 Bill O'Reilly used this story to make a very carefully crafted point. Virginia City is a sanctuary city.
Sanctuary cities have passed laws, statutes, or provisions that restrict their own employees and the police departments from sharing information with the INS. In other words if the police or courts determine that that person is here illegally, they cannot tell the INS. Basically they are ignoring federal law and telling their police departments to not aid in the enforcement of federal law.
Now, in this incident the illegal immigrant who is responsible for the deaths of these two you girls had previously been convicted of a crime, however, because Virginia City is a sanctuary city, he was not reported to the INS.
Now I am quite certain that the Constitution clearly states that the power to establish an Uniform Rule of Naturalization belongs to the Congress. Since this is the case, then the 1996 Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act clearly states Quote: | "Notwithstanding any other provision of Federal, State or local law, a Federal, State or local government entity or official may not prohibit or in any way restrict any government entity or official from sending to or receiving from the Immigration and Naturalization Service information regarding the citizenship or immigration status, lawful or unlawful, of any individual." | So it would seem that Virginia Beach is quite clearly violating not only federal law, but the Constitution as well. What pissed off Bill O'Reilly is this fact. Here is a city openly flaunting federal law, and as a result two young girls are now dead. It is that simple. Here was an illegal immigrant that has a previous criminal record, who instead of being reported to INS, was allowed to remain in this country illegal, which by the way means against the law, and as result two young citizens have paid with their lives.
Like Bill O'Reilly or not, his point is valid. Because of the assinine policies of the city, the girls are dead. Geraldo Rivera refused to admit this fact, instead he did not want to talk about the sanctuary city facet and tried to keep the debate solely about drunk driving.
There is a simple saying in television news, if it bleeds it leads. Bill O'Reilly seized upon the deaths of these young girls to debate sanctuary cities and illegal immigrants. This is no different than those who favor gun control using the tragedies of Columbine. Nor the anti-war protestors using the death of Pat Tillman.
If you are going to critique Bill O'Reilly than you damn well better critique the others.
dmk Conservatism, I repeat is not an ideology. It does not breed fanatics....But if you want men who seek, reasonably and prudently, to reconcile the best in wisdom of our ancestors with the change which is essential to a vigorous civil social existence, then you will do well to turn to conservative principles
-Russell Kirk- |