Jan Brewer: Massachusetts Repubs' secret weapon?

"Border problems that seem like a world away emerged in Chelsea and Revere over the last few years, and state law enforcement and the FBI are just now unraveling a drug operation here that allegedly had direct connections to Colombian drug kingpins who have set up shop along the U.S. Border," reported our local rag, the Chelsea Record, the other day.

The influx of illegal immigrants has "emerged as a flashpoint in the Massachusetts governor’s race" according to the Boston Globe. Oh, sweet Scott Brown for whom we fought the good fight, you may not be voting as we would have you vote on every bill, but the reverberations of your "term limits by other means" special election are sweet music to our ears:

Staking out increasingly tough stances on illegal immigration, Republican gubernatorial candidate Charles D. Baker and independent rival Timothy P. Cahill said yesterday that they want to give police the authority to arrest people.

As the two candidates battle for conservative voters, Baker said he would reinstate a controversial agreement with the federal government that Governor Mitt Romney signed in 2006 that deputized 30 specially trained State Police troopers to detain illegal immigrants …

The program never took effect in Massachusetts because Patrick rescinded it before the troopers could be trained …

Immigration is currently the province of the federal government, though many critics say Washington has failed to stem the influx of illegal immigrants, and the issue has emerged as a flashpoint in the Massachusetts governor’s race.

Carefully sidestepping association with Arizona's popular but politically incorrectly misrepresented immigration law, "Cahill said residents are fed up with illegal immigration":

“We’re not looking to profile people or prejudge,’’ said Cahill, the state treasurer. “But, if they can’t prove they are citizens, then that should be part of the police work of detaining and eventually deporting people.’’

"Using illegal aliens mostly to handle the drugs, investigators said Pereanez — who had a U.S. passport — kept himself away from the product. Wiretaps led investigators to other alleged dealers," noted the Record.

Despite "a widespread consensus among police chiefs, particularly in the state's urban areas, that they do not want to be in the business of enforcing [federal] immigration law," People's-Seat-energized taxachusetts Republican candidates are reading the tea leaves:

“As a tool for dealing with some really bad actors in some of our cities, they said it was an effective tool, and they were sorry not to have it as a way to protect their communities,’’ Baker said …

He would reenroll Massachusetts in the federal program used by a handful of states, including Rhode Island, that allows state troopers to arrest people determined during the course of an investigation to be illegal immigrants.

Sounds good to us here in crime-ridden Chelsea-by-the-Sea (see captions above), one of four Massachusetts "sanctuary cities" where drug dealing fed by South-of-the-Border connections is huge:

Despite a 1996 federal law [the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act that requires local governments to cooperate with Department of Homeland Security's Immigration and Customs Enforcement(ICE)], many large urban cities (and some small) have adopted so-called "sanctuary policies." Generally, sanctuary policies instruct city employees not to notify the federal government of the presence of illegal aliens living in their communities. The policies also end the distinction between legal and illegal immigration — so illegal aliens often benefit from city services too.

Interesting. You'd almost think that someone like ourselves, who generally favors local over federal solutions, would be on the side of the sanctuary-city folks. Only problem is it rewards — and therefore encourages — bad behavior.

Crossposted at Riehl World View and Liberty Pundits.

Comments

[goomp]

The picture if it as it appears is depressing. The greed of the political class seems to know no bounds and the fact that criminal illegal immigrants can bribe politicians to suppress their arrest is a prime example.

[HOMELAND INSECURITY]

Meanwhile, the INVASION continues...
http://www.BorderInvasionPics.com

"PLUG THE DAMN HOLE!" Oh, wait, they're just "undocumented democrats" coming through the hole.

[KingShamus]

Sanctuary cities are one of the biggest jokes around. By the way, if sanctuary cities are okee-dokee for people to flout federal immigration laws, why not sanctuary cities for people who wish to break federal tax laws?

[tommy mc donnell]

if politicans in a sanctuary city say they have the right to ignore a law they don't like shouldn't every other citizen have the right to ignore any law they don't like. say the tax laws for instance. how did the american people ever elect these people.