Are we truly just letting anyone in?

The border needs a bouncer

At any nightclub in America, you are usually greeted by the same sight:  a beefy man dressed in all black at the door, checking for ID’s.  He is not just there to make sure everyone is 21, he is there to keep certain people out: the girl who has had too much to drink and is stumbling, the guy who has already gotten loud with people on the line and is looking for more trouble, the perp who has been caught stealing wallets inside the club in the past.  Over time this bouncer develops a sense of who should be allowed in and who is a problem waiting to happen. 

Cops have a similar sense.  They often know who the perps are as they pull up to corner, can tell who is going to put up a fight.  It seems like whomever the federal government is using to “safeguard” our borders either hasn’t developed this sense yet or just doesn’t care. Unfortunately, it seems like the latter. 

We can see this in our recent daily headlines.  A group of Venezuelan migrants attacks two NYPD cops in Times Square, a Venezuelan youth shoots a tourist in Times Square, Venezuelan Tren de Aragua gang in NYC goes on a robbery spree.  And that’s just New York City.  Chicago and other towns are experiencing similar crimes.

It appears that on some level the gang element that exerts a significant amount of power in Venezuela is being pushed up to the United States.  It’s hard to tell if they are being specifically weaponized, or if just the general chaos in socialist Venezuela has them searching for greener pastures, as so many law-abiding Venezuelans are doing.  Some of these gangs rival the power of the government in some areas of Venezuela.  Tren de Aragua appears to be the largest gang in Venezuela, and it has been expanding to other countries at a rapid pace.  And now, thanks to Biden’s border policies, it is here in the United States.  Lucky us.

The headlines show that Tren de Aragua is here, and numerous law enforcement agencies have sounded the alarm.  The FBI El Paso field office issued a warning about the gang’s presence and a possible alliance with MS-13 (what could go wrong?).  Chicago-area police have issued a warning about the gang.  The NYPD has issued an arrest bulletin that possibly associates Tren de Aragua members to robbery patterns.

The gang’s tattoos include a train, a skull with a gas mask, and an AK-47 rifle.  Gang members have been forgoing some of these tattoos recently, making it harder to identify them, but are using other indicators like wearing jerseys with the number 23 to commemorate the date of their founding. 

With a little information, some technology, and some good interview techniques, it seems like a good part of this gang problem can be stopped at the border.  When processing a young male migrant, all precautions must be taken to ensure we are not accepting (and paying for) criminals to live in the United States.  Asking the right questions, searching cell phones, and looking for indicators such as tattoos can make a significant dent in this influx of criminals.  But the Biden administration doesn’t appear to have any sort of vetting process and literally no one appears to be kept out of our country.  There definitely does not seem to be the “bouncer” or a street-smart cop ensuring that our country is kept free of this criminal element. 

As usual, getting answers from this administration is impossible.  The US Customs and Border Protection website indicates that 15,267 immigrants have been arrested for having criminal records.  It does not indicate what subsequently happens to these individuals.  The incompetent Biden Administration cannot deport anyone to Venezuela as that country has stopped accepting deportees – another knock at American power.  Are these people kept in US custody?  Are they staying in the Roosevelt Hotel in Manhattan?  To conflate two mysteries: Was George Santos one of them? (Just a joke, just a joke…).

We can speak from experience that once a criminal gang takes hold in a neighborhood it is very difficult to excise.  With local gangs, taking out the leaders sometimes can knock a crew back a peg.  But an international gang? That is a task that is nearly impossible.  Let’s see how the federal government handles it.  If they handle it at all.

Street smarts

Speaking of street-smart cops, the two NYPD cops who suffered an assault at the hands of Venezuelan immigrants have come under another attack from some corners of the media.  The criminal sympathizers have stated that the cops “started” the confrontation with the group.

They specifically point to the NYPD Lieutenant who order the group to move.  The perp in the yellow jacket refused to immediately comply and was grabbed by the Lieutenant.  Video shows “yellow jacket” Yohenry Brito telling the cop to wait, taking his time, insulting the two officers, getting loud, and being disorderly.  The Lieutenant grabs Brito and pushes him up against the wall, presumably to give him a summons or make an arrest for Disorderly Conduct.  Critics, however, claim that Brito was moving as the cop grabbed him.

We say, who cares?  This Lieutenant and his partner are doing the right thing.  They know they are dealing with perps; any cop could tell from a mile away that that crew was no bunch of choirboys.  And the two cops were proven right seconds later when the gang, acting together, assaulted them. 

Cops are supposed to confront these types.  Allowing gang members to hang out on corners and harass passersby is not acceptable, and not what the community wants cops to allow.  Controlling disorder is what makes the police effective.

Those cops were doing their jobs.  Despite the deck stacked against them from lawmakers and the media, it is good to see officers willing to be proactive and decisive.  It is also frankly amazing, given the current atmosphere.  We say: Keep up the good work.