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"Closure of Border Patrol stations across four states triggers alarm"
Hi Gang:
Today I will focus on a commentary that I recently wrote for the CAPS (Californians for Population Stabilization) website that was posted on that website earlier today. That commentary was, in fact, predicated upon a Fox News report about how the administration has announced plans to shutter nine Border Patrol Stations located in four states. This decision by the administration belies the fact that our nation’s very security and potentially the survival of our nation hinges on the ability of our nation’s leaders to prevent the entry of terrorists into the United States and carry out terrorist attacks. In addition to the obvious and potentially devastating nature of attacks that terrorists would want to carry out, is the threats posed by various transnational gangs and drug trafficking organizations who are, in increasing numbers, entering the United States and setting up shop in a growing number of cities and towns across this country to ply their deadly “trades.”
Since the terrorist attacks of 1993 and 2001 that were carried out within our nation’s borders, other terrorist attacks failed to succeed. Some because of dumb luck or the ineptitude of the terrorists and others because of the ability and commitment of American law enforcement and intelligence agencies. However, it is clear that the “all clear” has certainly not sounded!
Even as you are reading this, the news media are covering the unfolding news report of a terrorist, believed by the Israeli government, to have been a member of Hezbollah, a terrorist organization that has the backing and blessings of Iran, who committed suicide by detonating a bomb in his backpack in Bulgaria causing the death of a bus driver and 5 young Israeli tourists and the wounding of many others. It is important to note that this terrorist was found to have been carrying a false U.S. driver’s license- purportedly from Michigan which bore a Louisiana address. This certainly ratchets up the potential for conflict between Israel and iran even though the Iranian government has denied any involvement in this heinous attack. Should Israel act against Iran, the possibility certainly exists that the Iranian government would make good on its threat to react to any attack by not only acting against Israel, but against the United States.
The issue of the suicide bomber carrying a bogus US driver’s license underscores the significance of identity documents and the issue of how the multitude of failures of state some states within the United States to demonstrate a true understanding of the nexus between immigration and national security- issuing driver’s licenses and other such identity documents to illegal aliens.
The issue of border security and the effective enforcement of our immigration laws need to be seen as integral components of national security of no less significance than our military- yet this administration and a number of those from both political parties have absolutely refused to acknowledge this important issue!
The 9/11 Commission Report and the 9/11 Commission Staff Report on
Terrorist Travel provided an in-depth analysis of how the terrorists who
attacked our nation on September 11, 2001 were able to enter the United
States in the first place and then manage to embed themselves in our
country thereby enabling them to easily hide in plain sight, as they
prepared to launch the worst terrorist attack ever carried out on our
soil.
Here is a link to the Staff Report (Monograph) on Terrorist Travel in its entirety:
http://govinfo.library.unt.edu/911/staff_statements/911_TerrTrav_Monograph.pdf
Here are two important excerpts from the 9/11 Commission Staff Report on Terrorist Travel.
First of all, here is the first paragraph from the preface of that report:
“It is perhaps obvious to state that terrorists cannot plan and carry
out attacks in the United States if they are unable to enter the
country. Yet prior to September 11, while there were efforts to enhance
border security, no agency of the U.S. government thought of border
security as a tool in the counterterrorism arsenal. Indeed, even after
19 hijackers demonstrated the relative ease of obtaining a U.S. visa and
gaining admission into the United States, border security still is not
considered a cornerstone of national security policy. We believe, for
reasons we discuss in the following pages, that it must be made one.”
Here is a paragraph under the title “Immigration Benefits” found on page 98:
“Terrorists in the 1990s, as well as the September 11 hijackers,
needed to find a way to stay in or embed themselves in the United States
if their operational plans were to come to fruition. As already
discussed, this could be accomplished legally by marrying an American
citizen, achieving temporary worker status, or applying for asylum after
entering. In many cases, the act of filing for an immigration benefit
sufficed to permit the alien to remain in the country until the petition
was adjudicated. Terrorists were free to conduct surveillance,
coordinate operations, obtain and receive funding, go to school and
learn English, make contacts in the United States, acquire necessary
materials, and execute an attack.”
