Published: November 15,2009
Op-Ed Contributor

Response to "Immigration Bill is Promoted for 2010"
By Michael Cutler


Yesterday, I wrote a commentary on why I believe it is absolutely wrong- headed to implement a massive amnesty program for millions of illegal aliens whose true identities, backgrounds, affiliations and intentions are unknown and unknowable. I noted that under a system of law, those who violate laws need to be made to understand that violations of law will not only not be tolerated but will be punished. This is what the concept of "deterrence" is all about.

Providing law breakers with the goal they set out to achieve when they violated the laws simply encourages more violations of law and emboldens those who are deciding on whether or not they should attempt to violate the laws.

Illegal aliens who violate our nation's borders, immigration laws and often a string of other laws generally do so in order to gain employment to the detriment of American workers and to the detriment of community safety and national security. To now have the government provide those law violators with lawful status makes as much sense as providing a burglar with a key to the front door of the house he is seeking to break into and then providing him with a free moving truck he can use to haul away the furnishings of a house he burglarized!

As I noted yesterday- there are many Americans living in the "shadows." These are the citizens of our country who have violated various laws and are now fearful that the next person who knocks on their door will be a law enforcement officer who has a warrant for their arrest. Not all of these law violators are violent. Some have failed to pay their taxes. Some may have failed to appear in traffic court in response to a summons issued for a moving violation. Others may be wanted for failure to make the mandated child support payments. Have you even heard a politician wax poetically about these Americans living in the "shadows?"

If there are no adverse consequences for those who violate our laws then our laws become meaningless.

Today I have attached two items below for your consideration. The first item is a news article that appears in today's edition of the Washington Times and details how Janet Napolitano has declared our nation's borders secured and whey this now sets the stage for the sweeping Comprehensive Immigration Reform legislation I have been fighting over the past several years as our nation's "leaders" try and try again to jam this lunacy down our throats.

As you read the news report I would ask you to pay special attention to quotes provided by two unusual men, Congressman Steve King of Iowa and Congressman Lamar Smith of Texas. Steve King is the Ranking Member of the House Immigration Subcommittee and Lamar Smith is the Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee. Both men are Republicans and yet, even though I am a registered Democrat I can tell you without equivocation that I consider these men true "Representatives!"

I have testified at a number of hearings where they were involved with the hearings. They have demonstrated their commitment to their constituents and, indeed, all of our citizens combating the madness of Comprehensive Immigration Reform whether the occupant of the Oval Office was President George W. Bush or President Barack Obama. For them, and for me, the immigration issue is, as I note at the end of each of my commentaries neither a Republican issue nor a Democrat issue but is most certainly, an American issue!

The points made by both Congressman Smith and Congressman King are absolutely on point. The border is most certainly not secure- and the second item I have attached below makes this point abundantly clear! They are, in my judgment, among a very small minority of politicians who demonstrate true leadership!

Harry S. Truman had a plaque on his desk that read, "The Buck Stops Here." I believe that Ms Napolitano should also have a plaque on her desk- hers should read, "Don't Confuse Me With The Facts!"

If the official whose mission is to secure our nation's borders and create an immigration system that has integrity can now declare our borders are secure, then once again I strongly suggest that the initials of the agency under her command, DHS should refer to the Department of Homeland Surrender!

Clearly our borders are anything but secure. It is also important to remember that an estimated 40% of the illegal aliens in our country did not run our nation's borders but entered our country through ports of entry and then, in one way or another, violated the terms of their admission, overstaying their authorized period of admission, accepting unlawful employment, failing to attend the school for which they were admitted or committing other such administrative violations of law. Other illegal aliens became illegal by committing and then getting convicted of committing felonies in our country. As I have often noted, any state that has a seaport or an international airport is also a "border state."

As I have noted on many occasions, while the citizens of our nation are finding that their expectations of freedom and privacy are being eroded in the name of "National Security" our nation continues to expand the Visa Waiver Program to satisfy the demands of the travel and hospitality industries who, as a friend on Capitol Hill once told me, "These executives want illegal aliens to change the sheets in their hotels and they want the wealthy foreigners to sleep on those sheets!"

To this end, these executives created a program that they call, "Discover America." Someone needs to remind these people that Al-Qaeda and other terrorist organizations have already discovered America! Today some 35 countries participate in the Visa Waiver Program.

What is really crazy about this is that the reason that we have to take our shoes off before we can board an airliner is the fact that Richard Reid, a citizen of Great Britain, concealed explosives in his shoes and thus he is often referred to as the "Shoe Bomber." The fact that he boarded the airliner he attempted to blow up high over the Atlantic Ocean without first applying for and receiving a visa. because Great Britain is one of those countries that are on that list of 35 Visa Waiver countries is being totally ignored!

What also needs to be remembered is how inept and incompetent USCIS (United States Citizenship and Immigration Services) has been at carrying out its mission of adjudicating the various applications for immigration benefits. USCIS adjudicators are the employees of our government who decide on whether or not to permit aliens to change schools, receive additional time in our country to tend to business, acquire resident alien (lawful immigrant) status and even United States citizenship.

