The administration is stepping up its efforts to ignore the violation of immigration laws violations committed by unknown numbers of illegal aliens by ordering what amounts to as a de facto amnesty by intentionally not seeking the removal of illegal aliens. The Washington Times’ reporter Stephan Dinan, wrote an expose about this policy decision that appeared in that newspaper on Thursday, 18, August 2011.
On the 24th of June, 2011, I wrote a commentary about a news release that was issued by the American Federation of Government Employees- the union that represents employees of ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement). That news release blew the whistle on a recent memo that had been issued by John Morton, the head of ICE, in which it was being made clear to all employees of the agency that is charged with enforcing our nation’s immigration laws that the arrest of an illegal alien was extremely problematic and, I can tell you from having spent 30 years with the former INS, that such a memo has to be seen as extremely cautionary- employees who arrest the “wrong alien” will place his career if not his (her) job in immediate jeopardy!
We used to have a saying at the INS, “Big cases- big problems; little cases- little problems; no cases- no problems!”
Clearly any arrest can quickly create big problems for the agents! The smartest course of action- make no arrests!
Here is the link to my commentary about the union news release:
http://michaelcutler.net/2011/06/24/ice-agentes-union-speaks-out-on-directores-eoediscretionary-memoe-calls-on-the-publ-ic-to-take-action/
Certainly law enforcement agencies engage in the practice of prosecutorial discretion on all levels of government. For example, the police officer monitoring a speed radar to track the speed of cars on a roadway who witnesses a car being driven several miles per hour over the speed limit but does not chase down the car to issue the driver a summons is practicing a form of prosecutorial discretion. In my home town of New York City, the NYPD will generally not seek to ticket a driver who is driving within ten miles of the speed limit provided that the road conditions don’t create a safety issue and the drive is not driving aggressively (tailgating, cutting off other drivers or making excessive lane changes).
This exercise of prosecutorial discretion makes sense. The case can be made that when cars are moving at different speeds, the speed differential creates an unsafe condition. If a large number of cars are moving smoothly and no one is driving improperly, then safety is not adversely impacted and the cop who waits for the “problem child” driver who is creating a safety hazard is serving the greater good by focusing on those motorists who clearly pose a threat to safety.
Where immigration laws are concerned, however, any alien who runs our nation’s borders creates a potential threat to our nation’s safety and well being. As I have often noted on previous occasions, we need to remember what the goal of the immigration laws is- that goal is prevent the entry of aliens whose presence would be harmful or dangerous to our nation and our citizens.
Title 8, United States Code, Section 212 is section of law that enumerates the various categories of aliens who, under the Immigration and Nationality Act, are supposed to be prevented from entering the United States and are supposed to be removed if they are found here:
Here is a link to that section of law:
http://www.uscis.gov/ilink/docView/SLB/HTML/SLB/0-0-0-1/0-0-0-29/0-0-0-1956.html
Please take the time to review the contents of this section of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA).
Among the categories of aliens who are supposed to be kept out of the United States are aliens with dangerous communicable diseases, aliens who suffer serious mental illness and are prone to violence, aliens who are convicted felons, aliens who fugitives from justice in other countries, aliens who are human traffickers and drug smugglers, aliens who are war criminals and aliens who have committed human rights violations. Also aliens who are engaged in terrorism and espionage are among those who are, by law, supposed to be prevented from entering our country and are supposed to be removed if they manage to evade the Border Patrol and enter the United States.
At present it is estimated, by the administration, that more than 230 American cities are infested by members of the Mexican drug cartels. Other estimates are far higher. Still more cities are infested by other transnational gangs from Latin America, Russia, Asia, Africa, the Caribbean and other parts of the world! Why on earth would politicians who are supposed to look out for the best interests of our nation and our citizens so willing to ignore the immigration laws that, especially now, as we wage a “War on Terror” and a “War on Drugs” opposed to the enforcement of the one set of laws specifically designed to protect us?
http://michaelcutler.net/2011/06/24/ice-agentes-union-speaks-out-on-directores-eoediscretionary-memoe-calls-on-the-publ-ic-to-take-action/
The greater the number of illegal aliens who are present in our country, the more difficult it becomes for law enforcement to wade through the vast haystack in search of some extremely deadly needles. Furthermore, in this day and age where so many American citizens and lawful immigrants are unemployed and desperately seeking work to prevent the foreclosure of their mortgages, each and every job an illegal alien takes is a job not taken by a resident alien or a United States citizen. Additionally, the money that foreign workers earned is invariably sent back to the home country from which the foreign worker came. Certainly I do not blame foreign workers for taking care of their families- the problem is that it is time American workers were provided with the opportunity to take care of *their* families!
