GOODLATTE AMENDMENT BAD FOR AMERICA

By: Jeff Snyder

Hey everyone,

An editorial from Jeff? Who thought they would ever see the day…

But this is something very important to me.  Today I was watching CSPAN, (haha, that's right, CSPAN) and an amendment to an already existing bill was being discussed in the House of Representatives.  This amendment, the Goodlatte Amendment.  This amendment really disturbs me.

In his arguments, Bob Goodlatte, a representative from Virginia's sixth district explained this amendment was to help prevent illegal aliens from coming into our country and committing crimes.  Recently, there has been much notice of gangs of illegal immigrants wreaking havoc in America - committing murders, rapes, hacking people up with machetes etc.  Goodlatte's amendment would call for increasing minimum mandatory sentences against these illegal aliens. 

The argument for this, as articulated by Goodlatte and numerous other Republican Representatives was that this amendment would act as a deterrent for these aliens from coming back into the country after they have already been deported - since it is believed that many of these gang members have been previously deported and then smuggled back into the country. 

However, as I contend, it is a horribly conceived piece of legislation.  Yes, we do need to keep illegal aliens out - especially the ones committing horrible crimes.  But this amendment is not the way to do it.

Our prison systems are horribly overcrowded.  State prisons operate upwards of 16% over capacity while federal prisons operate upwards of 39%!!!  These prisons aren't cheap either.  If I remember correctly, it costs upwards of 24,000 dollars per year to house.  I do not know if that number includes prison guard's salaries or not, but I don't think it does.  

Why should we be putting up the massive amount of money to house non-American prisoners?  A representative from California recommended applying pressure to the countries these aliens come from in order to keep them there once we have already deported them.  We can threaten to take away trade agreements or, as the representative put it, threaten some of the 990 other ways we assist these countries.

The money wasted in housing these inmates can go to providing extra money to these countries in order to beef up their police forces.  The money can also go into rehabilitation since EVERY study that has ever come out has concluded that treatment and rehabilitation (be it educational, drug-related treatment, or whatever) proves to be far more effective than simply incarceration.  Every year X amount of prisoners are released, and of those people over two thirds of them return to prison within a year.  Why?  Because no one assists these people, we merely lock them up and then send them back into society without any assistance in helping them to be a productive member of society.  

This has now turned into a ramble and me critiquing the prison system as a whole.  But seriously guys, please e-mail, mail, call, megaphone, smoke signal...whatever....our legislators.  Maybe I'm idealistic in my thinking that a few people focused enough can effect some change - but I'd really like your help if you believe the same way I do that there are much better ways that this situation can be handled than with the Goodlatte amendment.  

I have numerous conspiracy theories as to why this is what has been chosen other than the alternatives...but that's a different column.

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