Cutler on Washington Times: "Huckabee’s illegal-alien enforcement record hit"
By Mike Cutler

The article I have attached below appeared in yesterday’s edition of the Washington Times and merits your consideration, not only in terms of evaluating Presidential Candidate Huckabee, but to also understand the concerns I have about most politicians and the way that all too many of them have become skilled at the craft of creating illusions. Of course my focus is generally limited to immigration and border security but I believe that you can find so many other areas where politicians will attempt to create the impression that they are effectively addressing an issue while maintaining the status quo.

It may be that Mike Huckabee really wants to address the immigration crisis confronting our nation, but I am baffled as to why he did not follow through with the program in his state of Arkansas to enable local law enforcement to receive the critical training under the provisions of Section 287(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act that would have effectively deputized a number of state law enforcement officers to enable them to work cooperatively with law enforcement personnel at ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement).

Consider this quote from the article about then Governor Huckabee’s failure to complete the process that would have empowered Arkansas state police officers to enforce provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act:

Mr. Huckabee’s campaign acknowledged he didn’t follow through, but said it was lack of time, not lack of interest.

Mr. Huckabee really needs to explain what this statement means. How could he claim that he lacked the time to make certain that the program that apparently so many of his constituents wanted prevented him from completing the process he began? Perhaps I am mistaken about Mr. Huckabee, but frankly my concern is clear. He began an important program in his state that could have helped with the enforcement of the immigration laws and then abandoned this effort. We the People have the right to know why! We the People have the right to know what he and all of his opponents really plan to do where the issue of border security and the effective enforcement and administration of the immigration laws are concerned. It is my contention that there is no issue that has greater significance for the future of our nation that the immigration issue because it impacts so many other aspects of our nation. As I have often pointed out, immigration impacts everything from the economy, the environment, education and healthcare to criminal justice and national security. Yet the politicians on both sides of the political aisle have been fighting hard to prevent the borders from being secured and to prevent the creation of an immigration bureaucracy that has even a modicum of integrity, even after the horrific attacks of September 11, 2001 and the findings of the 911 Commission in terms of the role that immigration benefit fraud played in the embedding process utilized by the terrorists who killed so many innocent people.

I have heard Mr. Huckabee state that he favored providing in-state tuition for the children of illegal aliens claiming he did not want to penalize the children of illegal aliens. In point of fact, the children of illegal aliens are, themselves, illegal aliens. Additionally, they may well be the children of illegal aliens although with the rampant issue of immigration benefit fraud that has been amply documented in one GAO report after another and one OIG report after another, I also fear that if our nation was stupid enough to create such a lucrative benefit for such “childrenâ€