[Dean's World] Scott Kirwin: Is Newark NJ Paying the Price for being a Sanctuary City?

[notify at powerblogs.com]

Posted by Scott Kirwin:
Is Newark NJ Paying the Price for being a Sanctuary City?
http://www.deanesmay.com/posts/1186840672.shtml


   The murder of 4 college students in Newark New Jersey last Saturday
   night proves that even in our society which has witnessed horrific
   acts of violence in its relatively brief history, we haven't lost the
   capacity for being shocked. As the perpetrators are rounded up, the
   alleged ringleader appears to be [1]Jose Carranza, aka Jose La Chira.
   Carranza is an illegal immigrant from Peru who has been in trouble
   with the law in Newark twice this year.

     Carranza was indicted by grand juries in New Jersey twice this year
     â in April on aggravated assault and weapons charges; and in July
     on 31 counts which included aggravated sexual assault of a child
     under 13 years old and endangering the welfare of a child he had a
     duty to supervise.

   In both incidents, Carranza was granted and posted bail - a rarity
   according to Alan L. Zegas, a noted New Jersey defense lawyer.

     "The level of risk of flight increases exponentially when a person
     is not a citizen of this country and has few, if any, roots here,"
     Zegas said.

   The prosecution in both those prior cases stated that "Our focus
   hasn't been his immigration status."

   Perhaps the reason the Newark prosecutors focus was not on his
   immigration status was [2]the fact Newark is a "Sanctuary City" -
   where local officials do not enforce immigration laws.

     Paterson Councilman-at-large Rigo Rodriguez: "The residents of this
     city must be able to go to the supermarket, ride in a car, walk
     down our streets, without fear that they will be arrested and not
     be able to go home that night," Rodriguez said. "Immigration
     officials need to deal with illegal immigrants at the border. Their
     failure to control that is why they end up in our cities.

     "Once they're here, it shouldn't be our job to deal with their
     immigration status," Rodriguez said. "Once they're here, they're
     members of our community and our role is to make them feel safe and
     comfortable here. They simply shouldn't be harassed."

   Was the Newark prosecution or the judges on his prior cases afraid to
   consider Carranza's immigration status when granting bail? What role
   did Newark's sanctuary city law play in these decisions?

   And finally, how did an illegal immigrant from Peru have the money to
   post $200,000 worth of bond? Even at 10% someone would have had to
   come up with $20,000 - a sum that an illegal immigrant would be
   unlikely to have.

   Four young American students are dead at the hands of a murderer and
   his motley crew. While ultimate responsibility lays with the killers,
   the System failed those kids in that New Jersey schoolyard a week ago.

References

   1. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,292911,00.html
   2. http://www.northjersey.com/page.php?qstr=eXJpcnk3ZjcxN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXkyJmZnYmVsN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXk3MDg1NDYw