Catalytic Converter Thieves Arrested in Santa Barbara

When are we going to pull our heads out of the dark side and GET SERIOUS AND TOUGH about illegal immigration!!??

Until then, well.................here you have it!!

livingsb: Other than you, nobody said anything about illegals . . .

I guess if they have a Mexican last name they are all illegals, right?

Seems to me, the police got tough on these scumbags for the crime they seemed to be committing - not because of their last name!!

Maybe I'm blind, but I don't see anything in this article mentioning that these guys are illegal immigrants. So by your assumptions, everyone with a hispanic name is an illegal immigrant?

What I did actually read was that one was from Las Vegas, and the other two are from Los Angeles. Last time I checked those are both cities in the United States of America.

It's funny how when people see these articles on crime in Santa Barbara, they think it's a green light to jump on their soapbox to denounce illegal immigration.

Thank goodness they caught these guys cause my neighbor was one of their victims.

I had mine stolen and I would like to know what I can do to get compensated.

"So from Mesa Mike's comment he is for illegal immigration?
He is for services for illegal immigrants that cost California tax payers billions of dollars." - whatphotosb

Hey you're pretty good at putting words in other peoples' mouth. I never said I supported anything.

You guys are high if you think that all the crime in this town is caused by illegal immigrants.

A Shaw-

So if I use your brilliant "tiny headed" use of logic, all we need to do is deport all illegal immigrants, including the second and third generations of illegal immigrants (who are US citizens), and crime would magically cease to exist?

So countries that don't have "illegal immigrants" don't have crime?

You sir, are a genius. I think you should run for mayor on that platform. At least whatphotsb would vote for you.

I would bet money that if you were born in Mexico, you'd jump the border too. I, for one, don't put blame on people trying to make a better life for themselves and their families. Unless you are Chumash Indian, your ancestors did the same thing.

My educated guess is that by looking at the pictures, these guys are American-raised.

That having been said, our government is in bed with Mexico's government and these two countries have a tacit unspoken yet obvious agreement to have as many of Mexico's poorest and uneducated people come into the U.S. in unlimited--read--UNLIMITED numbers.

What happens is that the people who actually come in here end up working long hours in marginal, if not illegal conditions because their employers know they won't say anything. Meanwhile, their kids grow up in America without parents at home to supervise them, and of course with all the P.C. indoctrination in our culture they grow up to be aggressive spoiled criminals.

From what I've heard, if you go to Mexico, you don't get the "Cholo" attitude in anywhere near the amount you get here. My own experience with Mexican racists is that most if not all the ones I've met where raised in the U.S. Let me make it clear that most Americans of Mexican ancestry that I've met are not racists. The bad attitude is an American thing.

What we are living in is a country where big business wants endless supplies of cheap labor. No longer are immigrants expected to learn English, assimilate, and improve themselves. The "Melting Pot" ideal has been undercut by idealistic Left-wingers who feel it offensive to expect immigrants (At least those from Mexico and Central America) to learn the language of the land even though it would equip them to combat the racism/exploitation these people face. The result of all this is that their kids grow up with little sense of belonging to the culture in which they live and also with little parental supervision since the parents work such long hours.

Any wonder we have a gang problem?

So yes, illegal immgration IS tied to this issue, but often times the destructive result of it doesn't hit us until the children of these immigrants become old enough to start hurting people.

For what it's worth I remember a story in the News-Press about two years ago where a drunk driver ran into someone and killed them. The paper said that the person was either "From" or "of" Santa Barbara. I did a little investigating and found out that in fact the person was here illegally.

This is of course one incident, and I have no more to prove, but the fact of the matter is that because of this I know that there IS a history of covering up the status of ones residency.

Either way, there are forces out there to divide people and these forces are on both the Left and Right. These forces are succeeding at what they are doing.

Is it just too much to ask Mexico to fix its endlessly dysfunctional system, and is it too much to ask the U.S. to quit lowering its expectations for immigrants coming in here?

Connect the dots, it all ties in.

"Nobody said all the crime is from illegal immigrants, but it's a pretty good bet if not, that most of it is from the second or third generation of illegal immigrants." — A Shaw.

My point is that I think you should be "blaming" or at least thinking about the political and economic policies that put people in the position to want to come here illegally, instead of blaming the individuals who do so. If there wasn't a need for cheap foreign labor, they wouldn't be streaming across the border like they are. Have you ever mentioned once the U.S. businesses that hire them?

"Here's some fun reading for all you naive morons" — A Shaw

If you'd like to have an honest debate without the petty belittling, maybe you should refrain from statements like the above. If you want to resort to childish name calling, go for it. Have fun "debating" with yourself.