Washington Times: “U.S. visa violators unlikely to be fingered – Biometric exit loses appeal”

Hi Gang:

Here we go again! Yet another component of the immigration “system” that does not work and will not be made to work even when nothing less than the security of our nation and the safety of our citizens hang in the balance!

Here I have provided you with an article [click here] that appears in today’s, edition of the Washington Times, the 24th of August, 2010, the headline for said article making the point as succinctly as possible, “U.S. visa violators unlikely to be fingered- Biometric exit loses appeal.” The journalist who wrote this excellent article is Shaun Waterman, a reporter I hae known for some time who, as you will see in reading his report, does a thorough and accurate job of reporting the essential facts. This is especially important when the report concerns national security.

A couple of days ago I wrote a commentary I called, “Every Border is a Border State.” I made it clear in that article, as I have in in ever so many previous commentaries and in testimony I have provided before Congressional hearings, that any state that shares its borders with either Mexico or Canada or has an international airport or a seaport must be thought of as being “border states.” The point is that any state that provides aliens with access to our nation is a border state.

Furthermore, it has been estimated that some 40% of the illegal aliens believed to be present in the United States are believed to have been admitted into our country through the inspections process and then, in one way or another, violated the terms of their admission into the United States. This includes aliens who remained in the United States after their authorized period of admission expired. It includes aliens who were admitted to attend schools or work in temporary positions and failed to show up for school or for their jobs. Other aliens who were admitted into our country were not supposed to seek gainful employment but did so anyway, also rendering them deportable (removable). Finally, aliens who committed crimes for which they were convicted also became deportable (removable) upon being convicted of those crimes.

When I participate in debates on college campuses, on radio or television programs or other public venues, I often hear the opponents of effective immigration law enforcement, the advocates for open borders and “Comprehensive Immigration Reform” justify their positions by saying that the 19 terrorists who so savagely attacked our nation and slaughtered so many innocent human beings on September 11, 2001 had all legally entered our country. They often make the false claim that these aliens were not illegal aliens. The point they conveniently forget is that each of the terrorists committed visa fraud and lied to the Immigration Inspectors when they were “legally” present in the United States. Had the truth about those sociopathic thugs been known, they would never have been provided with visas and they certainly would never have been admitted into the United States by the inspectors..

We also know that a number of those terrorists and still other terrorists who entered our nation over the years had violated the terms of their admission into our country and were subject to removal if the agents who were charged with enforcing our nation’s immigration laws had found and arrested them.

The two key components to law enforcement is to identify those who violate laws and to then be in the position to have the resources to locate and apprehend them and see to it that the appropriate actions are taken.

The subject of the newspaper report I have provided today is the abject opposition that the leadership in our government has to effectively identifying aliens who manage to enter our country and then violate the terms of their admission. If we fail to identify those who violate the law, then nothing further can or will be done to see to it that appropriate action is taken.

There is a famous question that asks, “If a tree falls in the forest, does it make a sound if there is no one there to hear it?”

I would suggest you consider a slightly different version of that question, “If a tree falls in a forest and there is no one there to hear it, does it matter if it does make a sound?”

Our government’s “leaders” now apparently believe that “Don’t ask – don’t know'” is the way of dealing with illegal aliens whose intentions and actions, may ultimately result in terrorists entering our nation and embedding themselves within communities around our nation even as the citizens of our nation are experiencing a continual reduction in the expectations of freedom and privacy we used to consider our birthright, in the name of national security.

Lest you think that I am overreacting to the apparent efforts aimed at further watering down any efforts to make certain that the immigration system has real integrity, you need to consider the following:

There is a non-partisan investigative agency that works at the behest of Congress to provide essential research to provide the information needed by our leaders in Congress to enable them to make proper decisions. This little-known agency is the Congressional Research Service. I have provided you, below, with a link to a report prepared by that agency that was prepared on February 7. 2005 and addressed the issue of border security and the essential nature of biometric identifiers as determined by the 9/11 Commission. I have also provided you with the summary of that report as well as a segment of its introduction. I took the liberty of high-lighting a particularly important sentence that appeared in that report. Please take the time to review the report in its entirety:

http://www.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/crs/rs21916.pdf

Order Code RS21916 Updated February 7, 2005

CRS Report for Congress Received through the CRS Web

Biometric Identifiers and Border Security: 9/11 Commission Recommendations and Related Issues
Daniel Morgan and William Krouse Resources, Science, and Industry Division and Domestic Social Policy Division

Summary

In its final report, the 9/11 Commission concluded that funding and completing a “biometric entry-exit screening system” for travelers to and from the United States is essential to our national security. The commission noted that the United States has built the first phase of a biometric screening system known as US-VISIT, and recommended that the “patchwork” of other border screening systems be consolidated with US-VISIT to serve as the basis for a single system to streamline border inspections. This report provides an overview of biometric technologies and the major U.S. biometric border screening systems, including US-VISIT, and discusses issues such as cost, performance, and user acceptance. Based in part upon the commission’s recommendations, Congress included biometric provisions related to entry/exit control in the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 (P.L. 108-458). This topic will probably continue to be of interest to the 109th Congress. This report will be updated as needed.

