A potential powder keg in the immigration debate, and the fall election - from Michelle Malkin:

Law-abiding citizens of all colors are uniting against the targeting of innocent black residents of Los Angeles by illegal alien gangs. The parents of murdered high school student Jamiel Shaw met with L.A. public officials yesterday, urging them to rescind the city’s notorious Special Order 40–one of the nation’s oldest illegal alien sanctuary laws. Enough is enough:

The parents of Jamiel Shaw Jr., a high school football star who was gunned down by a reputed gang member just blocks from his home, urged Los Angeles city leaders today to go after criminals who are in the country illegally.

Pedro Espinoza, 19, allegedly shot and killed the 17-year-old Los Angeles High School student on March 2 in the 2100 block of Fifth Avenue, not far from the Shaw family’s Arlington Heights home. According to police, the shooting occurred one day after Espinoza was released from county jail, where he was serving time for assault with a deadly weapon.

U.S. immigration officials believe Espinoza, a member of the 18th Street gang, may have been in the country illegally.

“We have a problem with the system. My son was murdered by someone that was here illegally. No matter how you look at it, that’s what happened,” Jamiel Shaw Sr. told reporters before entering the Los Angeles City Council chamber.

Authorities do not know why Espinoza was not detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement upon his release from the county jail.

This is just the sort of cut-and-dried, issue which can drive an issue into the fall campaign. All it takes from this point is for people to start asking pointed questions about this to the three candidates - and while McCain has his weaknesses in the immigration debate, he's rock solid compared to Obama and Hillary, who are both deathly afraid of declaring themselves firmly on the issue. Democrats want very much to use immigration as a means of securing Hispanic votes in the fall - but they want to do it on the sly, off the main public radar using scare tactics in the Hispanic community (you know, McCain will send you back to Mexico, so vote Democrat!)...the last thing the Democrats want is to take a position on whether or not local law enforcement should check the immigration status of people detained for crimes.

This could change a huge amount of the election dynamic - so, lets just watch and see what happens.

Cross Posted at Blogs for Victory

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