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Exclusive: Tougher Tactics Needed at U.S. Border
Michael Cutler
Author: Michael Cutler
Source: The Family Security Foundation, Inc.
Date: February 23, 2007



When it comes to securing our nation, FSM Contributing Editor Michael Cutler says we need more than a few sporadically placed National Guardsmen and electrical fences to keep would-be criminals and terrorists out.





Tougher Tactics Needed at U.S. Border



By Michael Cutler



The New York Times reported Thursday in an article titled “Tougher Tactics Deter Migrants at U.S. Border” that sections of the border separating the United States from Mexico, where security has been bolstered, have seen a reduction of the flow of illegal aliens into the United States.



While advocates for open borders like to make it sound as though controlling our nation's borders is not possible, clearly human resources and the placement of barriers can, in fact, be effective in stopping and deterring illegal immigration. It is also interesting that the efforts aimed at curbing "Catch & Release" along the border has also worked as a deterrent to illegal immigration. But the Times didn’t tell the whole story.



Roberto Suro, the director of the Pew Hispanic Center in Washington, noted when a balloon is squeezed at one end it bulges somewhere else – this is an apt analogy and one the I have used as well to evaluate the effectiveness of enhancing law enforcement resources at isolated locations along the Mexican border. There are sections of the border where I am certain entry rates have increased as others with better security have decreased.



The New York Times article focused on the Mexican border, but did not discuss the fact that as much as 40 percent of illegal aliens enter the United States legally, such as through airports. Border Patrol does not deal with that component of the immigration crisis; ICE does - or tries. At present there are fewer than 4,000 special agents at ICE who are involved with enforcing the immigration laws throughout the entire country. Additionally, all of the special agents who have been trained since the creation of ICE (Immigration and Customs and Enforcement) have never been provided with any foreign language training at all by ICE, let alone Spanish language training, which had been a requirement at the former Immigration and Naturalization Services.



It is incredible that more than five years after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, our nation still lacks an adequate number of Border Patrol agents and is using National Guard troops to augment the beleaguered Border Patrol. It is also unacceptable that a lack of special agents at Immigration and Customs Enforcement continues to hobble that critical agency, which is charged with enforcing U.S. immigration laws. The administration has made it clear that the President is determined to create a Guest Worker Amnesty program from millions of illegal aliens who are currently present in the United States. He has steadfastly refused to secure our nation's borders. All too often it seems that the President and members of his cabinet such as Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff have engaged in a public relations campaign to provide an illusion of effectiveness especially where illegal immigration is concerned.



The U.S. Customs and Immigration Services is unable to deal competently with its workload right now. A Guest Worker Amnesty program would dump millions of applications on the desks of that agency's beleaguered employees—Aliens whose identities often are impossible to verify, especially with the poor resources afforded to USCIS.



Once their applications are pushed through the incompetent immigration system due to political expediency (as 30,000 were in recent years when USCIS lost their paperwork), these “guests” will be given new license to abuse U.S. laws. Armed with brand new identities, conveniently furnished by our own government, the terrorists and criminals who slip through the cracks would be able to use these identity documents to open bank accounts, get credit cards, and obtain driver's licenses, library cards, and even buy firearms. They would be able to travel freely across our country and over its borders and circumvent various terror watch lists and the No Fly List. They couldn’t ask for a better opportunity to prepare to attack our nation.



ICE engages in occasional, highly publicized field operations that are often given tough, military-sounding names, such as "Operation Community Shield," which target aliens involved in violent gangs. Operation Community Shield was held out as an example of effective immigration law enforcement by the President and members of his administration. However, the successes they claimed in regard to this particular operation did not stand up to critical scrutiny.



Operation Community Shield, according to the administration, resulted in the arrest and removal of some 2,300 violent gang members last year. However, it has been estimated that there are hundreds of thousands of aliens involved in violent gangs in the United States. The fact is, the operation resulted in the arrest and deportation of a fraction of one percent of the aliens involved in violent gangs—there couldn’t be a better example of the failure of Bush’s immigration policy.



