Thread: Blurring The Lines Between Citizens and Aliens

Exclusive: Blurring the Lines Between Citizens and Aliens
Mike Cutler
Author: Mike Cutler
Source: The Family Security Foundation, Inc.
Date: March 6, 2007





Those who insist on blurring the lines between the distinct definitions of “citizen”, “immigrant” and “alien” put our nation at grave risk. FSM Contributing Editor Mike Cutler explains.





Blurring the Lines Between Citizens and Aliens





The Washington Post recently published another one of its hand wringing tomes that expresses its concern the President is not going far enough in blurring the distinction between what it is to be a United States citizen, a resident alien (immigrant) and an illegal alien.





The maddening thing about those who want to open our borders and reward illegal aliens for ignoring our laws is that, rather than deal with the true issues, they resort to making accusations and intimidating those who would create an immigration system with true integrity, and secure our borders so that they are capable of keeping out criminals, terrorists, drugs and other law-breakers. They define success as the creation of a program that would reward illegal aliens for having violated our borders, encouraging others similarly to do so. Their vision of success also is a program that would enable criminals and terrorists to provide the overworked bureaucracy at USCIS (United States Citizenship and Immigration Services) with false names and then receive official identity documents that they can use to conceal their true identities and create brand new ones. This would enable criminals and especially terrorists to embed themselves easily in communities around the country and hide in plain sight waiting for instructions to participate in terrorist attacks, or provide assistance to terrorist organizations that would do grievous harm to our country and our citizens.





To support my position I have attached links to reports that paint a clear and highly disturbing picture about the failings of USCIS as well as the links to demonstrate the many failings of the components of the immigration system and our nation's vulnerability to terrorism related to those failings.




I suggest you start out by clicking here for the "911 Commission Staff Report on Terrorist Travel:"

You may read the press release issued by then Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, F. James Sensenbrenner, on March 10, 2006 concerning the findings of the GAO in terms of the critical issue of immigration benefit fraud by clicking here.

The actual GAO report can be found here.

Finally, you may read the press release issued by Senator Charles Grassley about the missing immigration files and the naturalization of perhaps as many as 30,000 aliens by USCIS without their respective files being reviewed. The press release also contains a link to the GAO report that addresses this travesty:

Yet Congress and the administration remain generally mute.


I testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee this past summer about my objections to S. 2611, the Senate bill that would have created a Guest Worker Amnesty Program for millions of illegal aliens who are present in violation of US law. Although Senator Kennedy left the hearing room just as I began to speak and then returned at the precise moment I ended my prepared testimony, he sent me follow-up questions through then Committee Chairman Arlen Specter. It was interesting that Senator Specter accused those who opposed a Guest Worker Amnesty Program of suffering from "Xenophobia”.


I know that this commentary contains links to quite a bit of material but it is important to understand the profound impact that a Guest Worker Amnesty Program would have on our nation and our citizens, and our government knows this. It is important to understand how this program would undermine our nation's security and endanger our citizens' lives. It is important to understand how this program would encourage more massive illegal immigration and make an utter mockery of our country's claim to being a "Nation of laws". It is also important to understand how this program would hammer America's working poor and middle class making the "American Dream" more elusive than ever. Again, our government knows all this.


On top of government fecklessness, corporations engaged in all sorts of industries are salivating at the prospect of erasing our nation's borders so that they will fatten their profit margins. A stroll down the aisle of supermarkets and other retail establishments make it clear that these companies cannot wait to merge Mexico with the United States. Bilingual labels on much of what is offered for sale makes this abundantly clear.


Before you start thinking I am a xenophobe let me tell you that my mother legally came to this country as a teenage girl who could read, write and speak only Polish and Yiddish. My father’s parents immigrated to the United States from Russia shortly after the last century dawned. They could read, write and speak only Russian and Yiddish. My mother made it her priority to learn English because she knew that without knowing the country’s language, she would limit her ability to be successful in the United States where she wanted, more than anything, to be a citizen. English proficiency is a major part of the requirement for naturalization. My dad told me that his father – after whom I’m named - worked 6 days a week, often more than 12 hours a day as a roofer and tinsmith. He learned the English language by comparing the current edition of the "Forward" a Yiddish language newspaper with the previous day's edition of the Daily News which contained virtually the same articles. He did this after dinner at the dining room table by candle light, eager to learn the English language and become an American citizen. For him, United States citizenship was a dream, and he was grateful to have escaped the tough life and conditions of Tsarist Russia.


As Americans, we do not need to have a common religion. We do not need to share a common ethnicity but we do need to have a common language if we are to remain a cohesive country. I am concerned that in the name of trade, profit and party votes, our nation is making it easy for people to get by without ever learning to speak English. Those who advocate for the rights of illegal aliens insist that our country throw its doors open to all who come here. They want America not to distinguish between those who immigrate legally from those who come in violation of US federal law. They would put all of the demands of assimilation, such as it is, on the citizens of our country while those who come here illegally would not have to make an effort to learn the language of this nation. This is not about xenophobia this is about maintaining two founding principles of the United States: "E Pluribus Unum" and the recognition that we are a nation of laws. These are the principles that have made the United States the singular success story that attracts so many people from all over the world.


Those who want to eradicate our borders and blur the distinction between lawful immigration and illegal entry into our country are motivated by money, commerce and a desire for political power. It is time we stood up for our country and demand that our borders protect us from those who would come in violation of law and those who would pose a threat to our security. .


Lead, follow or get out of the way!

FamilySecurityMatters.org Contributing Editor Michael Cutler is a Fellow at the Center for Immigration Studies and a well-respected authority on immigration and border security issues.

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"

E Pluribus Unum" and the recognition that we are a nation of laws. These are the principles that have made the United States the singular success story that attracts so many people from all over the world.

I think Congress is attempting to "blur" the fact that "we are a nation of laws". They are first and foremost attempting to ignore the law that should be number one in protecting our citizens, i.e., border security.

Let us all take our country back! We are the people, the legal US citizens of the United States.


We are not a hang out for criminals, freeloaders, linejumpers and job stealers!!!