Immigration Status Does Matter

It’s time we’re completely honest about what happened last Sunday in Indianapolis.

According to police, Edwin Jackson, a 27-year-old linebacker for the Indianapolis Colts and his 54-year-old Uber driver, Jeffrey Monroe, were killed when they were struck by a drunk driver - an illegal immigrant - with a blood alcohol level more than twice the state's limit.

He'd already been convicted of DUI in California in 2005.

Despite what the open borders crowd is saying, the immigration status of the man who’s accused of killing them IS important. 

If this man is convicted of causing these deaths, it will be fair to point out that had he been in Guatemala - where he'd been deported to TWICE - both Jackson and Monroe would be alive.

All the pro-illegal immigrant spin in the world can’t change that.

I suppose it’s unfortunate that this happened at the same time some in Congress are trying to give amnesty to millions of illegals. But this guy isn’t the first person to break American laws after sneaking into the country. And if convicted, he won't be the first illegal immigrant found guilty of killing someone, either.

We had a similar case here in Virginia Beach back in 2007. I wrote about it extensively for The Virginian-Pilot. 

On March 30 of that year two teenage girls were waiting at a red light when a drunken illegal immigrant plowed into the back of their stopped car at 65 mph and killed them both.

They were Ali Kunhardt, 17, and Tessa Tranchant, 16. They were wearing seatbelts. They had to be cut out of their car. One girl died at the scene. The other died that night in the hospital.

You can still see a little makeshift memorial for the two - best friends forever - at the intersection of Virginia Beach Boulevard and Kings Grant Road.

I slow down every time I pass and remember these innocent kids.

Their killer - who’d already been convicted of DUI but not deported - was sentenced to 40 years in prison. Twenty four to serve and another 16 waiting for him if he ever re-enters the U.S. after he’s finally deported.

If he'd been sent back to Mexico after his first DUI, those two girls would still be alive.

Three years later, again in Virginia, an illegal immigrant from Bolivia with two previous DUIs killed a 66-year-old nun in a drunken driving accident in Prince William County. He was sentenced to 20 years.

When that case hit the news, the pro-illegal immigrant crowd immediately chorused the same tedious stuff we’re hearing now. 

They pretended the guilty man's immigration status didn’t matter. This was just another unfortunate case of a drunk driver who killed someone.

I disagreed then. I disagree now.

Here’s what I wrote at the time:

It’s true that most drunken drivers in the United States are Americans. We’re stuck with these homegrown hairballs. But there’s no reason we should be dealing with repeat offenders who are here illegally.

Until we secure our borders and enforce our immigration laws, we’ll continue to read about these awful, preventable tragedies.

Enough already.