Mexican immigrants. When you lookrnaround at so-called cheap Mexican labor,rnremember that your tax money is payingrnfor it.rnAnother increasing cost is crime. Althoughrnmost Mexican immigrants comernhere to work, not to engage in illegal activities,rnthere has been an ominous trendrntoward criminality since the early 1990’s.rnHispanic gangs in Los Angeles used to bernhomegrown. Now, several of them havernlarge numbers of illegal aliens as members.rnThe notorious 18th Street gang isrnthe largest and most violent in Los Angeles.rnThe California Department of Justice,rnin a special report, estimated that 50rnto 60 percent of the members of the gangrnare illegal aliens. The gang has been responsiblernfor dozens of murders over thernpast several years. In fjct, Hispanic gangsrnhave been responsible for far more murdersrnin Los Angeles Count}’ during thernlast two decades than hae black gangs,rnincluding the infamous Bloods andrnCrips. Between 1978 and 1995, therernwere nearly 7,300 gang killings in LosrnAngeles County. Hispanic gang membersrnaccounted for 59 percent of them;rnblack gang members, for 37 percent.rnWliites accounted for only one percent.rnOne would think that criminal illegalrnaliens could be quicklv identified and deported,rnbut not in Los Angeles. In 1983,rnthe Los Angeles City Council mandatedrnthat the LAPD prohibit its officers fromrnquestioning anyone arrested about theirrnimmigration status. The LAPD was notrnhapp’ with the mandate but issued SpecialrnOrder 40, under which an officerrnmay continue to ask those arrested aboutrneverything under the sun — except forrntheir immigration status.rnThe Los Angeles Police Commission,rna watchdog body, supported the policv.rnOne of the members of the police commissionrnwas Edith Perez, who is also arnmember of the board of directors ofrnMALDEF, the Mexican American LegalrnDefense and Education Fund. Thernname of the organization makes it soundrnrather innocuous. Nothing could be furtherrnfrom the truth. The cofounder ofrnMALDEF is Mario Obledo. In a liverntelevision interview, Obledo declared,rn”California is going to become a Hispanicrnstate and if you don’t like it you shouldrnleave.” If the police commission is influencedrnby PvIALDEF, then it’s not surprisingrnthat the LAPD was pressured into notrncooperating with the INS.rnLos Angeles [district Attorney GilrnCarcetti, himself the son of Mexican imnrigrants,rnissued a legal opinion fliat thernLAPD has no obligation to cooperaternwith the INS. Wliether the opinion wasrna reflection of faoritism for Mexicans orrnjust another in a long list of Garcetti’srnblunders is difficult to ascertain.