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E-Verify Can Help Keep Americans Working

By Michael W. Cutler

I am often contacted by folks around the United States who wish to enlist my assistance to help educate those who advocate against commonsense immigration law enforcement and other measures that would help to secure our nation's borders and restore some integrity to the immigration system.

I was recently contacted by some residents in Florida who were outraged by an opinion piece that was published by a local newspaper, the Sun Sentinel.

I agreed to send my commentary to the editor of that newspaper and thought you would want to see what I wrote in response to that opinion piece. It was published in that Newspaper on Saturday, April 23rd.

I am providing you with my commentary below.

Here is the link to the original opinion piece that prompted my commentary:
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/opinion/fl-rscol-e-verify-immigration-smith-020110413,0,7673443.story

You will note that the author of that article was listed as:
John R. Smith- the chairman of Palm Beach County's BizPac and owner of a financial services company.

It is of extreme importance that when we become aware of information we disagree with, that is being put "out there" by those who oppose meaningful immigration law enforcement, that we make every reasonable effort to provide a concise and fact-based response so that we can be the best "Myth Busters" we can be. When we fail to voice an obverse opinion, the presumption is that we are in agreement with what is being said.

In these extremely important debates, silence most certainly is not golden!

I urge you to click on this link and add your comments:
http://discussions.sun-sentinel.com/20/soflanews/fl-e-verify-forum-20110423/10

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 resolve this year to get involved!

I believe our nation's is greatly benefited by the rich diversity of our people which is why I could never imagine living anywhere except New York City, arguably the most diverse city in our nation if not, in fact, the world. However, my idea of diversity most certainly does not include members of MS-13, the Mexican drug cartels or members of other transnational gangs or members of al-Qaeda!

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!

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!

Re: John R. Smith's April 13 "E-Verify system does more harm than good":

Our nation's continuing failures to secure its borders and create an immigration system that deters illegal immigration encourages illegal aliens to enter our country in violation of law with the expectation that they will get a job today and will ultimately be rewarded with a "pathway" to U.S. Citizenship" under the aegis of "comprehensive immigration reform." This undermines national security and endangers community safety. This also hammers the economy, the environment, health care and education.

Our nation's immigration laws are utterly blind as to race, religion or ethnicity and only distinguish whether a person is a citizen or an alien. The purpose of our immigration laws is to prevent the entry of aliens into our country whose presence would be harmful or even dangerous to our citizens and our nation, an issue of particular concern in this perilous era.

We have all but forfeited our expectations of freedom and privacy under the Fourth Amendment in the name of "national security," yet our borders remain as porous as a sieve and we have unknown millions of illegal aliens in our country whose true identities, backgrounds and intentions are unknown and unknowable.

The part of the system that is broken is the extreme lack of resources and political will to actually enforce these important laws and secure our borders. This is especially incomprehensible, given the ongoing threats posed by terrorists and violent transnational drug trafficking organizations that have infiltrated cities throughout the United States. Secretary of Homeland Security Napolitano has often stated that more than 230 cities across our nation are now infested by members of the extraordinarily violent Mexican drug cartels.

Greedy business owners often say that illegal aliens will do the work Americans won't do. In point of fact, there is no job an American won't do for a living wage. Vulnerable illegal aliens work for substandard wages under substandard conditions.

Annually, foreign workers send well over $100 billion of their ill-gotten wages back to their home countries. This is money that is not earned by U.S. citizens or resident aliens, money that is not spent or invested in America. Meanwhile it is estimated that at least one-fifth of all American families, of all ethnicities, now live below the poverty line.

E-Verify is extremely accurate and very user friendly. It can help employers to avoid hiring illegal aliens and it provides safe harbor provisions for employers who use it.

We all have a stake in the security of our nation that secure borders and the effective enforcement of the immigration laws can provide.

Michael W. Cutler is a retired senior special agent with the former Immigration and Naturalization Service.