According to an article in the LA Times, illegal immigrants in Maywood, CA don’t like having their cars impounded. Common traffic stops and drunk-driving checkpoints are extra annoying for them since they don’t have a driver’s license or insurance. (Come to think of it… law enforcement isn’t really very popular among people who are breaking the law.)
Recently, a “pro-[illegal]immigrant” city council was elected and got right to the root of the problem by immediately dismantling the entire traffic department.
Although the town is 96% hispanic, there are lots of residents who aren’t keen on the council giving the green light to illegal drivers. The opposition is mostly legal immigrants who worked hard and went through all the steps of legal immigration, and now pay through the nose (it is California, after all) to maintain the roads, schools, and other tax-funded amenities that illegals use for free.
The council says it wants to make Maywood a “sanctuary city” for illegal immigrants. That’s all fine/dandy, but they’re not gonna have much of a budget with such limited tax revenue and zero traffic fine revenue. However, I’m sure they can crawl into bed with some sugar-daddy special interest groups and get along just fine.
[tags]illegal immigration, illegal aliens, crime, maywood, california[/tags]