Every year it is believed that well over one hundred billion dollars are wired or otherwise sent from the United States to the countries from which the foreign workers came. This is money that is of no value, whatsoever, to our nation’s economy!
The administration and virtually every politician of both major political parties in both the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives talk about how they are going to help create jobs. Politicians on the state and local level also love to stand before a forest of microphones and the phalanx of cameras and declare that they are working to create jobs for Americans. However, consider this- if we removed illegal aliens from payrolls around the country, without creating a single new job, millions of American citizens and lawful immigrants would suddenly have jobs to report to the day after the illegal aliens were removed from the labor force!
Yet, the administration is going in precisely the opposite direction- making it clear that illegal aliens have virtually nothing to fear from the Department of Homeland Surrender!
The administration has resorted to making statements that are inaccurate and misleading. Where situations exist that involve aliens who have violated our immigration laws, by, for example, overstaying their authorized period of time in the United States for which they were admitted because they became ill or injured, or because an close family member has become seriously ill or injured, those aliens can be placed into a category known as “deferred action” which means that no effort will be made to seek their removal from the United States. This makes good sense and has been used for decades.
However, to declare that the administration is now seeking to find ways of not enforcing the immigration laws that are supposed to protect our nation and our citizens because of an obvious political agenda is unreasonable and represents a betrayal of our citizens and lawful immigrants.
Especially at a time when Americans are desperately searching for jobs how does enabling illegal aliens to continue to work in the United States in violation of law serve the greater good for the millions of unemployed United States citizens and lawfully admitted immigrants?
Please remember that there is a clear distinction to be drawn between illegal aliens and lawful immigrants- the difference between an immigrant and an illegal alien is comparable to the difference between a houseguest and a burglar! Also bear in mind that our immigration laws make absolutely no distinction where race, religion or ethnicity is concerned- the only distinction our immigration laws make is between citizens and foreign nationals (aliens)!
How does it serve the greater good to have foreign workers continue to send money out of our economy that this not spent or invested in the United States of America?
In fact, the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) the all inclusive body of laws that govern the enforcement and administration of our nation’s immigration laws, deems it a felony to encourage, induce, aid or abet aliens to enter our country in violation of law or to remain illegally in the United States in violation of law.
Here is an excerpt of the relating statute:
Title 8, U.S.C.
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.
Here is the link to this section of law in its entirety:
http://www.justice.gov/usao/eousa/foia_reading_room/usam/title9/crm01907.htm
I would argue that when the leaders of our nation take every opportunity to tell illegal aliens and aspiring illegal aliens that our government seeks to ultimately reward those who would violate our borders and laws with United States citizenship are, in fact, encouraging and inducing still more aliens to run our nation’s borders or otherwise seek to enter our country with the expectation of ultimately being rewarded with United States citizenship!
Here is the link to this section of law in its entirety:
http://www.justice.gov/usao/eousa/foia_reading_room/usam/title9/crm01907.htm
I would argue that when the leaders of our nation take every opportunity to tell illegal aliens and aspiring illegal aliens that our government seeks to ultimately reward those who would violate our borders and laws with United States citizenship are, in fact, encouraging and inducing still more aliens to run our nation’s borders or otherwise seek to enter our country with the expectation of ultimately being rewarded with United States citizenship!
Finally, I am compelled to revisit an issue that causes me great consternation.
