Prosecuting aliens is necessary

In response to Red Chandler’s letter of May 24th, your “catch and release” logic presents other consequences.
 
With the Feds no longer paying to incarcerate illegal aliens, you are correct that many communities will simply call the Border Patrol rather than prosecute and jail illegal aliens.
 
While convenient and perceived as cheaper, it’s also a double-edged sword.
 
As an example:
 
On the first of the month two men are caught shoplifting. The first, a U.S. citizen, is tried, convicted and sentenced to 30 days in jail. The second, an illegal alien, is turned over to Border Patrol because the county can’t afford to incarcerate him without federal help. Since the illegal alien wasn’t convicted of a crime, he’s merely given a ride to the border. Surprise, surprise; he enters the U.S. illegally, again, later that day. The following day, he is caught shoplifting, again, and once more, merely given to Border Patrol for his ride home.
 
As this story repeats itself, the illegal alien gets arrested for shoplifting 15 times, each with the same result, a ride home. Meanwhile the U.S. citizen is in jail learning that crime doesn’t pay while the illegal alien paid no penalty for his crimes.
 
Look at the resources that were devoted to the illegal alien. Every time he was caught shoplifting a deputy responded to the store, took him to jail, contacted the Border Patrol and waited to turn him over. Had he been prosecuted, convicted and jailed the first time, those deputies could have been handling other matters and the illegal alien might have learned that committing a crime here has a cost. Not included is the time spent by agents that were taken away from protecting the border to respond to the jail.
 
The county will no longer have federal assistance in paying for an illegal alien’s incarceration but what is the cost to the community with your “catch and release” philosophy? It seems to me that prosecuting and jailing illegal aliens would be a better use of resources than tying up deputies and agents just to haul them around.

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PAUL AMMERMAN
The Foothills