Thread: How to Deal with Illegal Immigration: Real Law Enforcement

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How to Deal with Illegal Immigration: Real Law Enforcement
Michael Cutler
September 18, 2006

There are few components of our nation that are not significantly impacted by illegal immigration. Everything from the environment, the economy, education, health care to criminal justice and national security are impacted significantly by the millions of our illegal aliens.

As a former INS special agent who arrested countless illegal aliens in my career, I certainly felt bad for individual illegal aliens who entered our country out of desperation, seeking to flee the disastrous economic situations of their homelands. America, however, is a country of finite resources and also has a need to protect its own citizens from criminals and terrorists who would enter our country to prey on our citizens. The various religious denominations teach the need to respect and protect life but are seemingly oblivious to the fact that by leaving our borders open to criminals and terrorists, the lives of our citizens are being imperiled as is our way of life. The exploitation of illegal aliens parallels the exploitation of slaves that lead to the Civil War. Such exploitation was outrageously wrong then and it is outrageously wrong now!

The usual argument that the deportation of illegal aliens results in the separation of family members is an unreasonable and fatuous argument. United States citizens are free to travel to any country that they want and can certainly accompany their loved ones who are deported back to their home countries. If religious organizations are truly concerned about the plight of aliens who enter the United States in violation of law because of the harsh economic conditions in their home countries, then why aren't these organizations voicing outrage that countries such as Mexico don't provide greater opportunities for economic success of its own citizens? That is the part of the equation that is rarely, if ever, addressed.

Meanwhile, the grinding poverty of so many people in countries around the world can and does provide a breeding ground for radical elements. Islam is on the rise in Latin America and the rise of communism in countries to our south, coupled with the growth of Islam further imperils our national security. It would seem reasonable and in our country's best interests to link the standard of living of the citizens of Mexico and other countries that want trade agreements to any such agreement. The citizens of Mexico will benefit and the pressure of illegals on our nation's borders would be greatly reduced. I would consider that to be a win-win!

By arresting illegal aliens and seeking their deportation back to their home countries, we are not only addressing our illegal alien population, we are also deterring more aliens from running our nation's borders. As I stated when I testified before a Congressional hearing several months ago, as well as at a number of other venues, "No one would break into an amusement park if he couldn't get to go on the rides and no one remains in the amusement park at the end of the day when the lights are turned off and the rides are shut down. The enforcement of the immigration laws, including the employer sanctions provisions of those laws, can provide a powerful incentive to get a significant portion of illegals to leave the United States as well as deter those who would come here. In order for this to be effective, however, we need to have many more special agents to enforce these laws and also to go after immigration benefit fraud that enables aliens to circumvent the immigration laws and embed themselves in the United States.

Earlier today the President held a news conference and warned that the terrorists are still out there and want to come here to kill us. Paradoxically he also stated, in response to a question that there was a continuing need for what he artfully refers to as, "Comprehensive immigration reform." He continues to spew the absurd mantra that if we would allow the aliens to enter the United States who want to do the work Americans won't do, that we will be safer. Clearly he is adamant about opening our nation's borders and wants to convince the American public that the government has the capability to effectively manage a guest worker amnesty program for millions of illegal aliens whose true identities are unknown to us. ICE and other agencies have mounted sporadic field operations and given them military-sounding names to inspire confidence. These field operations bear such names as, "Operation Return to Sender," "Operation Community Shield," "Operation Glow Worm" and "Operation Tarmac." While the names might sound as though our government has stopped just short of bringing General George Patton, himself, back to life to lead the charge, when you consider the 'successes' the administration touts as evidence that they have the situation under control, you quickly realize that they are whistling past the graveyard. For example, "Operation Community Shield" has targeted aliens involved in violent gangs.

Approximately 6 months ago I was invited to speak before the executive board of the International Association of Chiefs of Police in Boston, Mass. I was surprised to learn that one of the other speakers was a special assistant to the President who boasted about the successes of Operation Community Shield in arresting 2,300 violent alien gang members. The problem with these optimistic statements is that there are hundreds of thousands of alien gang members in the United States today. Consequently, the administration was boasting about a success rate of less than one percent.

I recall that when I spoke at the event in Boston, I rhetorically asked the audience and the President's special assistant, "What would you give your child who came home from college and bragged about scoring a "1" on an English exam, a new Mustang convertible, an I-Pod, or perhaps, a swift kick in the pants?"

There are hundreds of thousands of illegal aliens living in communities around the United States and a significant percentage of them are criminal aliens who have been ordered deported but never left. There are millions of illegal aliens present in the United States among whom are undoubtedly terrorists who may well be awaiting instructions to launch another deadly attack. At the end of the week that marked the fifth anniversary of the worst terrorist attack ever committed on our country's soil, I want more than speeches and fancy names for field investigations. I want real results and the relative handful of special agents dedicated to enforcing the immigration laws from within the interior of the United States, just don't cut it.

Several months ago the President ordered National Guard troops to be sent to the border to help secure the virtually wide-open border our nation shares with Mexico. The use of soldiers to augment the beleaguered Border Patrol would be a smart strategy in the days and weeks and months following September 11, 2001. That they are still needed now, 5 years later is an abomination. Last year, Congress authorized the expenditure of funds to hire 800 new special agents for ICE but the administration slashed that number to a mere 143. I recall those numbers because I testified at a hearing conducted by the House Subcommittee on Immigration, Border Security and Claims in March, 2005. Similarly, Congress authorized funds to hire 2,000 new Border Patrol agents and the administration cut that number to just 210. In my humble opinion, the numbers of new hires authorized by Congress were dangerously lower than we truly need.

Finally it is worth considering that simply hiring new law enforcement personnel is not enough. It takes years for newly hired agents to be truly "up to speed" and the massive attrition problems coupled with a loss of institutional memory at ICE plus the merging of Legacy Customs with Legacy INS personnel with many of the key administrators at ICE coming from Legacy Customs with little, in any experience in immigration law enforcement and little, if any desire to focus on the enforcement of the immigration laws. There is also a continuing failure to require Spanish language training for ICE special agents who are newly hired. These factors all hobble the efforts to enforce the immigration laws. This is literally, deadly serious business, and the administration's lack of commitment to securing our borders and restoring integrity to the immigration system, is an outrage!

The safety of our citizens and the survival of our nation need to be the first priority of our nation's leaders. Religious organizations have often talked about the need to respect and protect precious human life. How about the precious lives of our citizens who have been slaughtered in terrorist attacks in our country or the lives that will be lost if and when there is another terrorist attack? How about the lives of the victims of criminal aliens operating within the borders of the United States?

Public relations campaigns don't suffice. "Operation Backrub" needs to be replaced by real law enforcement.

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.

We do need true enforcement and as soon as possible. It takes time to go through training and get enough experience on your own for any law enforcement job but it can be done. All these illegals have to be caught and sent back. I am sick of them and their whining in South Florida. They have got to go.