Rick Osmon – THEI Columnist

4/5/2012

After Dennis posted his take on the investigative report from Indianapolis News 13, WTHR, regarding illegal immigrants , oh, sorry, “undocumented resident aliens”, I felt obliged to add my two pesos worth. One of the happy recipients of your money and mine in the tax fraud story lives about 15 miles from me. He is a hard-working and peace loving criminal, not just for tax fraud criminal, but rather a criminal just for being here.

In a different part of town is a family of legal immigrants from Thailand. They are all adult siblings and moved here legally under a program enacted by Congress and fostered by faith-based organizations. More power to ’em, I say. Welcome to the neighborhood. About the only work available to folks like them is near minimum wage positions at the poultry processing plant or the wood working factory, both places have work that is dangerous, arduous, and has few prospects for rapid advancement, or, maybe, no advancement at all. I have a feeling, though, that our new Thai neighbors will advance quickly as their linguistic skills improve. They want to not only work here, they want to be part of the community, and that is the most significant difference.

The opportunities for advancement for many of the Mexican and other Hispanic residents, both legal and not, and whether they wish it or not, is tied to how much crystal meth moves in and through the county. Which begs the question, if Congress enacted the rules allowing illegal immigrants to claim twenty dependents, that may or may not still be in Mexico, and the associated earned income credits, shouldn’t they have known that the people who cheat the most are those who are already criminals? So here we have a whole covey of crimes being fostered by Congress itself. And when the crystal meth becomes part of the equation, people get hurt or killed. It seems obvious that the $4 Billion per year sent by IRS is much better and more efficient than the old ways of money laundering.

Our county has already lost several buildings to fires or explosions just this calendar year and there are fewer than 32,000 legal residents in the entire county. We’ve also sent several county residents, both legal and not, to Federal prisons this year. We have life lined two or three to hospitals outside the county after incidents almost certainly related to meth traffic. Last year, we had to fire a deputy who allegedly traded tips to dealers and or manufacturers in exchange for sexual favors.

However, while my view of the problem is concentrated on my own neighborhood, the same things are happening in your neighborhood. Your money is being stolen and sent out of the country. Your kids are being exposed to some of the most dangerous recreational drugs ever devised (invented by the US Army Air Force, incidentally). Houses and shops in your neighborhood are potential firebombs. And a few of your own cops are turning to the dark side, the money or other “rewards” are simply too tempting or the coercion is too effective.

Please think about these things as you watch part 2 of the WTHR special report.

WTHR Part 2 HERE