I don't want to take away from the tragedy of such senseless violence, and I am in no position to claim an understanding of the Mexican-American border town dynamic, but wish to make two points:
1) This is a perfect example of mob mentality: condemning a group of people based on the actions of a few outliers.
2) There are conspicuous differences between the overwhelming majority of the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants residing in the U.S. and that of illegal immigrants associated with the drug trade.
Take a look at arrest records from around the country to confirm my claim. After all, what is the incentive for someone who takes great risks for a better life just to turn around and break the law by committing a violent crime and risk imprisonment and deportation back to the ghetto? It's simply cost/benefit and the short answer is there is no incentive.
Most of the 'crime' associated with illegal immigration isn't about immigration at all, but about the drug trade, which was brought to Mexico in a large part due to our 'War on Drugs.' The geniuses decided that creating a blockade in the Caribbean would stop drugs and crime in the U.S., but all it did was reinforce the 'path of least resistance' principal. Now, drug cartels have taken over Mexico, created virtual war zones and have ultimately helped in destroying the economy south of the border. And who do we blame but the very hardworking people who have ultimately helped grow our GDP (overall net positive/negative fiscal benefit can be debated).
Conservatives, mostly, are using the increased crime wave caused by illegals to push through the most controversial immigration bill in our history. But, if you look closely and objectively, there is no increased crime wave. The FBI has just released new data indicating that overall, violent crime in Arizona is down.
This debate is as much about violence as a violent regime was Bush's reasoning for going into Iraq. If that was the case, Bush would have gone into Darfur and we would currently be talking about the internal genocide taking place on the streets of Chicago's south-side instead of the 'violence' 'perpetuated' by illegal immigrants in Arizona. But it's not about violence and crime; it's about power and selfishness and a lack of empathy and xenophobia.
President Obama was all but crucified by conservatives when he stated that, "The southern border is more secure today than at any time in the past 20 years." Any objectivist can look at the data (e.g. number of personnel on the border, amount of technological security developments, length and height of physical obstructions and crime rates in southern states) and reasonably make the same deductions of Mr. Obama. Just take a look at these two graphs illustrating violent crime in Phoenix and Mesa over the last decade through data collected by the FBI:
Obviously these aren't exactly 'border towns,' but not only can these data reliably be used as proxies for other towns in Arizona, much of the anti-immigrant and pro-SB 1070 rhetoric comes from cities such as Phoenix and Mesa. There are no doubt many violent crimes committed by illegal immigrants and these graphs also do not represent the first generation children of illegal immigrants, many of whom turn to gangs and other crime as a result of what some experts say is a loss of culture and lack of supervision by parents who have to work long hours and multiple jobs. However, suggesting there is an inherent relationship between illegal immigration and crime is disingenuous at best and is more likely due to the well-documented relationship of poverty and crime.
I have no problem carrying a national i.d. card with me all the time or limiting immigration in the U.S. similar to that of NPOs keeping a large percentage of profits in order to perpetuate their cause, but let's acknowledge that America is not a white-Anglo-conservative closed system, rather it's a country that was the original moral authority as a model for freedom despite race, color and creed.