This is the screwed up agency that would be called upon to administer Comprehensive Immigration Reform and deal with a cascade of millions of additional applications filed by illegal aliens who have no authentic documentation to attest to their true identities or even to prove when, where or how they entered the United States. This is what makes them "undocumented."

The 9/11 Commission, to which I provided testimony, discovered that immigration fraud was employed by terrorists who sought to enter our country and/or embed themselves in our country as they went about preparing to launch terrorist attacks in our country or commit crimes to generate money for terrorist organizations that used the money to fund terrorist attacks around the world.

Of 94 terrorists who were identified as being in our country in the decade leading up to the attacks of September 11, 2001, some 59 of them (approximately 2/3) were found to have employed visa fraud and/ immigration benefit fraud in furtherance of their terrorist goals.

The GAO has issued numerous reports on various aspects of immigration benefit fraud and other failings of the immigration system. You can see a list of these reports.

I would also remind you that the purpose to our nation's immigration laws is to protect our nation and our citizens from aliens whose presence in our country as an adverse impact on our nation and our citizens and lawful immigrants. The legal grounds under which an alien may be kept out of our country or removed once they enter, include those aliens whose entry into our country constituted a violation of law.

This includes aliens who run our borders, stowaway on a vessel (motor vehicle, airplane or ship). Aliens who lie on their visa applications and thus commit visa fraud, aliens who suffer from a dangerous communicable disease, aliens who were previously deported from our country and then reenter without the requisite permission are all aliens whose entry is supposed to be prevented and who, if they are found in the United States are to be removed from our country.

Additional categories of such aliens include aliens who have been convicted of felonies, aliens who suffer from serious mental illness that poses a threat to the safety of the members of a community, those who are war criminals, those who are smugglers and drug traffickers. Those who are terrorists or support terrorist activities are also excludible and/or deportable. Finally, any alien who lacks the proper visa to work in the United States and is seeking employment or is working in violation of law renders that alien excludible and/or deportable.

This last provision is intended to do nothing more than protect the jobs of American workers. Janet Napolitano does not want such illegal aliens removed from our country- she wants to provide them with a free pass so they can remain in the United States and continue working! Ms Napolitano, Senator Harry Reid, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, Senator Chuck Schumer, the chairman of the Senate Immigration Subcommittee and a host of others are pushing hard for Comprehensive Immigration Reform. Certainly they are not concerned that an illegal alien would take their jobs.

These politicians could not show their contempt for our citizens any more clearly than the way that they refuse to secure our nation's borders and create an immigration system that has integrity, protecting the lives and the livelihoods of our citizens!

The time has come for the citizens of this nation to take the jobs of these politicians! That is what the electoral process is all about!

Comprehensive Immigration Reform is a classic example of the cure being far worse than the disease!

Any politician who supports Comprehensive Immigration Reform is working against the security of our nation and the well being of our citizens.

Any politician who refuses to work to secure our borders and create an immigration system that has integrity is either corrupt or too dumb to keep his (her) job. Any politician, irrespective of party affiliation who favors Comprehensive Immigration Reform should be shown the door at the next election!

If you find yourself to be in agreement with this commentary, I ask that you forward it to as many of your friends and family members as possible and encourage them to do the same.

Next year each and every member of the House of Representatives is up for reelection. Next year more than one third of the members of the United States Senate will have to face their constituents. They need to be reminded that they work for us, We the People!

However, the practice of good citizenship does not end in the voting booth, it only begins there. The large scale apathy demonstrated by citizens of this nation has emboldened elected representatives to all but ignore the needs of the average American citizen in a quest for massive campaign funds and the promises of votes to be ostensibly delivered by special interest groups.

There is much that we cannot do but there is one thing that We the People absolutely must do- we must stop sitting on the sidelines! The collective failure of We the People to get involved in make our concerns known to our politicians have nearly made the concerns of the great majority of the citizens of this nation all but irrelevant to the politicians. I implore you to get involved!

Any American who has lost his job certainly has enough time on his (her) hands to get involved!

Any American who fears the loss of his job must make effective use of his spare time to make certain he keeps his job! (Remember, the job save may be your own!) If this situation concerns you or especially if it angers you, I ask you to call your Senators and Congressional "Representative. This is not only your right- it is your obligation! You need to politely but pointedly, demand to know what they are doing to protect our nation.

You need to ask them how they are protecting you and your families. You can also forward this commentary to them. All I ask is that you make it clear to our politicians that we are not as dumb as they hope we are! We live in a perilous world and in a perilous era. The survival of our nation and the lives of our citizens hang in the balance This is neither a Conservative issue, nor is it a Liberal issue- simply stated, this is most certainly an AMERICAN issue! You are either part of the solution or you are a part of the problem! Democracy is not a spectator sport! Lead, follow or get out of the way!

Immigration bill is promoted for 2010 by Stephen Dinan


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