Somerville News Coverage of MS-13 Arrest

[cemeterygates.livejournal.com]

I think that the Somerville News piece about the recent MS-13 arrest did an unusually good job depicting the grey area of morality that is so often ignored by the media in their coverage of criminals. I know that such an opinion is commonly viewed by the masses as bleeding-heart, or liberal-guilt, or what have you, but I can honestly say I am proud to be part of a community that recognizes the human side of all people, and I feel this article is an excellent example of that. I do not know specifically what actions Morales was responsible for as a gangster, and I do not question that MS-13 is a very powerful and dangerous entity; but because of this article perhaps a few more people also reflect on the fact that no-one is only a thug.

I would welcome your thoughts.

Comments

[srakkt.livejournal.com]

What troubles me most about this entire series of raids is that it seems, from the reporting (at least in English-language sources; I don't read Spanish) that legal residents (read: citizens, permanent residents, etc) in our communities who are of Latin American extraction are being made afraid enough to stay home. This sort of an operation should be accompanied by an enormous amount of public outreach to reassure our neighbors who are here legally.

[boblothrope.livejournal.com]

Yeah, and how exactly do they check people's citizenship status anyway? I certainly don't carry a passport or birth certificate to work. And any database they use to look people up based on their driver's license is certainly a big mess that would confuse people with similar names.

[amethystmoon.livejournal.com]

all MA employees (don't know about other states since I've never been employed in one) need to provide valid US legal-working-status-verifying identification when becoming employed, which your employer must photocopy and keep on file with your signed tax forms. This is why you're always asked to bring either a social security card plus license/state-issued ID OR passport to the first day on the job. They check by going to HR and looking it up.