Missing from the various topics brought up by both Presidential hopefuls during the 2008 election was the illegal immigration issue.  Even though many Americans voiced their concerns about this problem, prior to the election year, neither Obama nor McCain addressed it at length and seemed anxious to avoid dealing with it at all.  This was probably out of fear of losing votes from those who support allowing illegal aliens to become American citizens, without any penalties for unlawfully entering our country.

It appears that nobody in Congress or in the soon-to-be-done-with Bush administration or even in the upcoming Obama administration are interested in putting this matter as a priority on their "to-do" lists. 

Anyone daring to bring up this topic is almost immediately labeled as being "xenophobic", since a large number of illegal immigrants come from Mexico.  Most Americans have no difficulty with any person from any country going through the proper process to legally become an American citizen. 

When, however, this problem becomes a matter of public safety, something needs to be put into place.

A disturbing example to back up this point comes from Houston, Texas.

According to a story by the Houston Chronicle, violent inmates were allowed to be released from jail, even though these people confessed to being in the country illegally.  Due to the negligence of some folks who worked as Customs Enforcement employees in Harris County, a number of criminals who admitted to being illegal aliens were freed, instead of being deported.  The necessary paperwork that might have sent them back to the country of their origin was never filed.

Some of these errant individuals had been jailed for committing rape, child molestation and other heinous crimes.  Many of those let loose into the public went on the commit other violent acts.  Some have been in jail on several occasions, only to be eventually released again. 

This is not just relegated to Harris County, but too many places around the country that claim that the problem persists, due to not having a sufficient number of people to do the job and not being adequately funded. 

Certainly not all illegal’s are a danger to society, but, no matter which side of the illegal immigration issue you stand on, you must admit that something needs to be done to protect innocent people from those who are violent.  There must be an assurance that individuals here unlawfully who have proven that they pose a threat to the safety of others will be identified and deported.  Our leaders need to demand better cooperation from the countries violent criminals are returned to, to keep them from coming back here.

Will our new Congress and new President work to remedy this concern or, like their predecessors, put it on the back burner?

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