Posts Tagged ‘Immigration’

The Paddy Wagon

August 4th, 2010 by John Feehery

It is unclear whether the paddy wagon got its name from the Irish who were hauled off in police wagons in the late 19th century or from the Irish cops who threw them in there in the first place.

What is clear is that when the Irish descended upon America starting in the 1840’s, it created social disruption, political chaos, and a crime wave for a generation.

My great great grandfather on my father’s side was one of those Paddys who came to New York fleeing a desperate potato famine in the 1840’s, and while I don’t know for sure if old Tom Feehery ever ended up in a paddy wagon, I know for sure that some of his friends probably did.  Tom Feehery was a legal immigrant, but old Joe Hurley (my mother’s grandfather) probably wasn’t.

The No-Nothing Party was founded as a reaction to the Irish masses.  It didn’t do much to stop them though, and pretty soon the Irish were running the big cities, dominating the police forces and fire departments, and making in-roads into the Democratic party North of the Mason-Dixon line.  Read more...

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Posted in Economy, Foreign Relations, GOP, Government, Theory | No Comments »

Desperate Times Call for Desperate Measures

April 26th, 2010 by John Feehery

The Mexican drug war has spilled out over the border in the Southwest and has helped precipitate the new immigration law that just was signed into law in Arizona.

Washington activists can cry out about the unfairness of the law all they want, but until the President and his Administration take seriously the threat posed by the Mexican drug gangs, the people of Arizona will have no choice but to take extreme measures.

70 percent of the people of Arizona support the law just enacted.  That tells you something right there.

Both Arizona and New Mexico were in the top eight most violent states in the union last year.  Most of that can be attributed to the fact that the drug war has spilled out over the border.

I was listening to NPR (the voice of communism as my friends used to call it) and the story I heard was chilling.  The drug gangs now control the illegal passage ways into the United States, and if someone wants to come to America to find their version of the American dream, they can come illegally, which is very unlikely (given the cost and the time involved) or they can cut a deal with the drug lords.  Most cut a deal with the drug lords, and they become a mule for illegal narcotics.  Read more...

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Posted in Drugs in America, Foreign Relations, Immigration, Laws, Politics, Theory, war | 1 Comment »

Crime and Immigration

June 17th, 2008 by John Feehery

 

            Crime is the sleeper issue of this campaign, especially in Republican leaning-districts.

 

            While on a nationwide basis, violent crime is actually down, in smaller cities it is up by double-digit numbers.  For example in Indianapolis violent crime is up 27%, and in Jacksonville violent crime up 22%.  There are many other examples.

 

            I have had a working theory for quite a while that the anger towards illegal immigration is only partially explained by job security.  The biggest reason that many Americans dislike illegal immigration is a fear of crime.

 

            The Democrats now sense this and are outbidding the White House on spending for immigration enforcement, with a special emphasis on deporting people convicted of major drug offenses and violent crimes. 
According to one news report, “A Homeland Security budget bill now moving through the House Appropriations Committee specifies that at least $800 million be spent after Oct. 1 to identify and remove the most violent and dangerous criminals from the U.S.”

 

            Republicans need to answer this challenge by calling for the deportation of all violent criminals who are illegal immigrants and also call for more support for the Mexican military that is currently engaged in a full-fledged war against Mexican drug gangs.   Read more...

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Posted in Government, Politics, Theory | No Comments »

The War Inside America

June 7th, 2008 by John Feehery

This orginallly appeared on The Hill’s Pundits blog on May 16, 2008

The War Inside America (John Feehery)

@ 11:03 am

The New York Times had an interesting story on the front page today called “Immigration and Gang Violence Propel Crusade,” about the bubbling war between African-American gangs and Mexican gangs in Los Angeles. Apparently, members of the African-American community are asking the police to start checking on the immigration status of suspected Mexican gang members.

According to the Justice Department’s National Drug Intelligence Center report, “Mexican Drug Trafficking Organizations control the transportation and wholesale distribution of most illicit drugs in every area of the country except the Northeast; their influence is increasing. Their established overland transportation routes and entrenched distribution networks enable them to supply primary and secondary drug markets throughout these regions. They have gained a greater share of the drug market by forcing African American street gangs out of midlevel drug distribution and relegating them to lower-level retail distribution.”

The fight for control of the drug trade in the United States is exacerbating tensions between African-Americans and Mexicans throughout the country. According to the Office of National Drug Control policy, many Mexican gang members are trying to blend into the local community of Mexican immigrants, from which they develop a marketing plan to distribute drugs. This is especially prevalent in the Midwest.  Read more...

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Posted in Theory | No Comments »