Immigration: The Failures of The SAVE System

Disturbing Inspector General Report Concerning The Lack of Integrity

Today, January 3rd, CAPS (Californians for Population Stabilization) posted my latest commentary I wrote for their website.

A copy of that commentary is attached below.

My commentary was predicated on a Washington Times article that was, itself, based on a disturbing Inspector General Report concerning the lack of integrity to the computer system by which aliens are supposed to be checked to determine eligibility to receive various benefits in the United States.

America’s Immigration Laws Exist for Only Two Purposes

Before we get to the Washington Time news report- I want to remind you that America’s immigration laws exist for only two purposes- to protect innocent lives and to protect the jobs of American workers.

Here is how the Washington Times article begins:

The federal government’s system of tracking immigration status is so broken that it gives a green light to one in eight aliens who have been ordered deported, according to an audit Tuesday that found the government has gone on to approve some of those who slip through for work in sensitive areas of airports and granted them benefits such as Medicaid or food stamps.

Some of those aliens who should have been kicked out had serious criminal records, including assault and extortion convictions, according to the audit by the Homeland Security Department’s inspector general.

Here is another brief excerpt from that news report:

“The failures in our sample include individuals who applied for unemployment and disability insurance, food stamps, driver’s licenses and other benefits,” the auditors said. “Several individuals had criminal records, including assault with a deadly weapon, extortion, drug convictions and other convictions such as burglary, stalking and child abuse.”

Ineligible Immigrants Aren’t Getting New Health Benefits

The SAVE system, maintained by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), is one key check other agencies use to weed out illegal immigrants who apply for benefits. It is supposed to be used by states when determining whether to issue driver’s licenses, and President Obama’s health-care law requires it be checked to make sure ineligible immigrants aren’t getting new health benefits. And finally, the Washington Times report noted:

Another man was convicted of homicide and manslaughter, was ordered deported but was still green-lighted by SAVE when the District of Columbia checked to see if he was eligible for student aid. The auditors said that man has since been deported.

It is important to note that the report discussed how an estimated 800,000 aliens who had been ordered deported never left or were never officially deported. Many of these aliens pose an immediate and serious threat to the safety of the communities in which they are now hiding in plain sight. Some may well pose a threat to national security as well! Meanwhile, periodically, ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) issues news releases about some field operation, often with a tough-sounding code name that is reminiscent of a military operation, in which a relative handful of these aliens are re-captured.

The Department of Homeland Surrender

What is never noted in those extravagant news releases is how the criminal aliens, including members of violent and pernicious transnational gangs came to be at large on the streets of American cities and towns, in the first place! Now it is clear that a significant number of them had been, for reasons known only to DHS (the Department of Homeland Surrender) previously arrested and then set free creating a serious threat to the communities where they set up shop once again!

They say that in life, it is all about timing. Earlier today I watched a series of news stories that claimed that the administration will, within weeks, attempt to push the DREAM Act and Comprehensive Immigration Reform and that “hard-line” Republicans will go along with it to improve their standings with “Latino Voters.” They also said that in order to be comfortable with this, the “hardliners” will demand our borders be made secure and that aliens who participate in the program will have to pay a penalty and back taxes and learn English.

This Sort of “Reasoning” Defies Comprehension Or Logic!

Every component of the immigration system is dysfunctional- not because the laws don’t exist or because the laws are unreasonable but because for decades the immigration laws have not been enforced. While it is important to secure our nation’s borders, it is important to remember that this is far more than simply focusing on the southern border of the United States. As I have often noted, any state that has an international airport or a seaport is as much a border state as are those states found along the southern and northern borders of the United States.

The United States recently added Taiwan to the list of countries whose citizens need not apply for visas before seeking entry into the United States. There are now some 37 such countries on that list. There are millions of illegal aliens currently present in the United States who did not run our nation’s borders but entered via the lawful inspections process and then violated the terms of admission by overstaying, accepting unauthorized (illegal) employment, failing to maintain their status as students or by being convicted of committing serious crimes in the United States.

The executive order that now enables illegal aliens who would have been comprehended under the DREAM Act to be provided with official identity documents and employment authorization for an initial period of two years does not even require that these hundreds of thousands or, more likely, millions of aliens who will ultimately participate in this program be interviewed in person! These transactions are being conducted purely by mail!

