By: Tom Tancredo
Victims of Illegal Immigration – A Collection of Essays
Hat Tip: Dick Manasseri

On April 27th, 2010, President Obama attacked Arizona’s tough immigration law SB 1070 (Support Our Law Enforcement and Safe Neighborhoods Act). Ignoring the fact that the law specifically bars racial profiling, and that immigration status is checked only when police have reasonable suspicion during lawful contact, Obama claimed that under the law, “Now suddenly if you don’t have your papers, and you took your kid out to get ice cream, you’re going to get harassed – that’s something that could potentially happen. That’s not the right way to go.”

While Obama wrung his hands about something that “could potentially happen” when taking your kids for ice cream, less than three weeks earlier, illegal alien Francis Hernandez was sentenced to 60 years in prison for killing a three-year old child who was out with his mother to get ice cream.

On September 4, 2008, Hernandez was driving 80 miles per hour in a 40 mile per hour zone and slammed his pick-up truck into a truck driven by Patricia Guntharp, who was one of my constituents at the time, killing her and her passenger Debra Serecky. The trucks careened through a window at a Baskin Robbins, striking three-year old Marten Kudlis, who went flying through the air. Marten’s mother was in line to buy him ice cream. Marten was taken to the hospital where he died due to internal injuries.

Hernandez had been arrested 16 times in Colorado over five years, the most recent taking place less than two months before the fatal crash. The charges included driving without a license, forgery, theft, and assault. He was never handed over to immigration authorities. Had Colorado instituted a law similar to SB 1070, Francis Hernandez would have been deported long before he had the opportunity to kill Marten Kudlis, Patricia Guntharp, and Debra Serecky.

Every year, there are thousands of tragic incidents such as this – which can and should be prevented – that result in the deaths of American citizens.

While Barack Obama lets sanctuary cities continue to defy American immigration laws, his justice department is suing Arizona for trying to protect our citizens, because he is more concerned about imaginary scenarios that will inconvenience illegal aliens than the safety and well-being of American citizens. This is a travesty of national propositions.

Tom Tancredo is a former congressman from Colorado. He currently serves as co-chairman of Team America PAC, honorary chairman of Youth for Western Civilization, and is president of the Rocky Mountain Foundation.