7/14/2015 - Cal Thomas
According to the Wall Street
Journal, the last serious attempt to count the number of federal criminal laws
appears to have been made in 1982 by a retired Justice Department official
named Ronald Gainer. He failed, but the estimate then was "...50 titles
and 23,000 pages of federal law." Many more laws have been added since
then.
One thing is certain: If you violate
federal law you are likely to be punished with a fine, imprisonment or both.
These laws are supposed to apply to everyone, unless, it seems, you are an
illegal alien living in San Francisco, or any of the other sanctuary cities around
the country.
By now, anyone not preoccupied with
stories about shark attacks, the Confederate flag or singer Ariana Grande
"maliciously licking" donuts she did not buy, has heard about
32-year-old Kathryn Steinle gunned down by an illegal alien while walking on a
San Francisco pier with her father. Her accused killer is Juan Francisco
Lopez-Sanchez, a felon from Mexico, who had been deported five times but always
managed to sneak back in, choosing San Francisco, he reportedly said, because
he knew it was a "sanctuary city" that would not deport him.
The concept of a sanctuary city
comes from the Old Testament.
"...if someone deliberately
kills another person, then the slayer must be dragged even from my altar and be
put to death. (Exodus 21:14). But if it was simply an accident permitted
by God, I will appoint a place of refuge where the slayer can run for safety.
(Exodus 21:13). These cities will be places of protection from a dead
person's relatives who want to avenge the death. The slayer must not be put to
death before being tried by the community. (Numbers 35:19) "Then the
congregation shall judge between the slayer and the blood avenger. ... The
congregation shall deliver the manslayer from the hand of the blood avenger,
and the congregation shall restore him to his city of refuge to which he fled;
and he shall live in it until the death of the high priest who was anointed
with the holy oil..." (Numbers 35:24-28).
This ancient concept for a sanctuary
city was not to shield a suspect from justice, but to guarantee justice was
done. The suspected murderer would be given safe haven only until a trial was
held. If he was found guilty, he was executed. If he was acquitted he was set
free. But if he left the sanctuary city before the trial, "the avenger of blood"
could kill him.
Officials in "sanctuary
cities" pervert the concept of sanctuary by helping suspects evade the
law. Congress should deny federal funds to these cities as long as they
continue to ignore the law. President Obama is unlikely to speak, much less
lead on this issue, because the Democratic Party thinks it can win the Hispanic
vote in 2016. Republicans and the Chamber of Commerce want cheap immigrant
labor, so they will huff and puff but do nothing, hoping the controversy goes
away. The public must not let this happen.
According to the Washington Post,
there are an estimated 60 sanctuary cities around the country, including major
cities like New York, Los Angeles and Houston, and these cities are unlikely to
change their sanctuary policies anytime soon.
In fact, writes International
Business Times, "...a number of local leaders in U.S. cities have renewed
their efforts to foster welcoming and inclusive communities for illegal aliens.
So-called 'sanctuary policies' ... are intended to signal to the undocumented
community that it's safe to come out of the shadows without the fear of being
reported to federal authorities."
If laws are not enforced, what is
the point of having them?
If politicians are so afraid of
losing the Hispanic vote that they do nothing in response to the murder of
Kathryn Steinle, they should be removed from office. The notion that Hispanics
won't vote for a party that stands for justice is racist.
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