Invitation to Fraud

This is nothing less than an invitation to fraud- and, it must be noted, that immigration visa fraud and immigration benefit fraud were found to be the means by which the 19 terrorists who so savagely attacked the United States either entered the United States in the first place and/or subsequently embedded themselves in communities around the United States as they went about their preparation to carry out their deadly attacks. Indeed, other terrorists including those who carried out the first World Trade Center attack in 1993 and the attack at the CIA one month before the World Trade Center attack all made use of this tactic as did other terrorists who were found to be operating inside the United States.

Furthermore, politicians who are opposed to the enforcement of immigration laws and create “Sanctuary Cities” and, in some cases, “Sanctuary States” face no consequences for their actions which constitute crimes under the federal Immigration and Nationality Act.

Consider that under Title 8, United States Code, Section 1324, a section of law that is comprehended within the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), it is a felony to aid, abet, encourage or induce aliens to enter our country illegally or remain in our country illegally.

Here is an excerpt from that section of law: Title 8,

U.S.C.

  • 1324(a) OffensesTitle 8, U.S.C.
  • 1324(a) defines several distinct offenses related to aliens. Subsection 1324(a)(1)(i)-(v) prohibits alien smuggling, domestic transportation of unauthorized aliens, concealing or harboring unauthorized aliens, encouraging or inducing unauthorized aliens to enter the United States, and engaging in a conspiracy or aiding and abetting any of the preceding acts. Subsection 1324(a)(2) prohibits bringing or attempting to bring unauthorized aliens to the United States in any manner whatsoever, even at a designated port of entry.

    Subsection 1324(a)(3). Harboring – Subsection 1324(a)(1)(A)(iii) makes it an offense for any person who – knowing or in reckless disregard of the fact that an alien has come to, entered, or remains in the United States in violation of law, conceals harbors, shields from detection, or attempts to conceal, harbor, or shield from detection, such alien in any place, including any building or any means of transportation. Encouraging/Inducing – Subsection 1324(a)(1)(A)(iv) makes it an offense for any person who – encourages or induces an alien to come to, enter, or reside in the United States, knowing or in reckless disregard of the fact that such coming to, entry, or residence is or will be in violation of law.

    Conspiracy/Aiding or Abetting – Subsection 1324(a)(1)(A)(v) expressly makes it an offense to engage in a conspiracy to commit or aid or abet the commission of the foregoing offenses. It is impossible to fathom that any American of any race, religion or ethnicity would not want the government to effectively enforce our immigration laws to combat the threats posed by international terrorists and transnational gangs and assorted criminals. (It should be noted that the most likely victims of members of transnational gangs and criminals organizations are the members of the same ethnic immigrant communities as are the criminals.)

  • Administration Working Hard to Dump Unknown Millions

    It is equally absurd to think that any hard working American would be happy to know that the administration is working hard to dump unknown millions of authorized workers into an overflowing labor pool that cannot find adequate jobs already.

    It is nothing short of breath-taking that the same “journalists” who loudly protest any hint that law enforcement officers may have engaged in any sort of profiling even where such profiling is reasonable, would openly talk about “Latino Voters,” Black Voters,” Jewish Voters” or other such mythical blocks of voters whose likely voting pattern could be predicted by looking at their skin color or religion!

    In the days, weeks and months that followed the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 a veritable parade of politicians appeared before forests of microphones festooned with the logos of the various television and radio stations demanding to know why “no one had connected the dots,” thereby permitting the terrorists to gain entry into the United States and then not stop them from going about their deadly preparations. The 9/11 Commission made it clear that failures at border security and failures at creating an immigration system that had integrity were all to blame. (I am quite familiar with the findings of the 9/11 Commission- in fact, I provided testimony to the commission.)

    Failures of The SAVE System

    The failures of the SAVE system as documented here are just one of a long, long list of documentation concerning the abysmal failures of the government of the United States to do what is essential to provide for national security and the safety of communities across the country.

    Immigration is not a single issue but a singular issue that impacts nearly every challenge and threat confronting the United States today!

    If our government’s failures to protect American jobs by securing our nation’s borders and effectively enforcing our immigration laws 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!

    If you like this commentary, kindly forward it to as many folks as you can and ask them to do the same- I am attempting to create a “Bucket Brigade of Truth!”

    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!

    Audit: Feds’ immigration check system fails 12 percent of the time

    Michael Cutler
    Michael Cutler, a former Senior INS Investigator, an expert witness in more than a dozen Congressional Hearings is a Fellow at the Center for Immigration Studies and an advisor to the '911 Families for a Secure America.' He writes about the nexus between immigration and national security.