The Price of Illegal Immigration: American Lives

Twenty-two year old Lindsey Fawson, who hoped to become a veternarian, became yet another victim of President Bush's callous refusal to defend America's borders on Monday, when the illegal alien with whom she had recently broken off a romantic relationship allegedly shot her to death in front of her older sister and three year old son.

Fawson's life was cut short Monday when her ex-boyfriend of four months, Juan Carlos Diaz-Arevalo, allegedly shot her once in the head in front of her older sister and 3-year-old son.

Fawson, 22, broke up with Diaz-Arevalo twice, said her mother, Tessie Seneca. The first time he threatened to harm her.

"He wasn't able to let her go," she said. "She was a good, caring, loving person and didn't deserve this at all - not that anyone deserves this - but she was my little girl. He [Diaz-Arevalo] is an evil creature."

Just 15 hours after the Monday shooting, Diaz-Arevalo was in a police interview room for questioning. By evening, he was arrested and booked into Salt Lake County jail on suspicion of murder.

Diaz-Arevalo, whom police initially identified as Juan Garcia, was spotted by South Jordan police walking on 1300 West around 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, said Draper Sgt. Scott Peck.

Diaz-Arevalo ran from police and hid in the back yard of a home in the 9300 South block of 1300 West, Peck said.

Police from five agencies established a perimeter and closed in on the suspect, sending in a Midvale police dog to confront Diaz-Arevalo. The dog struggled with Diaz-Arevalo, biting him in the arms and prompting him to fire a round from a sawed-off, 18-inch Winchester 1400 shotgun. The dog was not hit by the gunfire.

The shotgun - the same one police believe was used Monday night - was loaded with two rounds, one of which was expended. Police also found an unused round in Diaz-Arevalo's pocket.

The 25-year-old man was arrested and his hands covered in paper bags to preserve any evidence of gunpowder, Draper Sgt. Gerald Allred said. Through chemical analysis, investigators can detect abnormal levels of nitrates on a person's hands, indicating whether the person has recently fired a weapon.

Not only is Mr. Diaz-Arevalo in the US illegally, he has been deported from the US at least twice before.

Diaz-Arevalo - who has been deported to Mexico at least twice - was wanted for a first-degree felony count of unlawful possession of a controlled substance or counterfeit substance with intent to distribute, and three misdemeanors.

He allegedly admitted to police he intended to sell methamphetamine found in a backpack inside the car police pulled over in February, according to the charges.

In 2001, Diaz-Arevalo pleaded guilty to a third-degree felony count of purchasing, transferring, possessing or using a firearm by a restricted person and other charges.

According to the charges, a stolen rifle was found in the truck Diaz-Arevalo was in at the time he was arrested. He admitted he was not a legal resident and was thus restricted from possessing firearms.

In 2001, he was deported, according to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The following year, he pleaded guilty to illegally re-entering the country and was sentenced to 10 months in prison. After he served his sentence, he was deported, said Melodie Rydalch, spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney's Office in Salt Lake City.

Federal prosecutors are considering new federal immigration and firearms charges, and an immigration detainer is in the process of being filed, Rydalch said.

This is the rule of law under George Bush and the current GOP Congress. Illegal immigrants can swarm across the US-Mexico border, almost without resistance, and even when they are caught and charged with crimes, they can run right back across the border as soon as they are deported. What does that say about the security of the US-Mexico border? What does it say about the effectiveness of US border enforcement? What does it say about the rhetoric of a President who repeatedly tells the American people that they are in a global war against terrorists who want to inflict mass casualties on the American homeland (and have already done so), but then leaves the southern border of that homeland completely undefended? Worse, what does it say about the American people that they tolerate this?