Opinion
In what is a clear demonstration of how America has long been grappling with the problem of illegal immigrants committing violent crimes in this country, we look back at a debate between former Fox News host Bill O’Reilly and Geraldo Rivera of almost 20 years ago. Years ago.
Rivera has long been an advocate for illegal immigrants, so it’s no surprise that his stance in this 2007 clip is in defense of a man guilty of manslaughter. He and O’Reilly begin the debate by discussing Alfredo Ramos, who was ordered to serve 24 years in prison and then deported for a drunk driving crash that killed two teenage girls.
Before the crash that took the girls’ lives, Ramos had previously been convicted of three separate charges of public intoxication, identity theft and driving while intoxicated.
Despite his long criminal history and illegal status in the country before the incident, Ramos was never reported to federal immigration officials due to a Virginia Beach Police Department “protection policy” enacted in 2005 that prohibited the authorities from even asking him about his immigration status.
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Rivera Spars with O’Reilly – Gets shut down
Rivera approached the story in 2007 from the perspective that the illegal immigrant who killed two teenagers was no different from any other drunk driver in Virginia.
“I think you’ve got the story almost exactly wrong, my friend. I think we’re talking about drunk driving,” Rivera said. “And there were 347 drunk driving deaths in the Commonwealth of Virginia in 2005. I think this might be the first drunk driving story we’ve done from Virginia.”
Ramos’ case would be comparable to other drunk driving cases only if he they weren’t an illegal immigrant. You can’t say, “Well, the bank robber was no different than someone making a withdrawal if it weren’t for the gun.”
No, the bank robber is accused of robbery AND illegal possession of a firearm, while the charge rises to armed robbery. It’s relevant, Geraldo from 2007.
“It’s not a story about illegal aliens, Bill. It’s a drunk driving story,” Rivera falsely claimed.
“That’s why you’re wrong. When you come into this country illegally, number one, you have no right to be here, no right. That’s the truth,” O’Reilly countered in a debate that became incredibly heated.
“Now, I just want to clear things up. You, Geraldo Rivera, with teenage daughters, are telling me you’re OK with someone sneaking into the country, getting drunk, getting convicted of DUI and staying here? he asked. “Everything OK?”
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Too many stories of murder and rape
When the first approach – including Ramos in the drunk driving category – didn’t work, Rivera tried to convince O’Reilly that the illegal immigrant was being unfairly singled out because of his race.
“My nightmare is that my daughters will have to deal with a person who drives drunk. This is my nightmare, “she replied. « It could be a drunk Jew. It could be a drunk Polish. It could be a drunk Irishman. It could be a drunk Italian. What the hell difference does it make? “
The difference is that he was here illegally. His nationality does not matter.
“He has no right to be in this country!” O’Reilly shouted.
The nearly two-decade-old clip is extraordinarily relevant considering recent news. We have seen too many cases of illegal immigrants who “have no right to be in this country” commit heinous crimes in recent days.
On Wednesday, The Political Insider reported that ICE agents in Boston arrested a 34-year-old Guatemalan illegal immigrant recently convicted of assault and battery on a child under the age of 14. He had previously been released from Gloucester District Court, despite ERO (Repression and Removal Operations) Boston filing an immigration detainer case against him.
Additionally, Maryland authorities just arrested an illegal migrant from El Salvador and charged him with murder in the case of a two-year-old boy who was shot and killed this month while walking in the park with his mother.
Not to mention the case of University of Georgia nursing student Laken Riley, who was allegedly killed by suspect Jose Antonio Ibarra, an illegal alien.
Rivera, in 2007, would not have found these cases any more noteworthy than if they involved someone who is Irish.
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