Immigration and Gang Battles Ignite Campaign
By: Tommy Elder, Jr.
With the influx of immigrants clamoring to experience a better life in the United States- Jennifer Steinhauer of the New York Times chronicles a seamier side of the immigrant influx. Gang violence sometimes crosses the borders with some of the immigrants entering this country. As a counter weight to this clash in societal norms- the Los Angeles Police Department started a system in which an individual dealing with law enforcement would undergo an instant immigration status check. This scheme known as Special Order 40, came into existence as a reassurance to illegal aliens who in the past avoided reporting criminal acts and aiding in law enforcement investigations.
Some members of the African American community perceive Special Order 40 as a barrier to applying immigration procedures to cap ``Latino gang violence.`` Expressing her frustration with the surge in gang activity- Connie Rice, a civil rights activist and lawyer said- `There has been a huge turnover in a 20 year period, and so the tensions get expressed in a lot other ways. The African-American Community is feeling under siege, and it is always easier to strike out at the other.`
Due to the ravages of ``gang violence`` negative inter-racial prejudicial consequences often escalate. Statiscally, these images from mistaken assessments serve as the catalyst for many of the incidents. The City of Los Angeles, for example, highlights the reality of crime and its victims. The Los Angeles Police Department reported that ``eighty-seven percent of the 394 illings in Los Angeles last year were by people of the same race as the victim.``
More abstracts about the New York Times