It is absolutely impossible to comprehend how, given all of these
facts, that there is even a debate about whether or not our borders
should be secured and our immigration laws be enforced in such a way as
to deprive terrorists the opportunity to enter our country and embed
themselves in our country.
On August 6, 2011 CAPS published a commentary I wrote that was entitled:
Do
We Still Need Our Armed Forces When We Don’t Secure Our Own
Borders?
I would urge you to take the time to read that commentary and give
some serious thought to the question that formed the title of that
commentary.
Now I want you consider that the administration is about to close 9 Border Patrol stations in four states!
The time has long since come for a true reality check!
At the foundation of our nation’s immigration laws are two simple and vital goals- to protect American lives and protect American jobs. No candidate for any political office should win election to an elected position who refuses to accept the need to effectively enforce our immigration laws!
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!
-michael cutler-
Please check out my website at AND Magazine:
Please also check also out my personal website:
On Friday evenings from 7:00 PM until 8:00 PM Eastern Time, I host my show, “The Michael Cutler Hour” on the USA Talk Radio Network on Blog Talk Radio.
I hope you will be listening! (Please tell your friends and neighbors!)
Here is a link to the program:
Archived shows here:
USA Talk Radio
The call-in number for a live show is 310-982-4145
Closure of Border Patrol stations across four states triggers alarm
On July 11, 2012 Fox News
ran a disturbing news report concerning the plans of the Obama administration
to close nine U.S. Border Patrol Stations in four states.
According to the Fox News article these are the locations of the Border Patrol stations that are on the chopping block:
Texas: Lubbock, Amarillo, Dallas, San Angelo, Abilene and San Antonio.
Idaho: Twin Falls
Montana: Billings
California: Riverside
This action would serve to leave our borders less secure at a time
when our nation is being challenged by the threats posed by
transnational gangs, drug trafficking cartels located in Mexico and
other countries, and the threats posed by international terrorist
organizations- a number of which have established training camps in the
Tri-Border region of Brazil. It is also important to consider
disturbing news report that appeared in the Washington Times
roughly two years ago that was entitled, “Iran Boosts Qods Shock Troops
in Venezuela.” This basis for that news report was a Pentagon report
issued in April 2010 that was entitled: “Unclassified Military Report on Military Power of Iran.”
The Washington Times article states that:
“The report gives no details on the activities of the
Iranians in Venezuela and Latin America. Iranian-backed terrorists have
conducted few attacks in the region. However, U.S. intelligence
officials say Qods operatives are developing networks of terrorists in
the region who could be called to attack the United States in the event
of a conflict over Iran’s nuclear program.”
Since those reports were published, concerns about a potential
confrontation between Iran and the United States have only become more
acute as Iran continues to move forward with its nuclear program and
threatening military action against the United States if it attacked by
the United States or its ally, Israel.
If ever our borders should be made more secure, the administration is
moving to reduce border security on the one hand and then to provide
employment authorization to potentially millions of illegal aliens,
whose true identities are unknown and unknowable, creating additional
national security vulnerabilities in a particularly perilous era.
Failures to enforce immigration laws from within the interior of the
United States is the functional (dysfunctional?) equivalent of having a
baseball team order its outfielders remain in the dugout when they
should be playing defense. This would enable the opposing team to
easily score “in the park” home runs if they could just hit the ball
over the infielder’s heads! This would certainly not make any sense for
a baseball team manager and makes even less sense for our “Commander-in
Chief” who bears the legal and moral obligation to protect our nation
and our citizens!
Of course by reducing the number of Border Patrol stations, it is
likely that more illegal aliens will succeed in evading the Border
Patrol and the critically important inspections process that is supposed
to prevent the entry of aliens into the United States whose presence
would be. This will likely cause arrest statistics to drop giving the
administration the opportunity to falsely claim that arrests are down
because our borders are under control so there is no longer an
immigration crisis. It should not surprise anyone that this will then
be used by the administration to disingenuously claim that we don’t need
to secure our borders or enforce our immigration laws — laws that have
two critically important goals, protecting American lives and protecting
American jobs.