Police can designate certified law enforcement officers to take training to enforce immigration laws – powers typically reserved for immigration agents. A certified law enforcement officer would then be authorized to make an arrest to enforce federal immigration laws.

What a turn of events this would be if it were to spread throughout the U.S.! Our overworked, under-supported federal border agents have neither the time nor the manpower to investigate and follow up on illegal immigration problems.

Lamoureux points out that several of those involved in the 9/11 terrorist attacks were previously stopped by state and local law enforcement officers in the country before the attacks, but had to be released because of the lack of federal resources. The Lamoureux bill would allow the Arkansas State Police to designate some or all of its employees to take part in the program. And upon request by a city or county, the state police could designate certified law enforcement officers to complete the training.

House Bill 1012, if put into effect, would place the responsibility of stopping the illegal alien invasion on the shoulders of all of us in every state of the land ... from the lowliest cop on the beat to the chief law enforcement officer in our land. What an idea! Let's do it!