Editorial

Trump Is Right To Politicize NFL Player’s Death

Photo by Brett Carlsen/Getty Images

Scott Greer Contributor
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Indianapolis Colts linebacker Edwin Jackson lost his life over the weekend after a suspected drunk driving illegal immigrant rammed into the vehicle he was riding in.

The death of such a high-profile figure possibly at the hands of an illegal immigrant soon became a national story and played into the ongoing fight over immigration.

President Donald Trump himself tweeted about Jackson’s death on Monday, expressing outrage the football player was killed by someone who shouldn’t have been in the country in the first place.

Just like any time Trump involves himself in an issue, his critics are outraged that he would “politicize” Jackson’s untimely death.

USA Today syndicated Indianapolis Star columnist Suzette Hackney’s article on how Trump is exploiting the tragedy “to attack Democrats and immigrants.”

“[The Jackson family’s] untimely loss of life should not be politicized,” Hackney says in her article.

She writes later, “[T]his was the action of one individual. It is irresponsible and unreasonable to taint the reputations and lives of the approximately 12 million undocumented immigrants living here.”

The columnist also claimed that plenty of American citizens drink and drive, so we can’t feel bad about this one illegal immigrant doing so. Hackney treats this preventable death as an accident we could have done nothing about.

This dispassionate response from Hackney is a major departure from her previous politicization of police killings, which she used to taint the reputations of cops all over the nation as racist.

Slate also castigated Trump for using the Jackson to “goose his anti-immigrant agenda.” Even the prosecutor pursuing the charges against the illegal immigrant driver was mad at Trump for his comments, calling it “ghoulish” to focus on the criminal’s immigration status.

This isn’t the first time it was forbidden to make a political point about a death caused by an illegal immigrant. The same occurred for Kate Steinle, and Democrats loudly groaned when Trump had the audacity to highlight the victims of illegal alien crime during his State of the Union address.

If your death is caused by an illegal immigrant, then it’s only a tragic accident. But if your death is caused by a gun, a cop or some other thing the Left can use to justify their own agenda, then your demise is no accident — it’s an outrage that must be met with swift political action. (RELATED: Media To America: Don’t Politicize An Obvious Act Of Political Violence)

Even though Edwin Jackson would be alive if America made sure illegal immigrants found no refuge in our country, we’re supposed to believe the Colts star would have been killed by an inebriated citizen instead.

In contrast to the chattering class’s wishes, Trump is right to “politicize” Jackson’s death. The driver accused of killing Jackson, Manuel Orrego-Savala, had been deported twice before this weekend’s fateful encounter, demonstrating how our current immigration laws are failing the American people. The president is right to cite the case as a reason we need serious immigration reform. (RELATED: Illegal Alien Suspected In Colts Player’s Death Was Convicted In 2017 Under An Alias)

One death due to someone who shouldn’t have been here is one too many. We shouldn’t accept it as a natural accident.

Tragedies such as the car accident highlight a reality about illegal immigrants liberals don’t want us to know about. We’re only supposed to see illegal aliens as successful entrepreneurs, high school valedictorians or battle-hardened veterans. The criminals are merely aberrations — even though all illegal immigrants are by definition criminals.

Figures on illegal immigrant crime are hard to come by, but one new study — much contested by immigration boosters over one data point — appears to show that they are committing a significant level of crime in the U.S. (RELATED: STUDY: Arizona’s ‘Dreamers’ Make Up 8 Percent Of State Prison Population)

More importantly, the very presence of illegal immigrants freely living in our country and receiving the protection of sanctuary cities flouts the vey idea of the rule of law. American citizens are right to be upset that their loved ones could be killed by someone that authorities failed to keep out of their country.

If Edwin Jackson was killed in a police-involved shooting, the same people who bemoan the politicization of his passing now would be using it to further their own political agenda.

Any death that could have been prevented by government policy is bound to become political. Illegal alien drunk drivers and gang members are not facts of life we just have to accept.

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