A US Marshal says he is concerned that resources are being wasted on illegal immigration instead of more pertinent threats like the Mexican Mafia. Speaking in the wake of the shooting of Nicholas Ivie, a US Customs and Border Protections agent, US Marshal David Gonzales says that the Mexican Mafia is the real danger facing the people of Arizona, not illegal immigrants.
Arizona has been put back in the spotlight for immigration and border issues by Ivie’s death, the fourth agent to be killed in two years, and Gonzales says that the attention that is being given to immigration is actually draining resources that could be put to better use by addressing far more important border issues such as the violence being caused by the Mexican Mafia, a large number of whom are actually US citizens.
Gonzales says that something like 80% of the 8,000 prisoners currently in his care were arrested on immigration-related charges and that regardless of the charge specifics, United States tax dollars are being used to pay for the housing, transportation, feeding and general hospitality of those arrested, adding up to a total of around $17 million per month, with another million spent on healthcare.
Gonzales says that the immigration system should be streamlined, noting that “A vast majority of them just want to make a better living for themselves. I think guest worker visas should be two to three years and renewable…. A guest worker program is key to a solution.”