I have been a huge fan of Congressman Lamar Smith’s steadfast leadership in so many areas and, particularly, where immigration law enforcement is concerned. I have had the privilege of working with him since the mid 1990’s and, in fact, I testified before the House Subcommittee on Immigration Policy and Enforcement, this past January 26th, at Chairman Smith’s behest. The topic of the hearing was:
“ICE Worksite Enforcement – Up to the Job?” Here is a link to that hearing:
http://judiciary.house.gov/hearings/hear_01262011.html
He recently proposed a bill that would make the use of E-Verify mandatory. I believe that this is an important measure that would be extremely helpful to turn off the “jobs magnet” that attracts many millions of illegal aliens to run our nation’s borders or otherwise enter our country to seek unlawful employment. However, the bill, H.R. 2164 has two measures that concern me greatly. The most serious issue is the fact that the bill would preempt state and local governments from enforcing the immigration laws.
For decades no state or local government ever sought to enforce their own immigration laws. The reason that a number of states have taken to the tactic of drawing up their own immigration laws that, in essence, parallel components of the federal immigration laws concerning worksite enforcement and related areas of concern is the simple and undeniable fact that the federal government will not do what is required!
I am adamantly opposed to handing the federal government a monopoly where the enforcement of these laws is concerned.
On July 1, 2011, as a senior fellow for CAPS (Californians for Population Stabilization) I wrote a commentary for that organization’s website about my concerns about H.R. 2164. Here is a link to that commentary:
http://www.caps-blog.org/articles/2011/07/01/deja-vu-all-over-again/
If the feds had been doing the job, the states never would have gotten involved- the point is that the federal government has made it clear that illegal aliens are now welcome in our country! This profoundly impacts everything from national security, criminal justice and community safety to the economy, the environment, healthcare and education!
The other issue is the fact that all aliens present in our country who are 18 years of age, must carry proof of alien registration at all times. For example, an alien who has been lawfully admitted for permanent residence must carry his (her) Alien Registration Receipt Card (Green Card). This requirement of law goes back to the Alien Registration Act of 1940 (more than 70 years ago).
The current immigration law provides aliens with the option of wading through a menu of documents to be presented to their new employer when they are hired in conjunction with the I-9 process. An employer who asks for a specific document can be fined or possibly prosecuted for committing the offense of “Document Abuse!” Document Abuse can also leave the diligent employer vulnerable to a lawsuit from the employee who is asked to furnish a specific document. Meanwhile, the employer who hires an illegal alien may find that he can be fined and prosecuted for not doing a thorough enough job of scrutinizing a new employee’s document! Talk about being “between a rock and a hard place!”
I plan to write a commentary about this untenable situation within the next few days.
Our laws must work effectively if the important goals that these laws address are to be successfully carried out. I hope that Chairman Smith will take a hard look at the preemption issue- The decisions of the administration to thwart the effective enforcement of our nation’s immigration laws are extremely worrisome and handing the administration an immigration enforcement monopoly is not, in my judgment, the way to deal with the intransigence of the administration.
What more does this administration need to do to convince the employees of DHS and aspiring illegal aliens the world over that our borders are not important and our immigration laws are even less important?
A country without secure borders can no more stand than can a house without walls!
If our country is to survive and if our children and their children are to get their share of the “American Dream” the citizens of this nation must take their citizenship seriously!
We the People must be the best citizens we can be, citizens who are worthy of the gallantry demonstrated by our valiant men and women in the military, law enforcement and firefighters, who routinely go in harm’s way in defense of this nation and our citizens.
My goal in writing this and other commentaries is to point out our nations many failings before more victims pay the ultimate price for the incompetence and ineptitude of our government.
The first step in problem-solving is to first identify the problems and vulnerabilities and then devise strategies to overcome them.
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. We need to create a “Bucket Brigade of Truth!”
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!
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 our government’s failures to secure our nation’s borders and effectively enforce 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!
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!
Additionally- this summer, on Friday afternoons from 4:00 PM until 5:00 PM Eastern Daylight Savings Time, I will be filling in for Tom Garcia as the host on The USA Talk Radio Network’s excellent radio show, “The American Hour.”
I hope you will be joining me on Fridays this summer!
Here is the link for this program:
www.USARadioNetwork.com/tom.htm
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