Bob Hugin is right: Harboring illegal aliens is illegal
/How can some people argue that more gun laws will make us safer, when the laws that we have aren't being obeyed? It's like printing more money during a period of hyperinflation: It turns legal tender into toilet paper.
And that's what happens when state and local governments pick and choose which national laws they will obey and which they'll ignore. They turn the whole concept of having laws into a joke and turn the statute book into a toilet roll.
If you are a radical libertarian, maybe that is a good thing. Anarchy in the U.S.A.!
But for most of us -- those who depend on the law for clean water, unadulterated food, breathable air, automobiles that don't explode on the road, buildings to work in that don't fall down, streets that are free from the fear of assault, homes to sleep safely in at night -- for those who depend on rules that society lives by, a world without rules is a scary place, a new barbarism.
It takes humility to live in a democracy.
You make your arguments. Sometimes you win. Other times you lose. There is always tomorrow.
And then you have groups like Make the Road Action (what kind of name is that?) and people like Sara Cullinane. They can't accept ever being on the losing side. If they lose the debate and something becomes law that they don't like, they feel it is their right to ignore it. It's kind of like those arguments offered by the Sovereign Citizen movement.
The trouble is that when they win the argument and something becomes law that they do like, other people will follow what they did and ignore it. And soon, there will be no laws that everyone agrees to follow and so, no law.
Sara Cullinane and her group issued an attack on U.S. Senate candidate Bob Hugin today for saying on the Rich Zeoli radio program that the "idea of sanctuary cities is just illegal." Yes, the idea of state and local governments defying national law was kind of settled during the 1860's -- and later, during the 1960's.
Now "states' rights" groups like Make the Road Action and "states' rights" folks like Sara Cullinane can and should work to deconstruct the federal government's hegemony over many aspects of state and local jurisdiction. But this must be done legally, through the painstaking process of democracy, not by simply picking and choosing the laws you will ignore and those you will obey.
Sara Cullinane made the mind-numbingly silly argument that local government cooperation with regards to people here illegally -- some who are victims of human trafficking, sexual exploitation, and slavery -- was akin to making them "foot soldiers for ICE." That is like saying that local government cooperation with regards to anti-terrorism -- "see-something, say-something" -- is akin to making them "foot soldiers for Homeland Security."
Sara, don't be stupid. Cut the rhetoric, grow up, and get real. A great many illegal immigrants are victims of coercion, exploitation, and trafficking.
Human Trafficking is the fastest growing criminal industry in the world, second to drug dealing and tied with arms dealing. Recently, the FBI announced that it had uncovered and arrested 42 child sex traffickers in New Jersey. The Star-Ledger reported that the 42 were arrested on charges that included sex trafficking, child exploitation and prostitution. A total of 84 children were rescued during the operation. Human Trafficking is modern day slavery and it is happening while you write your next press release.
Child trafficking is a $32 billion-a-year industry and is on the rise in all 50 states, according to the U.S. government. 4.5 million of trafficked persons have been sexually exploited and nearly 300,000 Americans under 18 have been lured into the commercial sex trade. The National Human Trafficking Hotline reported that in 2016, human trafficking in the United States increased by 35.7% -- in one year!
If you really want to help people, get on the right side. Stop shilling for the human traffickers and work with law enforcement. And don't attack a guy like Bob Hugin for telling the very obvious truth.
