The murder of Newman, CA police Cpl. Ronil Singh by a known illegal immigrant gang member on the night after Christmas drew national outrage and served to highlight the dire need for improved border security measures and immigration law reforms.
President Donald Trump has weighed in on the tragic incident to publicly express his concerns, and now, he has spoken with the family and friends of the slain officer to privately express his condolences as well.
The Hill reported that Trump spoke by phone on Thursday with the family of Singh, a legal immigrant from Fiji who wanted nothing more than to be a police officer in America who was gunned down by a criminal illegal alien during a traffic stop for a suspected DUI offense.
Call of condolence
“This afternoon, President Trump spoke with the family and law enforcement colleagues of fallen Newman, California, police officer Ronil ‘Ron’ Singh,” White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said in a statement.
“The [p]resident praised Officer Singh’s service to his fellow citizens, offered condolences, and commended law enforcement’s rapid investigation, response, and apprehension of the suspect,” Sanders added.
The suspect in Singh’s murder, Mexican national Gustavo Perez Arriaga, was arrested two days after the tragic incident following a massive manhunt by various local and state law enforcement agencies.
Highlighting an issue
President Trump first addressed the tragedy while the extensive manhunt was still ongoing for the suspected murderer of Cpl. Singh.
He tweeted last month:
There is right now a full scale manhunt going on in California for an illegal immigrant accused of shooting and killing a police officer during a traffic stop. Time to get tough on Border Security. Build the Wall!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 27, 2018
Trump tweeted then and recently spoke with Singh’s family amid a battle with Democrats over funding for border security, which Trump says is necessary to protect American lives and sovereignty.
Legal vs. illegal
The striking dichotomy of the immigration status of the killer and victim in this horrible event have not gone unnoticed either, as the chief law enforcement officer leading the investigation into the murder, Stanislaus County Sheriff Adam Christianson, made certain to highlight in statements following the untimely death.
“This suspect, unlike Ron — who immigrated to this country lawfully and legally to pursue his lifelong career of public safety, public service and being a police officer — this suspect is in our country illegally,” Christianson said during a press conference last week. “He doesn’t belong here. He’s a criminal.”
[show_poll poll_id=1224]
Strong border security measures — including a wall — may very well have prevented the killer from initially entering the country, thereby negating his ability to murder Cpl. Singh.
Unfortunately, the killer did make it across our nation’s porous border, and California’s sanctuary law prevented law enforcement officials from turning him over to federal authorities when he was taken into custody for other crimes, which provided the known criminal with the opportunity to become a murderer.