ICE continues to arrest worst of the worst--one illegal with 21 criminal convictions

Bradskii said:

I'm bemused by these threads. They seem to pop up with a monotonous regularity, as if they are reporting on something surprising or newsworthy. It has me beat. So law enforcement are arresting people involved with violence and drugs. Gee, hold the front page again.

Are you aware that there are well over one million arrests each year for drug related offences: Drug Related Crime Statistics [2023]: Offenses Involving Drug Use. And you can bet your last dollar that some of those arrested will be immigrants, undocumented or not. And that's despite immigrants being one of the most law abiding groups you'll find in the good ol' US of A.

Violent criminals? That would be well over a million again (after hitting a high of close to 2 million in the early nineties: Topic: Violent crime in the U.S.

So I think that any thread worth its weight in newsworthiness would be one in which law enforcement didn't arrest anyone. Or, as is becoming something of a regularity, arrest and deport people without due process.

This'll be my first and last post in this thread (and others like them). I'd hate to be accused of encouraging a waste of good bandwidth.

Click to expand...

Richard T said:

There is a theory called "terror management theory" (TMT) "According to TMT, people need to insulate themselves from their deep fear of living an insignificant life destined to be erased by death. One path to address this fear is to assure themselves that they are part of an important group. This desire to reinforce cultural significance in the face of death often results in displays of prejudice based on the belief that the group with which one identifies is superior to others. In this way, people confirm their self-importance, at least to themselves." Terror Management Theory

My point here is that by keeping the immigrant "danger" high, the Trump administration pushes the buttons of some citizens and leads them into more of a cultural cocoon that yes, does make many of them more prejudicial. This should be quite disturbing to any Christian because the cocoon can allow policies and rights violations that are not consistent with Christian obligations of kindness, hospitality and warmth.

If one knows who they are in God, foreigners are an opportunity rather than a curse. Interestingly, the Mormons see illegals in this favorable light. Why are Mormons so different from most other Christians in this regard? Because they are being quite successful in their conversions of foreigners. I am sure there are other churches that might do well at this too, but it is hard to be both hostile toward the foreign born and win them to Christ at the same time. Is parading the foreign criminals hostile? I would say it is prejudicial if it is done in the absence of US citizen criminals. This is because it presents a distorted picture and leads more people into TMT. Immigration and LDS Proselytizing - Mormonism Research Ministry

For myself, criminals are bad no matter where they are from. There are millions of citizens in the USA with outstanding warrants, many of them violent. The same for illegals. I don't really concern myself with the residency status, though yes, it is great when they are no longer able to commit crime through deportation, incarceration, or even better rehabilitation.

We should all be wary though of targeting just immigrants, of scapegoating issues to those who seek a decent living. I am not saying any in this post are doing that but some in media and the church are.

Click to expand...