A well-respected police officer with the NYPD, John Diller, a husband and father of a 1-year-old, was shot and killed by a man who was arrested and released 21 times! Officer Diller had been on the force for three years.

Police say 34-year-old Guy Rivera of Queens is now charged with first-degree murder of a police officer, attempted murder and criminal possession of a weapon in the case. He remains hospitalized with injuries from the shootout.

Among his past crimes were attempted murder and many other serious offenses. Yet he was released and then able to commit this horrible murder on a law enforcement officer just doing his duty. Rivera had been arrested 21 times in the past for his crimes. Why was he free and out of jail?

Laken Riley, a young nursing student, was murdered in Georgia by an illegal who had been arrested and released. What is wrong with this picture? Not only should he not have been on the street to commit this terrible crime, but he should have been deported back out of the country once he was arrested.

Just this week, the news came out that an illegal immigrant accused of a triple murder in Missouri was previously jailed and released in New Jersey on domestic violence charges.

This kind of crime continues to shine the spotlight on the conflict between local officials and immigration authorities nationwide.

Luis Rodrigo Perez, 23, a native of Mexico, is charged with fatally shooting two men and wounding two others Nov. 1 and fatally shooting a woman the next day.

A 25-year-old female, Ruby Garcia, was found dead on US-131 in Grand Rapids, Michigan, recently. Brandon Ortiz-Vite, the 25-year-old friend, has now confessed to killing her.

Ortiz-Vite confessed to shooting Garcia multiple times in her car before leaving her for dead on the busy highway. An ICE spokesperson said Ortiz-Vite is from Mexico, and he was previously deported in 2020. At some point, he reentered the United States.

These are just some of the cases that have haunted families and Americans over the last few months.

But the current administration is doing nothing at the borders and they are allowing illegal immigrants to come over by the thousands. They are not just from Mexico but also from Central and South American countries, Middle Eastern countries and places like China.

How many times do we read or hear about a rape, robbery or murder from a person who had been in jail for the same crime but was released early after spending very little time in prison?

Not to mention the illegal drugs like deadly Fentanyl that are being smuggled across the border into the United States and are hitting our streets all across the land – even in rural areas like eastern Kentucky and southern West Virginia.

Former President Donald Trump flew to the officer’s funeral to pay his respects, while current President Joe Biden also flew to New York City. But instead of paying his respects to the slain police officer Diller, he was busy attending an election fundraising event. Meanwhile, his press secretary blamed the Republicans and guns for the increase in crime across the U.S.

I would wager that the majority of major crimes come from repeat offenders who have been released early and often repeatedly by career criminals who should not be out on the streets.

We do know that not every single crime is committed by repeat offenders. However, there are way too many that we hear about that are by these repeat criminals. Many times they have been released after just a few months of incarceration. Most of the time, they have not been back on the streets long before they commit another crime.

So many lives could be saved if we would just keep these criminals locked up the first time! It is just common sense.

We know there are certain laws and rights we have as citizens, but these repeat offenders should not get out of jail early and they need to pay for their crimes. If they are arrested again and have a record, they need to be immediately deported back to the country of their origin.

The illegal immigrants are not American citizens so they should not have the same rights we do.

There have been an estimated 7.4 million illegal migrants that have crossed the border during the Biden administration.

Law enforcement does its job. However, some judicial systems are letting them right back out on the streets. It’s just not logical. It is not fair to law-abiding citizens. Even in baseball – three strikes and you’re out.

I am sure some liberals may be upset with my thoughts. But that’s fine with me. This kind of crime has to stop. It certainly can be cut down by stopping criminals from sneaking across the border. Once they are arrested here for any crime, don’t just let them go – send them home.

(Kyle Lovern is a longtime journalist in the Tug Valley. He is now a retired freelance writer and columnist for the Mountain Citizen.)