A recent sting by the Houston Police Department aimed at getting a burglar resulted in the arrest of a number of illegal aliens. There has, of course, been an outcry about the operation from all the usual liberal suspects.

Today the Houston Chronicle weighs in, taking a thouroughly predictable position.

On any given day, dozens of would-be laborers mill about Washington and Shepherd streets. Residents, many of them Latino, complained that the men were disrupting traffic by wading into the street whenever potential employers passed. So the local HPD unit devised a plan: Masquerading as contractors, officers hired dozens of day laborers from the street, then promptly arrested them. The ruse didn't yield the burglar; it did lead to 30 charges of solicitation by pedestrians — a Class C misdemeanor. Days later, most of the men were back on the streets.

Neighborhood residents were delighted, but the police sweep smacked of entrapment. It also sent the wrong message to Houston's immigrants, compromising public safety. Police, the arrests implied, were the enemy of people just trying to get work.

Actually, the arrests implied that if you break the law you are subject to arrest. In all honestly, the bulk of those cited should have been turned over to federal officials for deportation. -- but they weren't. Some laws, you see go unenforced by the Houston Police.

My question to the Chronicle and its supporters is a simple one -- When will you accept that these people are in violation of our nation's laws, and that they should be treated accordingly?

Posted by: Greg at 01:40 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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