Saul Gallegos, a Chelan County (Washington) sheriff's deputy, was shot and killed last week, after stopping Jose Sanchez-Guillen for suspicion of driving with a suspended license. Sanchez-Guillen fled, and following an extensive manhunt, he is now in custody on suspicion of killing Gallegos.
Gallegos, 35, is survived by his widow Maria and their four young children. A naturalized US citizen born in Mexico, he served in the United States Army Reserves and became a police officer in 1996.
Jose Sanchez-Guillen was also born in Mexico, and is apparently in this country illegally. I am unable to find this last detail in print, but I heard it mentioned on a local radio station. Jim Miller seems to have heard something similar on a different radio program. I called the Chelan County sheriff's office and an official said she "believed" that Sanchez-Guillen was an illegal immigrant, but also said that "we don't have anything about that in writing". Which to me translates into "Yes, he's an illegal immigrant, but we'd rather not discuss that". The strongest indication confirming his immigration status or lack thereof is this story citing court documents that Sanchez-Guillen's mother, who was arrested for harboring her fugitive son, also had "an obviously forged resident alien identification card" in her purse. (Most news stories that mentioned the mother simply said she was arrested for "an unrelated count of forgery", without mentioning what was forged).
This begs the question: Why are some public officials and most of the mainstream press reluctant to mention the Guillens' immigration status? Are illegal aliens supposed to be a protected group? Is there a fear that the general public won't be able to distinguish between illegal immigrants and legal immigrants (like Officer Gallegos) who make positive contributions to this country and are welcomed by the vast majority of us?
It also begs the question: What was an illegal immigrant doing with a suspended driver's license? That is to say, how did he get a driver's license in the first place, and why was he allowed to remain in the country illegally after having been processed through the criminal justice system for having done something that was serious enough to get his license suspended?
Posted by Stefan Sharkansky at July 03, 2003 03:00 PMA fine example of the problem detailed by Michelle Malkin in her book 'Invasion: How America Still Welcomes Terrorists Criminals & Other Foreign Menaces to Our Shores'. She gives several horrifying examples. IMO a country without borders will soon cease to be a country. Stopping illegal immigration would help every American, but would be especially beneficial to legal immigrants.
Let's not forget that this type of behavior (the illegal immigration not the cop-killing) is condoned and even supported by one of the two major political parties in this country. We also have the media aiding and abetting this behavior. I am surprised that no one has called you a racist for using "illegal" and not "undocumented".
Posted by: Sociopathocracy on July 3, 2003 05:01 PMThe immagration status towards the guillen's does not have to do anything with the crime.There are many illegal people in this state.I think they should leave them alone and deal with the crime not the whole family.
Posted by: marisol on May 9, 2004 09:48 PM