The Law of Gravity

Police officers are charged with enforcing the law without favor, the law of gravity being no exception. A story on FoxNews courtesy of the Whittier Daily News explained how officers were searching for a burglary suspect in Pico Rivera, California.

“A man fell through the ceiling of a Pico Rivera shop on Saturday, landing in the arms of sheriff's deputies who were searching for the suspected burglar of three businesses.”

The suspect had a Hispanic name, (shouldn’t that read, an Hispanic name?; sounds better with “an” but grammar checker indicated “a”), no matter. The article didn’t specify whether or not he was an illegal alien or not. Pardon my jumping to conclusions; but Jose Parada sounded Hispanic to me, didn’t want to be accused of racism. All the same, Jose fell through the ceiling and the law of gravity was enforced.

My opening statement contained an interesting prevarication, at the very least a double standard; police officers are charged with enforcing the law without favor, unless the suspect happens to be an illegal alien. Isn’t that a major issue across the country; some areas enforce the law while other areas have become “sanctuary cities”?


Bits and pieces of the illegal alien enforcement issue have been making their way into the headlines; none more controversial than Arizona’s attempts to safeguard their southern border from drug smuggling and human trafficking. Citizens clamoring for assistance from the federal government to seal the border and deport illegal aliens, the job they were hired to do, have been met with considerable resistance.

The Obama administration not only refuses to enforce immigration laws; but has taken steps to prevent local law enforcement from providing that same basic protection. A recent law suit filed against Arizona is further proof the Obama administration has no intention of enforcing immigration laws, laws intended to safeguard American citizens.

Jessica Vaughan brought to light an ICE internal department memo intended to stop or at least impede apprehension and deportation of illegal aliens. That’s interesting, isn’t apprehension and deportation of illegal aliens their job?


“ICE chief John Morton intends to prohibit not only his officers, but also local officers with 287(g) immigration authority, from busting illegal aliens who are discovered as a result of traffic violations”.


Apparently being an illegal alien isn’t a good enough reason to detain and deport; think about that for a moment, being an illegal alien isn’t reason enough to detain or deport now. I thought the purpose of the border fence was to keep illegal aliens out, that when folks were spotted crossing that border illegally law enforcement officers were supposed to stop them (another word for detain) and then hand them over to ICE to ensure these illegal aliens were not permitted to stay in our country (another way of saying deport).


This next line came directly off the internal memo:


“As a general matter, immigration officers should not issue detainers against an alien charged only with a traffic-related misdemeanor unless or until the alien is convicted.”


The public has been demanding a substantial fence be built along our southern border for long enough for me to have forgotten what year such a mandate was issued or which president was in office. The public has been employing law enforcement officers; local, state and federal to apprehend and deport illegal aliens all these years. The directive from the public had no stipulation other than “apprehend and deport illegal aliens”; no requirement was included for having broken a traffic law or any other law to enhance the reason for detaining and deporting illegal aliens, being here illegally was enough reason.


Are we supposed sit back and take it; are we to smile and put up with folks hired to enforce our laws without favor, folks who believe they can tell “We The People” which laws will be enforced and which laws will be ignored?


Many years ago I got suspended from the Houston Police Department for writing parking tickets to “favored folk’s vehicles” after being told by my supervisors not to issue parking tickets at a particular fire zone in front of the Lamar Hotel. Actually I was suspended for insubordination; telling each and every supervisor where they could shove it, seemed like a good idea at the time. I was guilty of insubordination so I really had no room to grumble. Was it worth a 40 day suspension to remind my supervisors those laws needed to be enforced without favor; you’re damn right! Is this a raw nerve after all these years; you’re damn right!


Let me put that in a different light. When shopping at Wal-Mart or other stores one of the first things I notice is how many shopping carts are strewn about the parking lot. If the parking lot is well maintained young men go about the task of collecting shopping carts creating parking spaces for customer’s vehicles and, in general, doing their job. What bothers me is when I see shopping carts cluttering the parking areas to such an extent as to make it impossible to navigate or find an open spot close to the store. I have to wonder why the manager of the store hasn’t instructed the outside employees to collect those carts, to do their job. Do you see a connection?


ICE chief John Morton apparently has instructed his employees to ignore the public’s directive; a directive intended to safeguard us from illegal aliens. That directive carries with it several levels of concern. Many illegal aliens don’t share our appreciation for life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness; having little if any regard for laws which protect each and every citizen equally. Burdens placed on taxpayers because of illegal aliens sapping our resources is hardly mentioned even though a huge portion of funds is spent on entitlements granted to illegal aliens, entitlements which have no strings attached.


I suppose we could ignorantly assume that ICE chief John Morton came up with the idea to turn a blind eye to illegal aliens on his own; but being a reasonable and prudent citizen the correct response would be, “Get real”. Nothing happens in the Obama administration without Obama having given his input or approval, nothing!


Each citizen should have a copy of the Declaration of Independence, Constitution and Bill of Rights in a desk drawer or on their book shelf close enough to have easy access to the information provided within those documents. I’ll add one more to that list; Ezra Taft Benson’s talk, The Proper Role of Government . These important documents explain that government leaders, appointed or elected, are employed by the people and whenever they forget or refuse to do their job the public has the right and the power to remove them from the payroll.


Ezra Taft Benson correctly pointed out, “…government is nothing more or less than a relatively small group of citizens who have been hired, in a sense, by the rest of us to perform certain functions and discharge certain responsibilities which have been authorized.”


As citizens we should demand a reasonable return on money spent paying government employees. These employees, from the president down to border patrol officers, have been given a job, a very specific job to safeguard our border, detain and deport illegal aliens and yet these folks ignore their responsibilities; that is unacceptable. Not only are they making a living off the taxpayers, they are thumbing their noses at us to boot.


“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any form of government becomes destructive to these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shown that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed.”


No, I’m not advocating we toss out our form of government; far from it, the foundation upon which our nation was set is divine and should remain in tact. If properly acknowledged and implemented our republican form of government would be pleasing, even to God; however, those we employ in any position of government should be held accountable and either do their job or hit the unemployment line. We have folks in office, elected and appointed, who refuse to do the job they were hired to do; safeguard our borders, detain and deport illegal aliens. It is our responsibility and our duty as citizens to remove them from office. Sweet November is just around the corner.


I started out today’s rant with the line, “Police officers are charged with enforcing the law without favor, the law of gravity being no exception.” Isaac Newton would be shaking his head wondering if any other natural laws had been ignored were he to observe the Obama administration’s handling of border security and illegal immigration.


This article has been cross posted to The Moral Liberal , a publication whose banner reads, “Defending The Judeo-Christian Ethic, Limited Government, & The American Constitution”.