Unchecked Immigration Hammers Retailers in The US AND The UK Where Shoplifting Is Now Breaking All Records - and Is No Longer Worth Reporting.

Open borders spur retail thieves.

By Ken Blackwell, CP Op-Ed Contributor Tuesday, December 26, 2023

Products are displayed in locked security cabinets at a Walgreens store that is set to be closed in the coming weeks on October 13, 2021 in San Francisco, California. Walgreens announced plans to close five of its San Francisco stores due to organized retail shoplifting that has plagued its stores in the city. The retail pharmacy chain has already shuttered 10 stores in the city since 2019. | Getty Images/Justin Sullivan

The crisis of retail theft engulfing American storefronts is a crisis of our immigration policy. 

Federal immigration authorities have failed to capture important background information about foreign nationals entering our country through a special visa program. In so doing, they have contributed to a crisis that’s turned American retailers into thunder domes of violence and crime.   

Organized retail theft costs retailers billions and contributes to a climate of danger that is gripping consumers and workers. Unlike shoplifting, organized retail theft involves criminal gangs skilled at stealing inventory at volume for resale in other markets. These criminals vary in sophistication, from small time thieves hawking stolen power drills online to international syndicates tied to drug trafficking and money laundering.   

The visa waiver program allows citizens of 41 countries to visit the United States for up to 90 days without a visa. Participant countries must share background information, such as criminal histories, with our immigration authorities and extend the same entry privileges to our citizens.   

Criminals from all over the world are exploiting this system to steal from American retailers. Call it crime tourism.  CP.