A good one

I mentioned yesterday I was hoping for another Oregonian editorial to argue with today, to help me wake up on Monday morning after a very busy weekend at work. But this one gets the same effect in a gentler mode, by being thoughtful and sensible on a controversial issue where there are many factors to be considered.

Several times while reading it, I began to bristle, then read more carefully and recognized that the editorial treads some fine lines with great care and sensitivity. For instance (emphasis mine):

“Contrary to anti-immigrant mythology, there’s no evidence that illegal residents are more prone to crime than anyone else. If anything, they do more to keep out of the limelight, and thus out of trouble. But there are exceptions, as evidenced by the recent arrests of two men in connection with the slaying of 15-year-old Dani Countryman.”

I especially like the concluding half of the editorial:

“As The Oregonian’s Steve Mayes reported last week, murder suspect Alejandro Emeterio Rivera Gamboa pleaded guilty to two counts of drunken driving in November 2006. He disclosed his illegal status as part of court proceedings, even signing a plea agreement in which he acknowledged that, as a noncitizen, a criminal conviction could cause him to be deported.

But it didn’t, and he wasn’t. That is wrong. It’s understandable that people are outraged about that. In the wake of this arrest, it’s become clear that a jumble of varying policies are in place in different jurisdictions for dealing with illegal residents convicted of crimes. That doesn’t make much sense.

All of these jurisdictions need to take another look at what they’re doing to alert federal authorities and ensure illegal immigrants, once convicted, are deported. As Multnomah County’s Norm Frink said the other day, “We’re going to look at it and figure out if there’s a different approach we could take.”

That’s smart. But Oregon’s law, preventing police from turning into immigration agents, is also smart. It should stay as it is. Illegal residents are often victims of crime. They need to be able to turn to the logical authorities they can turn to now when they are victimized:

The police.”

Both aspects of the editorial’s comments deserve more attention. How nice to start the week with a helpful and thought-provoking column in the Oregonian.