When crime becomes a political hot potato

Often times anti-immigration advocates cite serious crimes committed by illegal immigrants to justify the need for harsh, strict immigration measures. Yet these voices become oddly silent when an undocumented immigrant becomes the victim, not the perpetrator, of a major crime.

Case in point: the murder case of 25-year-old Luis E. Ramirez. Ramirez- an illegal immigrant from Mexico and father of two- was brutally beaten and murdered in northeastern Pennsylvania last July. According to court records six white teens assaulted Ramirez though so far three of them have been charged as adults in his death. (A fourth teen was charged on Friday with “aggravated assault, ethnic intimidation and other offenses.”)

The unfortunate reality is that these cases like Ramirez’ death becomes extrapolated into the debate on immigration. Situations like the aforementioned become focal points for excessive bloviating on “sanctuary cities” or finger-pointing at the media. In the end, the discussion drowns out the true victims of these crimes: the families of the deceased who are morning and whose spirits are wounded. Having their cases politicized is disrespectful to those who are truly suffering.

Image- ABC News
Sources- The Latin Americanist, Reading Eagle, philly.com, USA TODAY, Fox News, York Daily Record