IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:
PINAL COUNTY SHERIFF PAUL BABEU ON RISING VIOLENCE AND HAZARDS FROM ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION, SUPPORTING McCAIN-KYL BORDER SECURITY PLAN
“I can tell you it's the number one public safety issue in all of Arizona. [O]ur county, Pinal County, it’s sandwiched between metro Tucson and metro Phoenix, and it’s the largest pass-through county for the smugglers of both drugs and humans. And just last month alone we have had 64 pursuits. That’s where these illegals are failing to yield to lights and sirens, as every good citizen would pull to the side of the road, they are intentionally causing serious traffic hazards. They have caused wrecks, running red lights. It puts our deputies and officers in harm's way. One thing new in their tactics, nearly every one of them is armed. So this created, even with one of our deputies crashing into an actual ditch and into water, he was face down unconscious. And a Casa Grande officer literally saved his life. … We're the kidnap capital of America right here in metro Phoenix. We have had assaults against officers, officer-involved shootings are the highest in America because of this issue. … This is where even myself and all of our law enforcement leaders support Senator McCain's call for 3,000 troops to be deployed to the border. We can no longer handle this on our own.” -- Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu on MSNBC today
Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu On MSNBC’s “News Live” Today:
MONICA NOVOTNY: A local sheriff in Arizona said illegal immigrants are killing his officers. He says the violence has reached epidemic proportions. But the state's attorney general said this new bill could take necessary resources away from more serious crimes. Joining me now Sheriff Paul Babeu, the sheriff of Pinal County, Arizona. Sheriff, you say violence is now hitting epidemic proportions. How bad is it?
SHERIFF PAUL BABEU: Yes, Monica, it is. I can tell you it's the number one public safety issue in all of Arizona. Just in our county, Pinal County, it’s sandwiched between metro Tucson and metro Phoenix, and it’s the largest pass-through county for the smugglers of both drugs and humans. And just last month alone we have had 64 pursuits -- that’s where these illegals are failing to yield to lights and sirens, as every good citizen would pull to the side of the road, they are intentionally causing very serious traffic hazards. They have caused wrecks, running red lights, and it puts our deputies and officers in harm's way. And one thing new in their tactics is that nearly every one of them is armed. So this created, even with one of our deputies crashing into an actual ditch and into water, he was face down unconscious. And a Casa Grande officer literally saved his life.
NOVOTNY: Wow, what about opponents that said this allows for racial profiling and violates resident's civil rights.
SHERIFF BABEU: Not at all. Here in America, all of us, especially those who are sworn to protect and serve respect not only our Constitution but everyone's rights in that we would use not only due regard in enforcement of the laws, but that crime is out of control. We have 17% of these illegals coming into America that have already a criminal record in our state. This is a problem.
NOVOTNY: What about concerns that if all of you are focused on illegal immigrants, then you've got other violence happening, other issues in the state of concern that are going to be neglected.
SHERIFF BABEU: It's all connected, in fact, where a small percentage of our population commits most of the crime. When you add this many, just the very serious criminal element that comes along with it. We're the kidnap capital of America right here in metro Phoenix. We have had assaults against officers, officer-involved shootings are the highest in America because of this issue. We're not against immigrants. That's the very strength, the beauty of our republic is the fact we are a nation of immigrants. When we have hundreds of thousands of people every year that enter the state of Arizona, it can't help but impact us in a very serious and it’s a negative issue. This is where even myself and all of our law enforcement leaders support Senator McCain's call for 3,000 troops to be deployed to the border because we can no longer handle this on our own.
NOVOTNY: Sheriff Paul Babeu, Sheriff of Pinal County, Arizona, thank you for sharing your perspective on this with us.
SHERIFF BABEU: Thank you.
2 comments:
Last year, the Social Security Administration (SSA) ran the numbers at my request. Here’s what they found: For a single 25-year old male with very low earnings, today’s value of his and his employer’s contributions to the Trust Fund will fall $15,596 short of the value of the Social Security retirement benefits he will eventually receive. A single female will receive $20,936 more in benefits than she pays into Social Security. If the immigrant is married but the sole wage-earner, the couple will eventually drain the Trust Fund by $52,460; if the immigrant is married to another very low earner, the drain on the trust fund will be $39,037. The legalization of one million illegal immigrant couples who work for very low wages would be a $101 billion blow to taxpayers. And amnesty for all illegal immigrants would multiply this figure many times!
When it comes to taxes, amnesty supporters like to say that illegal immigrants will pay their “fair share” of taxes after being granted amnesty. This is deceptive.
Low-skilled workers often pay no taxes and receive a check from the Internal Revenue Service in the form of the Earned Income Tax Credit. Putting illegal immigrants on the IRS rolls will actually cost the federal government money.
Since most illegal immigrants have less than a high school education and have well below average incomes, even those illegal immigrants who pay taxes pay far less in taxes than they (and their families) consume in taxpayer-supported benefits. Robert Rector of the Heritage Foundation found that the average immigrant household headed by an immigrant without a high school degree receives over $19,000 more in total government benefits each year than it pays in federal, state and local taxes!
But the impact goes far beyond these direct costs.
There are nearly 16 million Americans out of work, and about 8 million jobs are held by illegal immigrants. By simply enforcing immigration laws already on the books, we could create millions of job opportunities for American citizens and legal immigrants who played by the rules and entered the U.S. the right way.
Instead, the Obama administration has all but abandoned worksite enforcement efforts. Administrative arrests are down 87 percent; criminal arrests of employees are down 83 percent; criminal arrests of employers are down 73 percent; the number of criminal indictments are down 86 percent; and the number of criminal convictions is down 83 percent since 2008. This insults unemployed and underemployed American workers who need the jobs held by illegal immigrants.
The hit is on your wallet! Illegal immigrants are a fiscal drain on American taxpayers. And the Obama administration’s policies only make it worse.
Good luck. Everyone I know in TX. is pulling for you. States rights are being tested against a power hungry socialist government. Wish TX. would follow suit but won't happen under Perry.
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