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Date: 2007/02/05 Mon AM 09:54:05 EST
Subject: 9/11 Families for a Secure America -February 2 - Mike Cutler commentary

9-11FSA Families and Friends:

Contact your elected officials with the following links to say NO to any Amnesty or Guest-Worker, Path to legalization Program!

They will place our nation at risk from a national security standpoint.

U.S. House of Representatives - U.S. Congress (House and Senate) 800-648-3516, 877-762-8762,.
U.S. Senate 202-224-3121, 202-225-3121 202-224-3121, 202-225-3121
White House - President George Bush, The White House, 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20500; 202-456-1111 9-5 m-f; fax: 202-456-2461. Contact the President via web mail.
I have attached a copy of a recent ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) newsletter that highlights an investigation that has received quite a bit of fanfare, especially by ICE. The investigation began as an employer sanctions investigation of employees at Swift and Company, one of the biggest processors of fresh beef and pork. Thus far nearly 1,300 employees were arrested on immigration charges. According to the newsletter, 274 of these illegal aliens have been charged with criminal violations including reentry after deportation and/or crimes related to identity theft. Interestingly, some of the aliens who were arrested were not from Latin America but came from other parts of the world. Included in the nationalities that were enumerated were Laos, Sudan and Ethiopia. The article did not note how many of the aliens arrested came from those none-Latin American countries nor did it make note of whether or not any of those aliens were being charged with any criminal violations. However, there are a couple of points worth considering. Advocates for open borders and consequently express anger when the term "alien" is used to describe non-citizens often claim that the enforcement of the immigration laws constitutes racism. It is true that the majority of the illegal aliens in the United States come from Mexico and Latin America. This is, in part, attributable to geography because Mexico shares a large land border with the United States making it easy for their impoverished citizens to come to the United States. Because the majority of the illegal aliens in the United States come from Latin America, it is likely that immigration law enforcement efforts are more likely to involve citizens of Latin America. I can, however, assure you that when I was an INS special agent, we were seeking those who violated the immigration laws irrespective of nationality.

The fact that at least a few of the illegal aliens who were caught in the dragnet wielded by ICE came from such other diverse nations shows that not all illegal aliens are from Latin America. The fact that Sudan and Ethiopia were the nations of citizenship for at least a few of the illegal aliens who were arrested raises another issue. Those two countries are heavily involved in terrorism. I do not know whether or not those citizens of those countries who were arrested are involved in anything more nefarious than working illegally, but the special agents conducting the investigation are, no doubt concerned about the true identities of these aliens as well as the true reasons that they may have come here. If they were involved in the identity theft aspects of the criminal cases emanating from this investigation, the possibility that these aliens were attempting to hide in plain sight while they supported terrorist activities has to be considered by the agents who are pursuing the investigation. Furthermore, it makes it clear that illegal aliens from "Special Interest" countries are operating within our nation's borders and represent a potential threat. (A Special Interest country is a country that has been identified as being involved in terrorism.)

The potential also exists that there are illegal aliens from Special Interest countries who have assumed identities that conceal their true countries of origin, claiming to be citizens of Latin American countries, for example, in order to conceal their true identities as well as their true reasons for coming to the United States. This is not a farfetched concern when you realize that there are countries in Latin America where corruption of their government officials is a problem or where the leaders of some of those countries are openly hostile to the United States. We also know that there are training camps in Brazil in the so-called "Three Corners Region" that are being operated by Hamas and Hezbollah. That is part of the problem with having millions of "undocumented" aliens in the United States. Properly identifying them including their respective nationalities can be highly problematic, indeed, virtually impossible. These millions of illegal aliens make a huge haystack in which the criminal and terrorists can easily hide. This is another reason why the Guest Worker Amnesty program advocated by the President and members of both houses of Congress from both political parties keeps me awake at night.

I commend the efforts of the ICE special agents who have been pursuing this investigation and hope they will have much success in finding more illegal aliens especially those who have committed identity theft and other felonies. The newsletter makes the point that the investigation is continuing and I, for one, hope it is. What needs to be remembered is that there are millions of illegal aliens 'out there' and only a relative handful of special agents who are on the hunt. This is why the failure of our government to hire an adequate number of special agents to enforce the immigration laws is so vexing to me.

The massive, far-flung identity theft rings that have been focused on as a part this investigation appear to have been well organized and quite sophisticated. I recall working a case with the DEA towards the end of my career where homeless people were recruited to obtain United States passports that the ring that recruited them would then disassemble the genuine passport and then substitute the photograph of a drug trafficker, often an illegal alien, who wanted to be able to travel easily into the United States. The newer passports would make that sort of photo substitution virtually impossible, but the point is that the bad guys simply adjust their strategies in order to overcome the hurdles that our government attempts to place in their way. The crooks and the terrorists are getting more sophisticated. They are highly motivated. When I was a new agent, an old-timer took me aside to impart some of his wisdom he acquired in the decades he had worked in law enforcement. He told me to never forget that when a cop is chasing a criminal, the cop is running for his paycheck and the criminal is running for his life!