Strategies need to be devised that address the immigration crisis in broad terms. Securing some sections of the border against illegal entry just causes smugglers to find new routes. The Visa Waiver Program creates more opportunities for criminals and terrorists to gain entry into the United States. A failure to create an immigration system that has integrity makes it relatively easy for those aliens who succeed in entering our country, either legally or illegally, to game the system and acquire resident alien status and even United States citizenship. It is time that all of these issues are addressed to secure our nation and protect our citizens.



Further complicating the issue is the outrageous arrest, prosecution and incarceration of Border Patrol Agents Ramos and Compean, who shot a border-crosser in the buttocks as he appeared to be attacking them. This and other lesser known cases have had a "chilling effect" on Border Patrol agents, who are wary of being prosecuted for doing their jobs.



The Times claims that the only way of measuring the effectiveness of the efforts intended to secure the border is by the number of illegal aliens who have been arrested. Another barometer of the level of illegal immigration is the amount of money being wired to Mexico by aliens working in the United States. This year the amount of that money has once again increased. I do not believe that these illegal aliens are earning more money, only that more aliens are, in fact, working and sending money home.



The Times also did not discuss the national security implications of having many illegal and undocumented aliens enter our country. Not all illegal aliens are from Mexico. An increasing number of illegal aliens have been found in recent years to have come from "Special Interest" countries, meaning that they are citizens of countries that are involved in terrorism. In some cases, aliens from the Middle East have apparently assumed Latino names and obtained passports from Latin American countries.



This is troublesome because Brazil is known to have Hamas and Hezbollah training camps in a region known as the "Three Borders Region." Countries such as Venezuela and Bolivia are openly hostile to the United States and Mexico’s government is highly corrupt. Therefore, there are serious issues about the ease with which terrorists might enter Latin America, acquire Spanish language proficiency and make there way across the Mexican border into the United States. Should such terrorists enter in this fashion and should our nation enact a Guest Worker Amnesty program, these terrorists could easily enter our nation and embed themselves here, hiding in plain sight and waiting to receive instructions to carry out an attack.



I find it particularly disturbing that the tone of the Times article makes it seem that illegal aliens are simply commuters who are denied the ability to go to work in our country. The point is that our nation, just like every other nation, has the absolute right to secure our borders. We have a mandate to determine carefully whom to permit to enter our country and whom to keep out.



The responsible homeowner who looks through the peephole of his front door before opening that door exercises that sort of good judgment. So should our nation, especially as we continue to witness large numbers of illegal aliens entering our country who are involved in the drug trade, violent gangs and potentially terrorism.



For those who feel compassion towards those illegal aliens who seek to enter our country in violation of law out of economic necessity, I would recommend that we focus on why these impoverished people are so desperate to come here, even though they know that they will be treated poorly. These people are being exploited by virtually everyone with whom they are involved. Their governments want them to come to the United States to send money home. The alien smugglers rob and beat them and often rape the women and girls. The unscrupulous employers pay them substandard wages and force them to endure terrible, often illegal working conditions.



As an INS special agent, I raided many factories that epitomized just how far some immoral employers will go to maximize profit at the expense of their illegal employees. Those who claim to be advocates for the rights of these exploited aliens almost never address the circumstances in their home countries that drove them across our nation's borders in the first place.



The President refers to "Comprehensive Immigration Reform" as a Newspeak term to describe his Guest Worker Amnesty program. I too believe in a comprehensive approach to the immigration crisis, but my plan would not incorporate a Guest Worker Amnesty program. My concept of Comprehensive Immigration Enforcement means that all areas of vulnerability in our border security and the immigration system are identified and addressed in a coordinated effort.



America's borders can be secured. We can form an immigration system with integrity. All it would take is a true desire by our nation's leaders to accomplish these most basic obligations our government owes its citizens.



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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