The country is still buzzing about my debate with Geraldo last week, whom we'll speak to in a few moments, by the way. The crux of the discussion was one very simple question. Are you OK, are you OK, with an illegal alien being allowed to remain in the USA despite four misdemeanor convictions ? One for DUI.
If you are OK with that, you need to watch the end of the program. But most Americans are not OK with it. And because many places in America do not obey immigration law, tragedy is now an everyday occurrence.
17-year-oldAlison Kunhardt, 16-year-old Tessa Tranchant are dead because Virginia Beach authorities and Judge Colon Whitehurst did not inform immigration authorities about 22-year-oldAlfredo Ramos , a criminal illegal alien who killed the teenagers with his car. And so, Ramos has inflicted a cruel blow on Allison's family:
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID KUNHARDT, DAUGHTER KILLED BY ILLEGAL ALIEN: Losing a 17- year-old daughter is something that you can't imagine. I still call her cell phone to listen to her voice. And I leave her a message just to pretend like she's still here. I want justice to be done. I want -- excuse me[tears up].
(END VIDEO CLIP)
Despite that, Virginia police chief Alfred Jaycocks remains unrepentant.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALFRED JAYCOCKS, JR., VIRGINIA BEACH POLICE CHIEF: Not only do we not have the capacity to do the federal government's work in the area of immigration, but we have no business doing so.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
Now Virginia Beach was actually -- has a written policy, a written policy, warning its police officers not to ask about immigration status, if you can believe that. Thus, Virginia Beach is a sanctuary city. That is, it allows criminal illegals to avoid immigration proceedings.
But incredibly, the mayor of Virginia Beach says she knows nothing about this. She wouldn't come on “The Factor”, so we went to her.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MEYERA OBERNDORF, VIRGINIA BEACH MAYOR: I thank you for coming on my property without an invitation.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why is your city a Sanctuary City?
OBERNDORF: We are not a Sanctuary City.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Don't you have policies that prevent the police from asking people about their immigration?
OBERNDORF: We do not. Please give us the courtesy -- you know, you're worried about people coming on to other people's country, land and property without an invitation. Would you be kind enough to let us know when you're going to use our front lawn?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, but we've invited you on the show a number of times and you've declined.
OBERNDORF: Frankly, with all due respect, if everybody were as reasonable as you have been, I probably wouldn't have nearly the, the feeling of, being attacked by a wild animal.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
OK. Now the mayor is either clueless or deceitful. The mayor's husband was not pleased that "Factor" producer Jesse Watters, you just heard, was looking for answers.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROGER OBERNDORF, VIRGINIA BEACH MAYOR'S HUSBAND: Why don't you get...?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sir, what's the problem?
OBERNDORF: This is not a felony. This is not a Sanctuary City. Mr. O'Reilly's been lying, OK?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What's he been lying about?
OBERNDORF: This is not a Sanctuary City. There's no such thing in Virginia.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Whether you call it a Sanctuary City or not.
OBERNDORF: It is not a Sanctuary City. There is no such thing under Virginia law.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Doesn't the police chief have provisions that prevent his officers from asking people about their immigration status and reporting them to ICE ?
OBERNDORF: He's following ICE regulations, which say you notify them when there's a felony committed.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As I talked.
OBERNDORF: Public drunkenness is a misdemeanor.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
OK. Now who's the mayor? I mean, is this guy the mayor or is it the woman who's the mayor?
Now it's clear that Virginia Beach is not looking out for its citizens, but is looking out for business . Because the city is a resort town, the hotels and restaurants need cheap labor, thus the sanctuary policies.
