Horowitz: Why is coronavirus being used as excuse to release illegal aliens instead of send them back?

Only one phantom right will be left standing after the nuclear war against the Bill of Rights is complete: the “right” of illegal and criminal aliens to remain in this country.

If coronavirus is an earth-shattering crisis such that our government can suspend the most foundational natural rights of citizens, isn’t it a big enough crisis that other countries’ criminals should be removed from our country without further review? That way we don’t have to worry about them spreading the virus in detention facilities or in our communities, nor do we have to concern ourselves with their potential crime and public charge. Bonus result? Airlines could get much-needed cash from flying them back.

Federal judges and liberal governors had a brilliant idea the minute the coronavirus outbreak became apparent: In addition to releasing our own criminals, why not release other countries’ criminals? Thanks to the ruling of a federal judge who is not even in New Jersey, ICE released 700 criminal aliens from New Jersey. This is happening throughout the country. As citizen rights are being infringed upon without due process, it seems like illegal aliens are the only ones with access to the courts. Now, a single California judge, Jesus Bernal, is ordering ICE to release all illegal aliens at high risk and all those over 55.

Remember, over 80 percent of those in ICE’s custody are criminal aliens. So not only are we now on the hook for more crime from domestic criminals, but there will be thousands more foreign criminals in our communities as well.

However, there is one obvious point being missed by our government. For argument’s sake, let’s cede the point that somehow these people need to be released from detention for fear of catching the virus more than American citizens, an assumption that is highly dubious. Why is the alternative to detention setting them free in our own communities rather than simply repatriating them back to their home countries? Unlike with domestic criminals, the absence of detention doesn’t mean they get to be in our communities. Nobody asked them to come here, and they have no constitutional right to remain in the country.

If we are going to suspend the Constitution as it applies to citizens, why not at least suspend current practice in the immigration courts and repatriate other countries’ criminals when it doesn’t violate the Constitution at all?

Let’s not forget that most aliens can voluntarily depart without proceedings under INA §240B. We are not trying to hold them. They are the ones demanding to stay. As Todd Bensman, senior national security fellow at the Center for Immigration Studies, observes:

Most migrants in U.S. immigration detention can leave at the drop of a hat, whenever they want, by asking the nearest immigration officer to get them a "stipulated removal" form to fill out or asking for a "waiver of hearing". Under 8 CFR 1003.25 (b), migrants can in a matter of days be transported to homelands, or even to a country they might have passed through.

Accordingly, how can they both demand an escape from potential coronavirus exposure and a right to remain here?

It is truly shocking how the media and politicians are telling us that every foundational natural right of citizens must be suspended indefinitely without question because of unprecedented times. Now we will have to confront needless crime for years committed by those who don’t even have the right to be here. Remember, with roughly 3.2 million criminal aliens in the undetained docket and only 5,000 deportation officers, ICE really has to prioritize those they detain. These are the bad ones. Some of them are known violent offenders. As Bristol County, Massachusetts, Sheriff Thomas Hodgson warned, “The question many people ask is, ‘Are they going to turn themselves in after the COVID-19 incident is over?'”

But removing them from the country would solve all these problems. The airlines sure could use some extra revenue, too.

Yesterday, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer commented in response to those protesting her unconstitutional “travel ban” on visiting a family member’s home down the block: "In World War II, there weren't people lining up at the capitol to protest the fact that they had to drop everything they were doing and build planes or tanks, or to ration food."

Well, if the situation is so dire that constitutional rights no longer exist, then the phantom, nonexistent “right” for illegal aliens to remain in this country must certainly be dispensed with. That is one thing we certainly didn’t tolerate during WWII.