The beleaguered law enforcement personnel at ICE need to get the resources that they require to do an effective job including many more new colleagues. It is interesting that this investigation of the employment of illegal aliens resulted in the discovery of a massive identity theft operation. The effective investigation of immigration law violations has the potential of uncovering a whole host of other issues including potential national-security related threats. That is why our nation must not succumb to the political pressure of providing Guest Worker amnesty for millions of undocumented illegal aliens. There President continues to hawk the Guest Worker Amnesty program as a way of taking pressure off the border. I would have to disagree with that assessment. The prospect of gaining the ability to work in the United States encourages more illegal immigration and with it, a host of other criminal violations. If you want to truly take the pressure off the border, take away the incentives that draw those millions of illegal aliens here in the first place. As I have said on previous occasions, "No one would break into an amusement park if they could not get to go on the rides and no one remains in the amusement park at the end of the day when they turn off the lights and shut down the rides!"

Lead, follow or get out of the way!

-michael cutler-

http://www.ice.gov/pi/news/insideice/ar ... 0_Web1.htm



Public Information

Inside ICE: Volume 4, Issue 1
ICE Cracks Large-Scale Identity Theft Scheme

ICE Assistant Secretary Julie L. Myers, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Chairman Deborah Platt Majoras, and Cache County (Utah) Attorney N. George Daines announce the arrests resulting from an ongoing worksite enforcement investigation at a Dec. 13 news conference.

ICE Assistant Secretary Julie L. Myers, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Chairman Deborah Platt Majoras, and Cache County (Utah) Attorney N. George Daines announce the arrests resulting from an ongoing worksite enforcement investigation at a Dec. 13 news conference.

1,297 Swift & Company (Swift) workers were arrested as part of an ongoing worksite enforcement investigation into immigration violations and a massive identity theft scheme that has victimized large numbers of U.S. citizens and lawful U.S. residents.

On Dec. 12, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents executed civil search warrants at six facilities owned by Swift, one one of the nation s largest processors of fresh pork and beef. Agents executed warrants at Swift facilities in Greeley, Col.; Grand Island, Neb.; Cactus, Texas; Hyrum, Utah; Marshalltown, Iowa; and Worthington, Minn.

All of the illegal alien workers were initially apprehended on administrative immigration violations. Of these, 274 have also been charged with criminal violations related to identity theft or other violations, such as re-entry after deportation. Countries of origin of those arrested were Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Peru, Laos, Sudan and Ethiopia; others have yet to be identified. The investigation is ongoing.

Through this investigation, which began in Feb. 2006, ICE and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) have identified hundreds of U.S. citizens whose stolen identities have been used by these aliens, that have reported being victimized by this identity theft scheme. ICE and the FTC are working to identify other victims who may be unaware that their identities have been stolen.

The investigation has uncovered criminal organizations around the country that traffic in genuine birth certificates and Social Security cards belonging to U.S. citizens. In recent months, ICE agents have arrested several members of these organizations in Minnesota, Texas, Utah and Puerto Rico. In some cases, these organizations have stolen legitimate identity documents from unwitting U.S. citizens. In other cases, they have purchased these documents from U.S. citizens willing to sell their identities for money, including homeless people and individuals in jail.

ICE agents learned that many of these genuine identity documents were trafficked to locations around the country and sold to illegal aliens who used them to gain employment at Swift. By using valid birth certificates and Social Security cards of U.S. citizens, these illegal aliens were able to thwart the Basic Pilot employment eligibility verification Program (Basic Pilot), a federal program designed to help employers detect unauthorized workers. Swift has used Basic Pilot since 1997.

The illegal aliens arrested Dec. 12 on administrative immigration violations were detained and processed at locations around the country for removal proceedings or immediate return to Mexico. In a limited number of cases where humanitarian or medical concerns were identified, ICE agents used their discretion and provided the alien with a notice to appear in court at a later date.

Those illegal aliens who were charged with federal criminal violations were remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service pending their criminal court proceedings before a federal judge. Those illegal aliens charged in state criminal violations were remanded to the custody of state authorities pending their criminal court proceedings. ICE will seek to remove these individuals from the United States upon the resolution of their criminal charges and associated sentences.

Any U.S. citizens who suspect their identities were stolen in this scheme should report it via the FTC Web site at www.ftc.gov/idtheft or by calling the FTC s hotline at 1-877-ID-THEFT (1-877-438-433, or by writing to the Identity Theft Clearinghouse, Federal Trade




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9/11 Families for a Secure America
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Hawley, PA 18428-0156