I have attached a posting that recently appeared on a blog created by an organization, the Immigration Policy Center, that advocates for Comprehensive Immigration Reform, a massive legalization (amnesty)program that would provide millions of illegal aliens with lawful status in our country. They are opposed to a cooperative law enforcement effort between ICE and local police and, in general, apparently have yet to meet an illegal alien they didn’t like!
As you read this posting that references the impact of immigration law enforcement efforts aimed at employers of illegal aliens I want you to consider the credibility of anyone who could describe illegal aliens as being “otherwise law abiding.”
Any illegal alien who is in our country is not law abiding. Entering our country by running our nation’s border is a violation of law. If the alien had been previously deported from the United States, such an unlawful reentry is a felony that calls for a maximum of 2 years in prison for any such alien provided that the alien was not previously convicted of a felony. Aliens who are deemed “aggravated felons” are subject to a maximum of 20 years of incarceration should they be deported and then unlawfully reenter the United States. (I am proud of the fact that in the early 1980’s I approached then New York Senator Al D-Amato with the idea of differentiating between illegal aliens who had no felony convictions and reentered the United States after being deported as compared with convicted felons who reenter the United States unlawfully after deportation. It was Senator D’Amato who was instrumental in promulgating that important statute.
Furthermore, most illegal aliens who use false identities are committing an additional crime concerning the use of false identity documents. If the identity that the illegal alien uses is a stolen identity (certainly not a “victimless crime!”) then more felonies may well have been committed. If the alien lies about the number of dependents he (she) has on his tax return to pay less tax or even a get an “earned tax credit” then more crimes are being committed.
Some illegal aliens, in my experience use false identities to conceal the fact that they are fugitives wanted in the United States or another country or countries for committing serious crimes.
It is also an established fact that terrorists and gang members often use a job as a means of embedding themselves in a community to earn some money that they need and also create an image of “normalcy.”
Yet the author of the article I have attached below is willing to simply refer to an illegal alien as being “otherwise law-abiding!”
How can anyone vouch for the character of anyone who enters our country in violation of law and whose identity and other pertinent information is not known and cannot be verified?
Anyone who would say that an illegal alien is “otherwise law abiding” is doing precisely that!
The famed, late, defense attorney, Johnnie Cochran is remembered for a number of catch phrases he used to great advantage at the O.J. murder trial. One of those phrases is worth considering now. He said, “If you cannot trust the messenger, you cannot trust the message!”
How do you trust people or organizations that blithely ignore or even excuse illegal conduct because they are motivated by an agenda?
Now let us consider the title of the article:
“New Report Details the Chilling Effects of Immigration Enforcement on Workers’ Rights.” What workers rights are they talking about?
Are they talking about the right of illegal aliens who should not be in the country in the first place? Are they considering the rights of United States citizens and resident aliens who are no longer “workers” because they lost their jobs to illegal aliens who are attractive to unscrupulous employers because these aliens are vulnerable and so desperate as to be willing to work for substandard wages under substandard conditions?
I certainly do not like to see illegal aliens intimidated by unscrupulous employers. I could tell you many stories about how my colleagues and I did everything we could to make life miserable for such employers of illegal aliens even before the employers sanctions laws were created.
The effective use of the employer sanctions provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act can balance the scales by preventing unscrupulous employers from intimidating illegal aliens employees by threatening to contact ICE. If an employer threatens his illegal alien employees that he will contact ICE, he is tacitly conceding that he know he is employing illegal aliens! The solution to such abuse is more enforcement of the immigration laws, not less enforcement.
However, as I have often noted, it is important that both the unscrupulous employers as well as the illegal aliens both face adverse consequences for violating our nation’s immigration laws. A significant component of the immigration laws is to (on paper) make certain that foreign workers don’t displace qualified American workers.
Unions were formed to help balance the scales for workers who were treated improperly by unscrupulous employers but to see unions ignoring the plight of Americans and lawful immigrants who are being displaced by illegal aliens and seek to help the illegal aliens harms the average American worker. Unions are no different from unprincipled politicians who don’t give a damn about their fellow Americans but simply care about garnering political power and money.
What is also remarkable is that the article provided a link to a New York Times article that detailed how ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) agents purportedly used a “sting” to arrest a number of illegal aliens. Those illegal aliens, according the New York Times article, were working at an Air Force base!
This creates a potential security issue yet this is of no concern because, as we were assured in the article, illegal aliens are, after all “otherwise law abiding!”
Here is a quote from that article:
Federal immigration officials had posted fliers telling immigrant workers for several subcontractors at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base in Goldsboro that they had to attend a safety meeting. There was no meeting, however; instead there was a sting operation in which immigration officials arrested 48 people on charges that they were illegal immigrants from Mexico, Honduras, El Salvador and Ukraine.
Here is a link to that article: http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/16/politics/16immigrants.html The article also referenced the raid conducted by ICE at the meat packing plant at Postville, Iowa last year. This is truly bizarre. A factory employs hundreds of illegal aliens who commit identity fraud and yet this investigation is considered wrong-headed? Furthermore, as I have noted on other occasions, it is extremely dangerous to our citizens and, indeed to national security, to have illegal aliens whose identities are unknown and unknowable to have those alien work on the food that is ultimately consumed by thousands of people. Think about the impact of Ecoli or other dangerous bacteria in our food supply. Think back to the concerns about anthrax laden envelops being sent through the postal system and how many times Congressional offices and post offices were shut down because of that. Shouldn’t the identities of workers who handle our food supply be verifiable and, indeed, verified? The Desmoines Register, the local newspaper reported on the raid of the Postville plant. Here is the headline that appeared in that newspaper: “Claims of ID fraud lead to largest raid in state history”
Here is a link to that newspaper article:
http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20080512/NEWS/80512012/Claims-of-ID-fraud-lead-to-largest-raid-in-state-history
Considering the statements made in the article I have attached below, I wonder if the author of the article would be sanguine if those who committed ID fraud were United States citizens. If an American citizen who commits identity fraud can expect to be arrested and prosecuted for identity fraud how did illegal aliens become sacrosanct?
I suppose that the terrorists who attacked our nation on September 11, 2001 were also “otherwise law abiding”- after all they were never convicted of drug trafficking, bank robbery, rape, or other crimes.
They simply committed visa fraud and other immigration law violations as they planned to carry out the worst terrorist attack ever committed on U.S. soil.
Either our nation and its leaders believe that our nation needs secure borders and an immigration system that has integrity or they don’t.
The time has come to “out” our supposed “leaders.”
Anyone who makes a statement that an illegal alien who identity, background and affiliations are unknown and unknowable is “otherwise law-abiding” is making it clear that they oppose distinguishing United States citizens from aliens. This is why the open borders advocates are adamant about removing the term “alien” from the lexicon. (I would remind you that according to the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), the all inclusive body of laws that pertain to the immigration laws of the United States, an alien is defined as simply being “Any person who is not a citizen or national of the United States.”)
Actually, it is entirely understandable why open borders folks hate the term “Alien.” It is a succinct term that provides clarity and makes the distinction between citizens and non-citizens crystal clear.
Here is a direct question that all of our politicians need to be asked, “Would you want to declare anyone born on the planet earth to be a United States citizen?”
There is no ambiguity to that question although I am certain that our “Artful Dodgers” who masquerade as “leaders” would do a real dance around that question!
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! 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!
New Report Details the Chilling Effects of Immigration Enforcement on Workers’ Rights By Michele Waslin
