For the past six weeks, I’ve been talking on SiriusXM radio about the disappearance of Iowa college student Mollie Tibbetts, and for nearly that entire time, knowing the relevant statistics as well as just about anyone, I had to expect a sad ending to her story, like the one which we all now know: She was assaulted and murdered, her body allegedly discarded in a cornfield by an illegal immigrant named Cristhian Rivera, while she was innocently jogging one July evening on a rural road where she reasonably had expected to encounter only corn stalks and the occasional crow. In other words, Mollie is yet another innocent American, now deceased, who’d be alive today if her fellow Americans had exerted as much effort to control our southern border as his fellow Mexicans have exerted to control theirs.
I’ve spent enough time in Mexico — and about 40 other countries spanning all seven continents — to say confidently, if you don’t believe me, just try walking into Mexico from Guatemala unannounced, or, for that matter, try walking into most countries unannounced; see what happens. And when I say, “yet another innocent American,” I’m not referring only to Kate Steinle, the other young American woman in recent memory whose death at the hands of an illegal immigrant received similar national media coverage. Consider this: In just five states — New York, Florida, Texas, Arizona, and California — 5,400 illegal immigrants currently are incarcerated for murder, so I’m referring to a lot of dead Americans (and there are 45 more states which also have illegal immigrants incarcerated for murder).
It’s absurd for open-borders advocates (whose end game clearly is to secure illegal immigrants’ votes by first securing for them amnesty, then citizenship) to argue that Rivera’s immigration status isn’t relevant — if he hadn’t been here, he couldn’t have assaulted and murdered Mollie. And while it’s reasonable to conclude, from the available data, that most immigrants mean Americans no harm, it’s also reasonable to conclude that illegal immigrants commit more and more-violent crimes, per capita, than do legal immigrants or Americans. And the assault and murder committed on that rural Iowa road last month weren’t the only crimes committed against Mollie Tibbetts. Unbeknownst to her, she arguably was a victim of a series of prior crimes, arguably involving accessories and accomplices:
1) The illegal immigration to the U.S. which Rivera (allegedly) committed sometime between four and seven years ago. And what’s worse, this crime was facilitated by our government’s utter dereliction of its duty to defend our borders and thereby to protect our population, even as effectively as third-world countries defend and protect theirs. In other words, our government — and each of us, if we’ve voted for politicians who haven’t promised to defend our borders, or if we’ve voted to re-elect politicians who’ve promised it but who’ve then broken those promises — arguably are accessories to the first in the series of crimes culminating in Mollie’s murder.
2) The identity theft which (allegedly) facilitated Rivera’s illegal employment here in the U.S. Rivera’s most recent employer says that Rivera presented documentation which would’ve fooled any reasonably-diligent employer as to his legal employability. If that’s true, then A) there’s at least one accomplice to that identity theft — Rivera clearly isn’t sophisticated enough to have produced such high-quality forgeries, and B) we, as a nation, could’ve prevented it by mandating and facilitating employers’ use of E-Verify technology nationwide. And if it’s not true, then anyone who hired him is complicit in his illegal employment and should now be his cell mate.
Those are just the prior crimes that we know about so far. Anyone who enabled Rivera in any way to remain in the U.S. belongs in prison also, because they ultimately enabled him to assault and murder Mollie. He shouldn’t have been able to work here, which means he shouldn’t have been able to eat here, which means he shouldn’t have been able to stay here. And no, “humanitarian” assistance is no exception if the individual(s) or organization(s) which gave him any such assistance had reason to believe that he was here illegally — if he showed up on the doorstep of an American church or charity cold and hungry, and he conveyed that he was in the U.S. illegally, then he should’ve been advised to turn himself in to I.C.E., from which he could’ve received shelter and sustenance — in custody.
And while I hope I’m wrong, I’ll be surprised if it turns out that Rivera never crossed paths with federal, state, or local law enforcement before now. People don’t generally commit assault and murder as their first crimes; those generally follow a pattern of increasingly-criminal behavior. So, if law enforcement in any U.S. jurisdiction had prior knowledge of Rivera’s illegal presence in the U.S. yet did nothing about it — perhaps because of a misguided “sanctuary city” policy, or because of misplaced compassion for him (over any would-be victims, and if Mollie turns out to have been his only victim, then our nation will be lucky that there weren’t more), or whatever other rationale — then again, that jurisdiction’s leadership and the voters who supported it arguably are accessories to the crimes against Mollie.
Consider this: If I told you to leave your front door open tonight, hang a big “Welcome” sign over it, and give food, clothing, and lodging to anyone and everyone who enters, with no regard for the potential negative effects of your largesse upon anyone who resides in your home already, because most people who enter your home will mean no harm, would you do it? I doubt it (and if you’re an open-borders advocate who isn’t already doing exactly this, then you’re quite a hypocrite for demanding that we do it as a nation!). Similarly then, if even just one in the next 10,000 immigrants to cross our border illegally, given the opportunity, would kill the next Kate Steinle or Mollie Tibbetts (much less commit serial murder or terrorism) — even if it’s just one in the next 100,000 or 1,000,000 — that’s one too many.
We, as a nation, ought not to be permitting even one person to walk into the U.S. unannounced, lest we facilitate the death of yet another American and thereby become accessories to yet another crime like the crimes against Mollie Tibbetts.
Brian Russell wanted to learn how people could live together as peacefully and prosperously as possible, so he studied what makes us tick (and got a Ph.D. in clinical psychology), how public policy keeps us in line (and got a law degree), and what motivates us to do our best (and got an M.B.A.). Then, he put theory to the test, practicing both psychology and law, starting his own small businesses, consulting with business leaders and lawmakers, and traveling the world comparing what does and doesn’t work in 40 societies. Now, he shares his expertise in people, public policy, and productivity on national television and radio, in his book, "Stop Moaning, Start Owning: How Entitlement Is Ruining America and How Personal Responsibility Can Fix It," and here on Newsmax. Learn more at DrBrianRussell.com. To read more of his reports — Click Here Now.
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