Illegal immigration problems growing

Here is yet another twist to the hot-button topic of illegal immigration. There is a growing consensus in this country that the daily stream of illegal aliens who pour into our country should be stopped. Millions of illegals come here for jobs or simply to escape the poverty of Mexico and other Latin and South American countries. And with that flood of aliens comes growing pressure on taxpayers here. Crime too often follows this population.

Well, here is more ammunition in that ongoing argument.

On Thursday, gunmen in Arizona stopped a pickup full of illegal immigrants. The gunmen killed three and kidnapped the remainder. Earlier that day, 18 illegal aliens were robbed at gunpoint a short distance away.

Police believe the gunmen were also illegal immigrants who preyed on their fellow countrymen when they crossed the border. These gangs of bandits and smugglers use the kidnap victims for ransom from their relatives.

So now - if the problem were not bad enough - we have illegal aliens who see an opportunity to make money from their fellow illegals. And they commit these crimes right under our noses on American soil.

Investigators say these roaming bands of gangsters routinely stop other smugglers and demand money. The bandits have no fear of killing those they stop. And then the killers slip away and melt into the fabric of this country.

One report out this week said that as many as 90 percent of the unsolved murders in Los Angeles were attributed to illegal aliens. And that statistic may hold true for the rest of the nation if we don't take substantial steps to plug this flow of immigrants across our borders.

Since the problem is so obvious, why are our elected officials not as concerned as the rest of us? For starters, far too many American businesses rely on the illegal population. These businesses are big and they have plenty of money to spend on political campaigns. Also, the growing Hispanic population has formed a substantial voting bloc in this country. No politician wants to alienate such a growing number.

Left unchecked, where will this country be in 20 years? I would offer a prediction. There will be a collision of some magnitude based solely on race. It will dwarf any such civil unrest in this nation's history. And it will come because our elected officials chose not to resolve the issue when they had the chance.