Mainstream media outlets consistently argue that sanctuary policies don’t encourage crime. It is also received wisdom in newsrooms throughout the U.S. that illegal aliens commit fewer crimes than native-born Americans. Whether or not that is true, every crime committed by an illegal alien is a preventable crime, if our immigration laws are enforced. And recent arrests in Lawrence, Mass., indicate that illegal aliens in New England are involved in serious criminal activities with widespread repercussions to communities throughout the area.
Lawrence is a sanctuary city in northern Massachusetts with a large population of illegal aliens. According to CivicDashboards.com, it’s also the city with the highest foreign-born population in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the city with one of the highest populations of people who immigrated legally.
In recent years, both New Hampshire and Maine have been afflicted with an epidemic of drug overdoses resulting from the use of potent combination of fentanyl and heroin – both opioid drugs. In 2016, New Hampshire experienced just under 500 opioid overdose deaths, Maine hit 376. Both states have a population of about 1.3 million year-round residents and very low numbers of aliens living within their borders.
Accordingly, when governors Christopher Sunnunu (N.H.) and Paul LePage (Me.) blamed their overdose problems on “illegal alien Dominican drug dealers from Lawrence,” which sits just south of the New Hampshire border, both were roundly criticized as racists. However, it turns out that Governors Sunnunu and LePage were correct.
Law enforcement officials in Massachusetts recently broke up the biggest fentanyl/heroin distribution ring in northern New England. Its leader: a previously deported illegal alien from the Dominican Republic. It’s area of operation: Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Maine. Approximately 30 people were arrested. Nearly a dozen are believed to be in the country illegally, many of the remainder are aliens whose immigration status has yet to be determined. The Lawrence Eagle Tribune reports that many of the individuals arrested, “even bragged about having been deported several times.”
Fentanyl is a prescription analgesic used to treat the type of severe pain experienced by cancer patients and burn victims. However, it’s not the kind of stuff you can synthesize in a basement lab. It’s made by pharmaceutical companies, which means that if you want to sell it, you have to either smuggle it into the United States, steal it or illegally purchase it from pharmacies, doctors, or prescription holders.
How many illegal aliens were ultimately involved in this web of crime? We may never know. But it is a pretty safe bet that, had the Lawrence Police been actively cooperating with ICE, many of the member of this gang would have been gone long before their criminal activities forever changed lives in three states.