What Is The Penalty For A U.S. Citizen?

An American who is arrested for Driving Under the Influence faces jail time, losing his license, and heavy fines. What should the penalty be for a person who is here illegally who is arrested for Driving Under the Influence?

On Thursday, The Conservative Review reported that 150 Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives voted against a measure to state that aliens who drive “while intoxicated or impaired” are inadmissible and, if convicted of such an offense, deportable. How in the world would voting against the measure keep Americans safe?

The article reports:

In a bipartisan 274-150 vote, the House of Representatives passed a measure on Thursday that would declare that aliens who drive “while intoxicated or impaired” are inadmissible and, if convicted of such an offense, deportable.

The 150 lawmakers who voted against the measure were all Democrats. But 59 other Democrats joined 215 Republicans in voting to approve the measure.

“Any alien who has been convicted of an offense for driving while intoxicated or impaired, as those terms are defined under the law of the jurisdiction where the conviction occurred (including a conviction for driving while under the influence of or impaired by alcohol or drugs), without regard to whether the conviction is classified as a misdemeanor or felony under Federal, State, tribal, or local law, is deportable,” the measure reads.

There is currently on the books a law making an illegal deportable if he is guilty of moral turpitude. This law simply clarifies the current law. At any rate, isn’t entering a country illegally breaking the law? Shouldn’t that be subject to deportation?

At Least He Is Being Tried

The Boston Herald reported today on some of the tactics being used by President Obama’s half-uncle Onyango Obama, who was arrested on a drunk driving charge.

The article reports:

Obama’s lawyers, P. Scott Bratton and William L. Harvey III, requested the records after learning Krishtal had totaled his cruiser in November, smashing into a stone wall en route to a report of shots being fired. They say the patrolman may have been driving too fast just before the Obama stop, in which the president’s uncle turned into traffic, cut the officer off and forced him to slam on his brakes.

It really doesn’t matter what the officer’s record was, Onyango Obama had a blood alcohol level of  0.14. Evidently Mr. Obama’s lawyers intend to challenge the blood alcohol test as well as the driving record of the arresting officer.

The article further reports:

“It’s sort of discouraging” said James Machado, a Fall River police sergeant and executive director of the Massachusetts Police Association. “I understand defense attorneys taking tacks and questioning police officers’ integrity, but to bring someone else’s record out there? What influence would that have on him doing his job? If you have motor vehicle violations, you can’t give out citations?”

The sort of defense planned by Mr. Obama’s legal team shows a basic disrespect for the law. Mr. Obama needs to accept the charges against him and face the consequences of his actions.

Enhanced by Zemanta

I Guess It Really Does Matter Who You Know

Boston.com reports today that Uncle Omar has been released from jail.

In case you have forgotten, Uncle Omar is Onyango Obama. He was arrested for drunk driving on August 24 by Framingham, Massachusetts police.

The article reports:

Onyango Obama came to America in 1963 to attend a prestigious preparatory school in Cambridge but dropped out and was initially ordered to leave the country in 1989. He appealed to the Board of Immigration Appeals, but lost in 1992.

Earlier this month, Bratton said Obama would fight deportation and hoped to remain in the United States. Obama has lived here for almost 50 years, since he was a young man under the limited supervision of the president’s late father.

Obama had worked for the past five years at Conti Liquors in Framingham, where he was praised as a good worker and beloved employee.

Is the job at Conti Liquors in Framingham a job Americans won’t do? Otherwise, he is taking a job away from an American while he is here illegally. Did the liquor store know he was here illegally? Did they ever check? How many Uncle Omars are out there working illegallly while Americans are unemployed?

The article also reports:

As a result of the immigration agency’s refusal to discuss the case, it is unclear what happened to Obama after he left the Plymouth County House of Correction – or whether he could be returned to jail.

An official at the Plymouth County House of Correction who would not give his name said yesterday afternoon that Obama was no longer in custody. He had been taken to Burlington, where US Immigration and Customs Enforcement has offices, he said.

If his name was John Smith, would he still be in jail?

Enhanced by Zemanta