More Border Insanity

Many of you already know that I am a staunch supporter of closing the US-Mexico border. I believe it is the single most important issue facing the United States today - bigger than Iraq, campaign finance reform, social security reform, abortion, or anything else - because if we lose our country, nothing else matters. The current state of the border also flies in the face of any effort towards bolstering national security. Look at it this way: If you are fighting a neighbor a few blocks from your house in the name of better home security, does it make sense to leave your front door unlocked in the process? That is exactly what is happening with the border.

A few days ago we published an op/ed entitled "What's at Stake With the Mexican Border." It spells out very clearly what the militants on the other side of the issue are supporting. Today I bring you this piece that is but one of many disgusting examples of why the border must be closed. The incident occurred in the parking lot of Navy Federal Credit Union where I used to bank when I lived in Oceanside, CA which, you may or may not be aware, is the home of Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton.

In June 2003, Officer Zepetella pulled over Adrian Camacho, an illegal immigrant who had previously been deported THREE TIMES and is a 4-time repeat felony offender with a long criminal record:

* He was arrested in 1991 as a juvenile for carrying a loaded firearm in public at the scene of a drive-by shooting. It was also determined that he was a member of the Mesa Locos gang.
* When he was 18, he was arrested on a felony warrant by a North County task force investigating drug and gang crimes. He pleaded guilty to possession of methamphetamine and was sent to prison for 16 months.
* On March 29, 1995, Camacho was charged with possession of heroin and narcotics paraphernalia. He pleaded guilty to heroin possession under a plea bargain, and was sentenced to another 16 months.
* On Aug. 9, 1996, he was arrested again on drug charges and for possession of a sawed-off shotgun. He was charged with being a felon in possession of a short-barreled shotgun, receiving stolen property, possession of a narcotic without a prescription and possession of drug paraphernalia. He pleaded guilty to the weapon charge and possessing stolen property and was sentenced to three years in prison.
* On Nov. 27, 1999, Camacho was arrested for failing to pull over for a police officer. According to the police complaint he fled after seeing flashing lights on a patrol car. He pleaded guilty to evading arrest with reckless driving and driving under the influence of drugs and was sentenced to four years in prison.

This scum bag was pulled over for a traffic violation and then subsequently shot Officer Zepetella. These two local news stories do not tell the whole story, however. I personally spoke to winesses who told me that the officer was attempting to crawl back to his patrol car, and the scum bag then shot the officer to death with his own weapon and then pistol whipped him before taking the patrol car to, as the news stories point out, a location where he holed-up for several hours before surrendering to the police.

The makeshift memorial I saw on the following Monday (the tragedy occurred on a Friday, a military payday, too) when I went to do my banking made me weep for his young wife and their 6 month old son who will never know his father because of a lowlife criminal from another country. When I learned that this animal had been deported THREE TIMES prior, it made me sick with rage.