One wonders if anyone in the Irish authorities has spotted the irony that as the Gardaí are carrying out further raids on an illegal immigration gang to stop people-smuggling, the government is gearing up to offer amnesty to illegal migrants in much the same way.
The gang in question, based in the Republic, which Gardaí described as an “organised crime” group, “is suspected of being involved in the trafficking of illegal immigrants.” It is believed that the group was facilitating illegal entry into the UK, taking advantage of the common travel area between Ireland and Britain.
Suspects are believed to be from Eastern Europe, and to run a people-smuggling network across the continent. Gardaí also believe that some of the migrants being smuggled by these gangs experience exploitation upon arrival at their final destination.
This represents the second raid of its kind on this suspected criminal group, with another happening towards the end of April.
Three men have been arrested during Garda raids across Ireland as Gardaí investigate an alleged organised international criminal organisation involved in aiding illegal immigration.#gript https://t.co/fIKPCkZM3T
— gript (@griptmedia) April 29, 2021
Now, at this point one has to ask: why are these lads being raided exactly?
Sure, illegal immigration is a huge problem. Aside from the theoretical issues it raises, like the fact that it disintegrates the concept of our borders and generally promotes law-breaking, it can also lead to serious national security concerns as far as gun and drug smuggling, human trafficking, and terrorism.
In fact, illegal immigration can even damage Ireland’s relation to other countries, because using our travel arrangements with friendly nations, unsavoury individuals who gain illegitimate access to our country can use it as a springboard to travel elsewhere, such as the UK.
That’s clearly not to say that everyone who enters the country illegally will be dodgy – it’s not even to say that most will be. Most of them are probably very normal people who want to live normal lives.
It’s simply to point out what should be an obvious fact: that when someone is “undocumented,” we have no idea who they are or what their intentions are. There’s no way to assess how safe or dangerous an individual is because they’re an unknown quantity. The only thing we know about them is that they were probably willing to break the law at least once to illegally enter the state or overstay their visa – everything else is a total mystery.
So the downsides of illegal immigration are clear for all to see. And yet, still I ask: why should the gang responsible for this be raided by the police?
The only crime we’re aware of that they’ve been accused of is giving illegal immigrants access to the country who have no right to be here. If that’s the case, what are they doing that the government aren’t?
The news comes just as the government plans to give amnesty to tens of thousands of illegal immigrants resident in the state, giving them a pathway to citizenship to allow them to “regularise” their situation despite breaching Irish immigration law.
Scheme to regularise undocumented migrants may open in November https://t.co/CJJGm9aWrI
— Jack Power (@jackpowerIT) July 23, 2021
In other words, this “organised criminal enterprise” and the government are guilty of the exact same offence, at least morally speaking.
If allowing people to stay in a country who have no right to do so makes you an “organised crime” group, then the Irish government must be the biggest mafia going.
Really, the only mistake these guys made was that they weren’t wearing suits and ties to conduct their business. They should have applied for a job at the Department of Justice – then they could have done all the same kind of business legally, getting paid handsomely for it, and been right as rain.
The government, as usual, hasn’t got a moral leg to stand on here.