Let's begin with the important and accurate point, which I've made before, that the vast majority of immigrants -- legal and illegal -- are neither dangerously violent nor threats to public safety. There's in fact a great deal of evidence showing that immigrants are less likely to commit violent crimes than native-born Americans, with mixed data on this comparison regarding unlawful immigrants. The purpose of highlighting disgraceful stories like the development below is not to demonize an entire population; it's to draw attention to the consequences of political posturing against needed immigration enforcement. Beyond that, every single act of violence inflicted upon an American by someone who should never have been in the country in the first place is an unacceptable outrage -- and the media should not allow identity obsessives, anti-enforcement zealots, and political correctness enforcers to bully them into averting their eyes from stories like this:

JUST IN: ICE has confirmed that 26yo Kevin Mendoza is a Honduran national living in the U.S. illegally.



Mendoza is at least the fourth undocumented immigrant arrested on rape charges in Montgomery County, Md. in less than one month.



Full police press release on the case: https://t.co/aEFlZ1mohd — Kevin Lewis (@ABC7Kevin) August 20, 2019

Kevin Mendoza stalked, tackled and strangled the victim before raping her beside a vending machine, cops say. The 26-year-old reportedly told the woman, "you know you like this." Security cameras caught the entire incident.

Last month, Montgomery County Democratic leaders imposed new rules, instructing "all county agencies that they are not allowed to ask people about their immigration status or cooperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement." ICE warned that this politically-driven posturing would have negative repercussions. They have been proven correct, tragically and repeatedly. As mentioned in the tweet above, at least four rapes have been committed by illegal immigrants in this sanctuary county in less than one full month, including this stomach-turning case:

NEW: 29yo Mauricio Berrera-Navidad of Damascus, Md. + 28yo Carlos Palacios-Amaya of Gaithersburg, Md. are accused of raping an 11-year-old Germantown, Md. girl.



MoCo Police say the men (both friends with the victim's older brother) committed the rapes on separate occasions. pic.twitter.com/LhdCnPKe35 — Kevin Lewis (@ABC7Kevin) August 13, 2019

Two undocumented immigrants are accused of raping an 11-year-old girl on different occasions, the common denominator being a friendship with the victim's older brother. Montgomery County Police have arrested Mauricio Barrera-Navidad, 29, of Damascus, and Carlos Palacios-Amaya, 28, of Gaithersburg, and charged each with second-degree rape. Last month, the victim — now 12-years-old — spoke with a social worker at her middle school in Germantown. Talking through tears, the girl shared the painful details about what both men allegedly did to her...U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement tells ABC7 that Barrera-Navidad and Palacios-Amaya are both living in the country illegally. In December 2016, an immigration judge issued Barrera-Navidad a "final order of removal." It's unclear why the Salvadoran national remained in the country. In 2014, federal authorities removed Palacios-Amaya from the U.S. for an undisclosed reason. The 28-year-old — who ICE referred to as a "repeat immigration violator" — returned to the U.S. on an unknown date.

One of the alleged child rapists (there is apparently video of the attacks) had been ordered to leave the US back in 2016, but never complied, and was evidently never forced to comply. The other assailant was deported, but managed to re-enter the country illegally at some point. Our border is not secure, and politicians making ICE's necessary work harder to accomplish places people -- including women and children -- at risk. It gets worse and worse:

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement says Montgomery County violated its own jail policy last week when it released an undocumented immigrant accused of rape despite an immigration detainer on file. The allegations mark the latest public spat between the federal law enforcement agency and the progressive, left-leaning county...Last month, Elrich signed an executive order into law, banning Montgomery County employees from asking residents about their immigration status. The legislation also barred ICE agents from entering any secure portions of county jails, a sudden divorce from the standard operating procedure...This is not the first time ICE has accused Montgomery County of ignoring an immigration detainer in a felony case. In May 2017, ICE lambasted county elected leaders after the jail released an undocumented immigrant who brought an AR-15 assault-style rifle to Albert Einstein High School in Kensington. Montgomery County later blamed the incident on a clerical error.

Sanctuary-style policies may be touted by defenders as "progressive" and "compassionate," but how many of these heinous incidents are Maryland voters willing to stomach? These stories may be uncomfortable and feel unseemly to talk about in 'enlightened' circles, but policies have consequences and these innocent victims matter.