Michelle Malkin

Jewish World Review April 26, 2006 / 28 Nissan, 5766

The victims of illegal immigration

By Michelle Malkin

http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | President Bush accuses those of us who want to secure America's borders and fully enforce our immigration laws of lacking "compassion."

Huh. Well, I have yet to hear an ounce of compassion from President Bush for America's countless casualties of lax immigration enforcement. Where's the sympathy for innocent, law-abiding citizens who have lost their lives at the hands of illegal aliens and their open-borders enablers?

Nope, we haven't heard a word about the victims as the White House pours on its unadulterated pro-illegal alien rhetoric and "undocumented workers do the jobs Americans won't do" propaganda — all in support of a massive, ill-timed, bureaucratic nightmare-inducing amnesty plan that will inevitably increase illegal immigration.

Last week, a notorious illegal alien serial killer who traipsed freely across the U.S.-Mexican border during a 25-year, escalating crime spree popped up in the news again. The case of Angel Resendiz, a convicted death row murderer in President Bush's home state of Texas, is a timely reminder of the deadly costs of our continued homeland security chaos.

Time and again, illegal alien day laborer Resendiz broke the law getting into our country; broke more laws while in the country; and then broke the law repeatedly and brazenly after being released, deported, and allowed to return. His most brutal acts included the slayings of 12 people, ranging in age from 16 to 81, which ended in 1999 when Resendiz surrendered to a Texas Ranger in El Paso. For the last seven years, Resendiz has been perched comfortably on Death Row — eating chocolate cream pies, watching Spanish-language television, whining about depression, and selling locks of his hair on Internet auction sites.

His execution, scheduled for May 10, has been delayed pending yet another of his endless appeals claiming to be "insane."

As I recounted in my book Invasion, Resendiz entered and exited our country at will. From the time he was 14, he racked up arrests and convictions ranging from trespassing, destruction of property, burglary, aggravated batter, and grand theft auto to carrying a loaded firearm and false representation of U.S. citizenship. He had at least 25 encounters with U.S. law enforcement between August 1976 and August 1996, when he was arrested and released for trespassing in a Kentucky railyard.

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During that period, he was convicted at least nine times on several serious felon charges. He was deported to Mexico by the feds at least three times and was "voluntarily returned" to Mexico at least four times without formal proceedings. Throughout 1998, the Border Patrol continued its blind catch-and-release policy — apprehending Resendiz seven times and letting him go on his own recognizance despite his massive criminal record and three prior deportations. Shoddy fingerprint databases, immigration paperwork negligence, and unpoliced borders led to:

The bludgeoning death of Florida teenager Jesse Howell and the rape and strangulation murder of his fiancé, Wendy Von Huben.

The bludgeoning death of University of Kentucky student Christopher Maier and the rape and near-murder of his girlfriend, who survived the attack.

The murder of Leafie Mason, an elderly Texas whom Resendiz hammered to death with a fire iron.

The rape, stabbing, and bludgeoning death of Baylor College of Medicine researcher Claudia Benton.

The sledgehammer bludgeonings of Texas pastor Norman Sirnic and his wife, Karen.

The bludgeoning death of Houston teacher Noemi Dominguez.

The murder of elderly Texas widow Josephine Konvicka, who was killed with a grubbing hoe.

The murders of George Morber, shot in the head, and Carolyn Frederick, clubbed to death.

The last four of Resendiz's victims were murdered after Resendiz had been released by federal immigration officials — even though there were already warrants outstanding for his arrest.

Resendiz made a bloody mockery of our homeland security chaos. Congress and the White House are now preparing to add grave insult to fatal injury by refusing to fix the persistent problems that facilitated Resendiz's crimes.

Campaigning for amnesty this week, President Bush mouthed the open-borders mantra against tough deportation policies and lectured immigration enforcement advocates about their lack of sensitivity.

"I can understand it's emotional," he said, but "we're talking about human beings, decent human beings that need to be treated with respect."

I don't think the victims of "undocumented worker" Angel Resendiz would agree.

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