With the second stabbing by an illegal alien in Charlotte, NC over the weekend, the left is still maintaining these are isolated incidents. (Most of America views it differently.) It doesn’t matter what label you put on these crimes; they are horrific and unnecessary.

MS-13, for example, has racked up a laundry list of crimes, including murders, many of which are committed by illegals, as has Tren de Aragua. Again, proponents of open borders claim we should ignore these, that the problem really doesn’t exist except on Fox News.

It’s tempting to quote current events, but historically, this is not a new issue. Even the 1993 World Trade Center Bombing, a prelude to the 9-11 attacks, was partially committed by people in the U.S. illegally.

As the author of true crime and history books, I always look to our past in framing our current state. The case that comes to mind is one not mentioned but is worth looking at. I refer you to the “Crime of the Century.”  No, not OJ Simpson, but the murder of Charles Lindbergh’s baby.

Lindbergh, “Lucky Lindy,” was a global sensation after his solo flight across the Atlantic. He made Taylor Swift look like just another face in the crowd, such was his popularity. In March 1932, someone broke into the Lindberghs’ house, climbing up to the second story nursery, and stole their baby.

It was a manhunt of epic proportions. There were ransom notes, passed to a concerned citizen who even sat with the kidnapper to try to negotiate the release of the child—and Lindbergh paid the ransom. For two years, the story of the Lindbergh baby kidnapping was front-page news.

Eventually, the child’s skeletal remains were found less than a mile from his home. Tracing the money led to Bruno Richard Hauptmann, who was arrested for the crime, tried, and executed.

What few people discuss is that Hauptmann was an illegal immigrant in the U.S. He had been arrested for stealing coal in Germany, a minor offense at best, but one he was convicted of.

The first time he tried to come into the U.S., he used a false alias, Karl Pellmier. He stowed away on a ship coming from Germany, and was deported back to his homeland. He tried again to stow away and was once more sent back.

On his third attempt, he literally jumped ship and swam ashore. Another immigrant, Fred Aldinger, took him in, helping him assimilate for the next year and a half. For a while, Hauptmann settled in, joining the carpentry union, and getting small jobs in the New York area. He married a young woman from Germany and had a child of his own.

Arguments have been made for decades that Hauptmann was framed, that he didn’t act alone (the equivalent of “fake news” today). What is known is that the ladder used to reach the Lindbergh child’s bedroom was made with floorboards from Hauptmann’s attic and that he had and used the ransom money.

The crime he committed was so heinous that it almost always overlooks the fact that Hauptmann was not ever supposed to be in the United States to begin with. The petty crime of stealing coal in Germany was a precursor to worse crimes in the U.S. If he had been vetted properly, he would have not been allowed in under laws at the time. He went on to kill the baby of an American hero, then continued to extort money from the parents, who had no idea their child was dead. If nothing else, it screams for the need for background checks of those that come to our shores.

There were no outcries at the time about him being here illegally because he circumvented a very solid immigration system that was in place at the time. Things are quite different this time around. The immigration system that Hauptmann avoided by jumping ship has been systematically dismantled and is only now in the process of being rebuilt. As we cope with criminals in our country who are here illegally, we are paying the price for an open border policy created by the Democrats, who did nothing to stop the influx of illegals.

Often, looking to our past is a good way to help solve the present. Such is the case with immigration.

Blaine Pardoe is a New York Times Bestselling and award-winning author canceled by one of his publishers in 2022. He writes in a number of genres including true crime and military history. His conservative political thriller series, Blue Dawn, is the story of the violent overthrow of the government by radical progressives. His new series, Tenure, is about a Punisher-like hero that goes after the woke. He also authors the bestselling military science fiction series, Land&Sea.

Image: Public domain.