Biden Bends the Law for Those Here Illegally

March 15, 2023

By Dale Wilcox

The lawlessness produced by Joe Biden’s abandoned border is no secret, but a recent report involving two illegal aliens who allegedly shot a bald eagle sums up just how bad things have become.

Two illegal aliens from Honduras were arrested in Nebraska after allegedly shooting a bald eagle, the national bird of the U.S., with the intent of eating it for dinner, according to a report earlier this month from The Washington Free Beacon. The Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act, which passed Congress in 1940, prohibits anyone from shooting down a bald eagle. Punishments for violators include significant fines and up to a year in prison. Despite the apparent violation of federal law, the federal government has been missing in action, and has not charged either of the aliens with a crime. The authorities in Nebraska were forced to release the two men, and both are scheduled to appear in court to defend themselves against misdemeanor charges later this spring.

Given that the statute alleged to have been violated is a federal one, this seems like a clear case where the federal government should step in and prosecute . At the very least, both men should be deported for violating the law by entering the country illegally, and then allegedly violating another federal law by shooting down the country’s national bird. 

Right now, it appears that neither will happen. The law prohibiting the killing of bald eagles has been on the books for more than eight decades, and Americans who have violated the law have rightly been prosecuted. The most recent case occurred in 2017, when a 62-year-old Virginia man plead guilty in federal court to shooting down a bald eagle near his home. Yet, the federal government seems content to sit on its hands and allow two illegal aliens who allegedly committed the same crime to live freely in the U.S. 

It is yet another example of the sanctuary culture that has eroded the rule of law in America. Under the leadership of Joe Biden and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, the federal government seems resistant to applying the laws to illegal aliens in the same way it is applied to American citizens.

Perhaps this is why more than 5.5 million illegal aliens have entered the U.S. since the current administration took office, according to a study from the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR). It is likely one reason why so many illegal aliens have decided to cross our border recently, because they understand there will be no consequences for their actions, even if they commit another crime while in the country. 

Criminal illegal aliens ranging from the organized criminals in the cartels to petty street criminals are not stupid. They understand that illegal aliens are being given special treatment by the Biden Administration, and are exploiting this reality to profit from  violence against migrants, Americans, and the rule of law itself.

Of course shooting a bald eagle, while deplorable, is far from the worst crime alleged to have been committed recently by illegal aliens. Kayla Hamilton, a 20-year-old autistic woman from Maryland was allegedly murdered by an MS-13 gang member earlier this year. That is just one from a list of too many murders and violent attacks committed in this country by those who have no legal right to be here. 

This culture of lawlessness builds upon itself, and crimes by those within America’s growing illegal alien population will only grow until something is done about it. 

The U.S. is currently facing a violent crime wave here at home. The last thing Americans need is for their government to import criminals from other countries. In order for our government to have the support of the people, laws must be uniformly enforced, not malleable according to the political agendas of those in power at the moment. 

The two illegal aliens who allegedly shot down a bald eagle in Nebraska are just the latest foreign nationals to break our immigration laws, then violate our criminal laws once in the country. Yet, the Biden Administration seems content to allow them to disappear into our society, alongside the millions of other people who have entered the U.S. illegally during their tenure. It is a national tragedy and an international disgrace.

Dale L. Wilcox is executive director and general counsel at the Immigration Reform Law Institute, a public interest law firm working to defend the rights and interests of the American people from the negative effects of mass migration.

Also published at Townhall, March 15, 2023.