Hits close to home

I met some great people during the display at Elgin Community College. Peter Ropinski came down from Crystal Lake after hearing me talk about it on Jerry Agar’s Show (WLS) Thursday morning.

Peter worked for the airlines until he retired more than a few years ago. He was friends with Dean Knopse, another retired airline employee. One of the things that Dean wanted to do after he retired was ride a motorcycle. And he was on his bike when an illegal alien ran him over and killed him.

What made things worse was the fact that the perpetrator had a criminal history. So many “what-if’s” surround this and other cases. And they all eventually lead back to the failure of government.

What if our borders were more secure?
What if our perks and benefits weren’t so enticing to the illegals?
What if we didn’t grant automatic citizenship unless BOTH parents could prove they were here legally?
What if police were in the habit of checking immigration status when they arrested someone?
What if Immigration picked up all the criminal aliens; not just those who committed the very worst crimes?
What if the Illinois Secretary of State followed the law and actually checked for valid insurance coverage before issuing plates and stickers?

Just maybe Dean Knopse would still be riding his motorcycle. I’m a religious person and I suppose there are times when “your number is up”, but I also believe that God doesn’t direct cars to crash into each other.

Dean died because the other driver made some foolish choices and crossed paths with him. God wasn’t driving.

Peter Ropinski reminded me why we are doing this. Each death is symbolic of how government has let us down by allowing the number of illegal aliens to grow while ignoring enforcement. There are laws on the books that were simply neglected since 2001.

We showed a picture of Patricia Henneken at the display. I didn’t know her but it was her case that sent me down this path in the summer of 2006. Her killer had a couple of previous DUIs and he was out on the street.

I met Patricia’s mother a couple of weeks after she died. She couldn’t understand why our government didn’t protect her daughter. Neither can I.

Here’s a podcast interview with Patricia’s mother from late last year. It’s about 30 minutes long but I think you will enjoy it.
http://www.phxnews.com/fullstory.php?article=52866