The good people of Virginia Beach should recall the mayor and fire the police chief, because they are partially responsible for the deaths of Allison and Tessa. And many people are disgusted:
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He shouldn't have been allowed on the streets no matter where he was from or what he was doing. I mean, he should have been in jail before that.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He already had a DUI charge before. And they should have just sent him back.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He shouldn't have gotten loose. He should -- I think one time, one strike you're out. I don't believe in three strikes you're out.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I just think that it's ridiculous that they didn't check it, especially if he had multiple charges.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I just think that it's ridiculous that nothing's happened to him yet.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think he should be convicted of manslaughter. And I think the judges that let him off should have some answering to do.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
Overwhelmingly, that was the prevailing wisdom on the streets of Virginia Beach, but this kind of stuff's happening all across the country. It is anarchy pure and simple.
For example, Phoenix, Arizona is a sanctuary city. Its police will not alert ICE about criminal aliens. But Maricopa County, where Phoenix is located, detains illegals and does alert ICE. Thus, the sheriff of Maricopa County and the police chief of Phoenix are on the opposite sides of the law. If that isn't anarchy, nothing is.
The entire mess is the fault of a cowardly federal government and local politicians who are often corrupt and dumb.
For decades, presidents and the Congress have looked the other way as millions of illegal aliens have poured over the Mexican border because business wants cheap labor. It's all about the money, ladies and gentlemen, and misguided compassion.
But the situation is now at the boiling point. And President Bush knows it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Incarceration of criminals who are here illegally strains the Arizona budget. But there's a lot of other ways it strains the local and state budgets. It brings crime to our communities. It's a problem and we need to address it aggressively.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
While millions of Americans have been injured by illegal aliens, the migrants themselves are also getting hurt. Last year, nearly 500 illegal aliens died trying to cross the border from Mexico mostly in the desert. And just last month, nine children died in a fire because they were crammed into a Bronx tenement that no one was paying attention to. New York is a Sanctuary City, as is Los Angeles, Chicago and Houston -- the nation's four largest metro areas.
Immigration anarchy affects every single American and every single migrant. The situation has reached critical mass, has misguided compassion, is leading to death and destruction.
The only way the madness will stop is if every American demands immigration reform and strict enforcement of criminal illegals. One conviction, as the woman said, one should merit deportation. And if that criminal returns to the USA, the punishment should be a mandatory 10-year federal prison term.
The United States of America is a great country. But on this issue, our elected officials are failing dismally.
So once again "Talking Points" urges Washington and the sanctuary cities to do the following:
• Secure the border with the National Guard and barriers.
• Require the millions of illegals already here to register and obtain tamper-proof ID cards at their own expense.
• Develop a fair guest worker program.
• And down the road permanent residents for the good migrants.
• But zero tolerance for all illegals who break the law.
Americans are not required to put up with foreigners who put us all in danger. Period.
And that's "The Memo."
Most Ridiculous Item
Press coverage of the O'Reilly-Rivera shootout has been largely fair and balanced, with one notable exception. ABC News played it straight -- no smug overtones. The other networks also pretty fair.
In print the Associated Press article was straight. But Howard Kurtz, writing in the "Washington Post", did not identify one of his so-called experts that he used as being largely anti-FOX.
And you should have done, that sir. Nobody knows who Matthew Felling is, Howard. And you should have noted he is not a fan of this network when you quoted him.
Now, the absolute worse was this woman Joanne Ostrow of The Denver Post. She said, "O'Reilly seized the moment to turn the issue into a tirade against illegal aliens. O'Reilly spewed racist bile."
That, of course is, a lie, and anybody watching that debate would know that. Our reporting was exclusively about criminal illegal aliens.
Now we expect this kind of stuff from Ostrow, who is dishonest, flat out dishonest and a far left ideologue. Shame on her.
And by the way, two Denver police officers were shot last year. One killed by a scofflaw illegal alien. But I'm racist for mentioning that, right, madam?
Ridiculous? Off the chart. Disgraceful. Absolutely disgraceful, The Denver Post.
—You can catch Bill O'Reilly's "Talking Points Memo" and "Most Ridiculous Item" weeknights at 8 and 11 p.m. ET on the FOX News Channel and any time on foxnews.com/oreilly. Send your comments to: oreilly@foxnews.com
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