Clueless On Immigration

The LATimes editorial staff doesn't think police should busy themselves pursuing criminals. At least, they should pursue anyone guilty of the crime of entering our country illegally.

In a dazed and confused editorial, the LAT sets an impossible standard for the local police. If they were asked to follow a standard this high in their journalism, they'd have no choice but to shut down the press, turn off the lights, lock the door and go home:

We don't oppose the LAPD's power to go after convicted felons who have illegally reentered the country. Our worry is that a "clarification" of existing policy could lead to mission creep, encouraging beat cops to fall back on the immigration pretext to detain and harass people, mostly Latinos, they might otherwise lack reasonable suspicion to stop. It's awfully easy to say someone looks like that person deported a decade ago.

How are cops to pursue convicted felon illegals without prodding about in the illegal community?

And what is wrong with investigating people who appear to be guilty of a crime? Yes, there will be the matter of "Driving While Mexican" offenses, but cops are smarter than editorial writers, and they should be able to handle that just fine. And in the process, they could bust a few criminals who are guilty of violating our immigration laws, which is, the last time I checked, still a crime.