As the nation gears up for next year’s presidential election, Democrat candidates are coming out of the woodwork to defend their pet causes.
Among these is an open invitation to illegal immigrants to enter our country, with promises of protections and benefits that most legal citizens aren’t entitled to.
But behind all the rhetoric lies a danger that liberal politicians seem to ignore – in fact, they are part of the problem.
Over the last several years, we have seen state and local politicians defy federal law by declaring their localities “sanctuary cities” for illegal immigrants.
These illegal immigrants are protected from extradition for crimes committed in their home nation, and even outstanding warrants in the United States.
It’s an epidemic, and it is only getting worse, even as the immigration debate ebbs and flows while other political issues take top billing.
This month, in an all-too-familiar story, Arizona Border Patrol agents arrested a man who had crossed the border from Mexico.
He had been deported from the U.S. twice before for a horrific crime – two convictions for having sex with a minor child.
The agents found Adrian Castro-Garcia wandering the desert while on patrol. After providing medical care, they followed protocol and did a background investigation.
The 33-year-old man had been convicted in 2013, had received a paltry 150 days in jail, and then was deported back to Mexico.
Again, a short year later, Castro-Garcia was back in Los Angeles committing the same crime. Again, the same sentence and deportation.
While it is unbelievable that Castro-Garcia could so easily come back into the U.S. time and again, he may now have put the final nail in his coffin.
He faces a felony charge for illegally entering the U.S. after twice being convicted of a felony, and could be sentenced to up to 20 years in prison before being deported again.
But with his history, it is likely he will re-enter the U.S. years from now if something doesn’t change.
This is far from an isolated case.
Illegal immigrants have raped, murdered, kidnapped, and committed robberies against law-abiding American citizens – including children.
In July of this year, Border Patrol agents saw a man cross illegally near the Tecate Port of Entry in California.
Jose Segura-Garcia, a 43-year-old man crossing from Mexico, had been convicted in California of felony child cruelty – abuse that can cause grave bodily injury or death – in 2009.
He was sentenced to almost ten years in prison and was deported, only to try to re-enter the country this past summer.
On top of the felony cruelty charge against an innocent child, Segura-Garcia had been convicted of multiple other crimes ranging from robbery to DUI, to battery and spousal abuse.
He is being held in federal custody, but even if he serves prison time, will he immediately turn around and come back to the U.S. to start another crime spree?
And who can forget the murder of Katie Steinle of San Francisco, shot to death in 2015 by an illegal immigrant previously convicted of felonies as she walked along the beach with her father?
It made national news, and yet nothing changed.
Caravans smuggle in as many immigrants as they can for profit, in many cases, endangering their lives. They have been locked in trunks of cars, stuffed into backs of trucks without enough room to breathe, and many have died along the way.
Innocent immigrants die every year, and many endanger the lives of their children in order to make the dangerous crossing – one they know is illegal, but they proceed with at record numbers.
These are the numbers the liberal left focus on – the innocent children caught in the middle of the immigration debate.
But what about American children being put in grave danger when convicted rapists and murderers are easily able to cross in and out of our country at will?
And it is in these caravans and large groups of immigrants that convicted felons hide in order to conceal themselves.
Many present themselves for asylum along with a larger group, and with Border Patrol agents in El Paso, Texas alone detaining nearly 1,000 illegal immigrants a day, it becomes nearly impossible to protect our citizens.
Checkpoints are severely understaffed and lack of proper border barriers make it like finding a needle in a haystack to catch those with criminal intent.
In fact, many are fleeing their own home countries like Mexico and El Salvador in order to escape justice at home.
It is a crisis unlike we’ve ever seen in this country — and left-wing socialist candidates for office would rather see their own citizens endangered than find a resolution that keeps us all safe.
It must remain the priority of any candidate for office to stop protecting illegal immigrants with criminal records by ending the practice of sanctuary cities.
Our borders must be properly staffed and monitored – and that means making the immigration problem one of protecting U.S. citizens first, not those who are purposely committing a crime by crossing without going through the proper procedure.
And most of all, American children must be the priority, making sure that every action necessary is taken to prevent a convicted felon from repeatedly entering the U.S. after deportation.
We face an uphill battle, and we must pray for the future of our nation.
What do you think should be done to stop the epidemic of illegal immigrants re-entering the U.S. after being deported for felony crimes? Leave us your comments.