Friday, September 23

HALF of the Katrina Evacuees have Criminal Records!

I am not surprised that states are conducting criminal background checks on evacuees arriving in their states.

What has surprised me, and that is not an easy thing to do, is that about half of the evacuees have criminal records! In one state, a third of them were found to have FELONY Convictions!

WHAT THE HELL!

No really, what the F... was going on in that city? I know that Mardi Gras is a blast, but come on. There is absolutely NO excuse for this.

Every slum in this country needs to be broken up and its population scattered. It is really for the best. People are trapped in these areas and just assume that the whole country is like their neighborhood. They grew up in high crime areas and this type of activity does not faze them. The police cannot effectively fight crime when half the population in the area is a threat to the law and order of a modern society.

The news harped on the rapes and violence in the Superdome and the Convention Center. Well guess what, with so many people with criminal records, the crime wave that New Orleans accepted was evacuated to the Convention Center and the Superdome with all the residents.

It makes sense really. You have a son who has had a couple run-ins with the police. You know that your son 'did wrong' but you have the opinion that the police are picking on him unfairly when there are more serious criminals that they should be after than bothering with your boy. There goes the trust that they should have in the police. Add a couple white policemen in a black neighborhood (read: Rodney King) and you have created a community where criminal activity will flourish.

In South Carolina, state police checked every evacuee flown there by the government. Of 547 people checked, 301 had criminal records, according to Robert Stewart, state Law Enforcement Division Chief.

The state police in West Virginia said roughly half of the nearly 350 Katrina victims evacuated by the government to that state had criminal records, and 22 percent have a history of committing a violent crime.

You would think that evacuees would be bitter about the background checks. After all, the ACLU is. However, the story interviews a man in favor of the process:

In Middletown, a community just north of Newport, several evacuees shrugged at the prospect of background checks and said they understood the state's desire to learn more about them.

“I would like to know if there's any skeletons in the closet with my neighbors or the community,” said one refugee, 38-year-old Carmen Williams.

I bet he does. He knows how dangerous some of his neighbors can be. I bet few people find it surprising that many, if not most of the poor evacuees will not return back to their old neighborhood. Why should they. They are now in safer neighborhoods. Many are finding good work. Even in Utah, which was in the news for the initial culture shock that that evacuees were having. Too bad there was no follow-up. They have quickly adjusted:

Utah housed more than 600 refugees from Katrina at Camp Williams. Now all but about 100 of those refugees have either gone out of state, or found housing in a Utah community.

If there are no evacuees from Rita, governor huntsman says Utah plans to close the camp Williams evacuee center by next Tuesday. Most of the 100 or so evacuees still living there want to stay in Utah, and will be helped to find housing in the community.

This is more of a solution to the problem of poverty than any program that the Democrats can come up with. Perhaps we just need to go family by family and ask them where they want to move. Perhaps give them a list of jobs they can do. Have them pick one that they are interested in and relocate them there.

States Checking Refugees' Rap Sheets - The Day
Utah Ready To Take Rita Evacuees If Needed - KUTV.com

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

This is more of a solution to the problem of poverty than any program that the Democrats can come up with.

Now you said it! Why didn't we think of this sooner? And why wait for unreliable hurricanes when we can act as nature's little helpers?

Here are the lyrics to a great song for all you fine Republicans out there.

Fred Fry said...

Hmmm, what a progessive solution you have proposed. No wonder the Democrats keep losing elections.

For those of you who have not bothered to click on the link above, Mr. Anonymous suggests that we just "Kill the Poor" (as sung by the Dead Kennedys.)

I suggest that that we provide means for poor people to find jobs anywhere in the US and then pay their relocation expensives in order to give them a new and better life. I would hope that these people would be removed from the roles of the poor and that they regain control of their lives.

The respondent accusses me of wanting to kill off the poor. I would like to kill off poverty, but by improving the situation of poor people.

Well Mr. Anonymous (who happens to be posting from Finland) needs to face a hard reality, it was Democrats that killed many of those who died in New Orleans, namely the Mayor, the Governor, and the Senator. It was done through their inaction.

Many of the evacuated are now in areas run by elected officials that are mainly republicans. About half do not intend to return to New Orleans. Why? Because they like the areas, they are finding jobs.

What would you do to help these people? Put them back in the same area, with high crime, no jobs, and no hope?

I hope not.

Anonymous said...

I suggest that that we provide means for poor people to find jobs anywhere in the US and then pay their relocation expensives in order to give them a new and better life.

That sounds a lot like an evil and ineffective big government solution. Btw, how do you think that rich Texas Republicans will react to the government paying for poor black people moving into their neighbourhoods? Former 1st lady Barbara Bush already went on record saying this is "scary".

Well Mr. Anonymous (who happens to be posting from Finland) needs to face a hard reality, it was Democrats that killed many of those who died in New Orleans, namely the Mayor, the Governor, and the Senator. It was done through their inaction.

With one wave of the Republican magic wand, the FEMA, Dept. of Homeland Security and ultimately, prez Bush are off the hook. Uncle Joe Stalin would be proud of your ability to insert a few white spots into strategic locations.

What would you do to help these people? Put them back in the same area, with high crime, no jobs, and no hope?

Well, I wouldn't. The Texas Republicans will, though, after all the fuss dies out.

Fred Fry said...

" how do you think that rich Texas Republicans will react to the government paying for poor black people moving into their neighbourhoods?"

Who said that they are going to move into their poor neighborhoods? We can already see their initial reaction, opening up the AstroDome and other shelters taking in over 200,000 from New Orleans. By the time Rita struck, all of those in the Astrodome had been moved to better housing, most of them inside Texas. As the initial surveys mention, about half are not going ot moves back.

Even if the Texans want to ship them back, they are under no illusion that that will not be possible for months/year. Oh yeah, if they want to stay, there is nothing that they can do to force them to go back.

In my plan, I seriously doubt that a poor person would choose to move to another poor area. Anyway, the jobs are not located in those areas anyway.

By the way, where do you think the US settles refugees from other countries, NY City? Guess again.

Anonymous said...

We can already see their initial reaction, opening up the AstroDome and other shelters taking in over 200,000 from New Orleans.

Initial reaction indeed, symptomatic of the newly emerged bleeding heart Republican. Let's see how many weeks this newfound generosity lasts.

Oh yeah, if they want to stay, there is nothing that they can do to force them to go back.

What makes you so sure? Just call in the marines to shoot them, like in NO.

In my plan, I seriously doubt that a poor person would choose to move to another poor area. Anyway, the jobs are not located in those areas anyway.

Has it occurred to you that a minimum wage job might not be adequate for, say, Beverly Hills?