What does Aaron Alexis, the alleged mass murdered at the Washington Navy Yard, have to do with immigration? Nothing, really.
What does the fact that a guy who was dismissed from the military with a general discharge, who had a history of mental illness and numerous arrests on his record, and was still able to maintain a secret level clearance from the military and walk onto a high security military facility with enough munitions to murder 13 people say about the government’s ability to identify dangerous people?
According to the Washington Post, “The military’s beleaguered background-check system failed to block Navy Yard gunman Aaron Alexis from an all-access pass to a half-dozen military installations, despite a history of arrests for shooting episodes and disorderly conduct.” It is important to note, that the military doesn’t hand out secret level security clearances to 11 million people – and they still managed to miss a truly dangerous and disturbed individual.
So, next time you hear people like Gang of Eight member Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) say something like, “I just simply believe, if anything, I’d rather know, among the 11 million or so that are undocumented in this country, who is here to pursue the American dream and who would do it harm. And the only way I’ll do that is to make them come forward, register with the government, and go through a criminal background check,” no doubt you will sleep easier at night.