On immigration, conservatives premiere a new office of political theater
SAN DIEGO -- When they criticize laws against hate crimes, conservatives claim we shouldn't create special classes of victims.
Well, forget all that. It turns out that they feel differently when they can get political mileage from exploiting the public's fear of illegal immigrants. Then they're all in.
Recently, the Department of Homeland Security created an office called Victims of Immigration Crime Engagement (VOICE) to supposedly serve Americans who are harmed when the undocumented commit crimes.
People like Benjamin and Ingrid Lake who, along with their 6-year-old son, Lennox, were coming home from Disneyland on May 6 when a drunk driver plowed into their car in San Ysidro, California, south of San Diego and near the U.S.-Mexico border.
The driver, 38-year-old Constantino Banda-Acosta, is an illegal immigrant who fled the scene but was soon arrested.
The parents suffered minor injuries, but Lennox remains hospitalized. He is being treated for a major head injury, although he is expected to make a full recovery.
A criminal like Banda-Acosta floats under the radar because, under normal circumstances, neither local nor federal officials are anxious to take responsibility for him.
That is, until there is a crash, an injured child, and a media spectacle. Then, every jurisdiction wants him.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement has lodged a detainer against Banda-Acosta, seeking to "pursue additional immigration enforcement action and/or criminal prosecution." But ICE will have to cool it, and wait its turn.
The San Diego district attorney's office wants first crack at Banda-Acosta. He was charged in state court with hit-and-run causing permanent injury, drunk driving resulting in great bodily harm and driving without a license.
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