Introduction

The National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States, commonly known as the 9/11 Commission, found that “constraining terrorist travel should become a vital part of counterterrorism strategy.” Noting that “false identities are used by terrorists to avoid being detected on a watchlist” and that “biometric identifiers make such evasions far more difficult,” the commission recommended that
The Department of Homeland Security, properly supported by the Congress, should complete, as quickly as possible, a biometric entry-exit screening system, including a single system for speeding qualified travelers.

The commission identified the United States Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology program (US-VISIT) as the first phase of such a program, and recommended that this system be fully integrated with other border screening systems. It further recommended that biometric passports (or other secure identity verification) should be required of all travelers entering the United States, including U.S. citizens.

Additionally, as you probably already know, on May 11, 2006 I testified before the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations of the House or Representatives’ Committee on International Relations on the topic:

“VISA OVERSTAYS:
CAN WE BAR THE TERRORIST DOOR?”

Here is the transcript of that hearing in its entirety:
http://commdocs.house.gov/committees/intlrel/hfa27480.000/hfa27480_0f.htm

As I noted in my commentary a couple of days ago, I was recently interviewed by Casey Wian, a CNN journalist who has been covering the immigration issue for many years. Casey has interviewed me a number of times over the past several years so that I could provide my perspectives on various aspects of the immigration crisis confronting our nation. Here is the link to video of that news report that aired this past Memorial Day weekend in which I briefly appear:

http://edition.cnn.com/video/#/video/us/2010/05/31/am.wian.border.patrol.cnn?iref=allsearch

The May 10th edition of “The Arizona Republic” carried an article for which I was interviewed by Daniel Gonzalez, the reporter who wrote the article entitled, U.S. not cracking down on immigrants with expired visas.”

Here is the link to that newspaper report:

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2010/05/10/20100510illegal-immigrants-overstay.html#ixzz0ndkoS9wZ

The newspaper report I have provided you today discusses the clearly flawed efforts to identification and also make it clear that even if the leadership at the Department of Homeland Surrender were to find out about those aliens who violated the terms of their admission, there are fewer than 300 Special Agents (one report pegged the number at just 272) who are charged with seeking to locate and apprehend the millions of illegal aliens who were admitted via the inspections process, including aliens from so-called “Special Interest” countries- countries identified with terrorism who have apparently failed to depart from our nation as required or otherwise live up to the terms of their admission.

These aliens are currently living in communities all over the United States, hiding in “plain sight” or, in the parlance of the 9/11 Commission they have embedded themselves in our nation.

When you consider what just 19 terrorists did on September 11, 2001 and you realize that the estimated number of visa violator runs into the millions, how well will this enable you to sleep tonight?

What, if anything, are our leaders in our government thinking if they somehow think that the issue of visa violators does require serious measures even thought the 9/11 Commission made its concerns about this aspect of potential serious threat to national security clearly known? The terrorist attacks of September 11 took place nearly 9 years ago. The CRS (Congressional Research Service) report was issued more than 5 years ago. Yet not only is the program strongly recommended by the 9/11 Commission not yet implemented, it would appear that it will never be implemented!

When our nation was attacked on December 7, 1941 in just about 44 months, (less than 4 years- for any of our “leaders” who may read this commentary) our nation, working in close cooperation with our allies constructed fleets of aircraft that had never previously existed, we built fleets of naval vessels that had never previously existed, we built radar, weapons system and other essential munitions with brand new technology and even nuclear weapons which had never previously existed.

Today, while Fed-Ex, UPS and other freight forwarders are able to track millions of packages each and every day as a matter of routine, our wondrous Department of Homeland Surrender (DHS) is unable to track the comings and goings of foreign nationals in our country even though our nation’s survival and the lives of our citizens may ultimately depend on precisely this capability!

If ever there was any doubt about the priorities of the administration or our nation’s leaders, I want you to give some thought to the lawsuit filed by the United States Department of Justice against Governor Jan Brewer and her state for daring to take our nation’s immigration laws seriously! Her state is the “poster child” for violence perpetrated by those who violate our nation’s borders and laws, carrying an average of a kidnapping and/or home invasion each and every day in just one city in that beleaguered state- Phoenix.

Yet the Attorney General saw fit to sue the state of Arizona for trying to combat drug related violence which, it should be noted, most often focused on the immigrants of that state, while telling states and cities that practice “sanctuary” policies of utterly ignoring immigration laws that are supposed to protect our nation and our citizens from the transnational criminal and terrorist organizations that the federal government will not seek any action against them for ignoring these important laws that, when properly enforced, can be an extremely effective tool to provide national security and community safety!

Politicians who claim they are attempting to secure our nation by focusing on the border and ignoring all of the other critically important components of what should be a unified system are either liars or fools! In either event they do not belong in charge of anything!

Ignoring the various components of what should be a coordinated program of the enforcement of the immigration laws from within the interior of the United States including the need to make serious efforts to combat immigration fraud, will doom any efforts to protect our nation to fail. I fear that this failure will lead to extreme carnage at the hands of terrorists and drug traffickers such as we are witnessing just south of El Paso, Texas in Juarez, Mexico or at the hands of terrorists that would, God forbid, greatly eclipse the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

Ignoring the interior enforcement missions is comparable to attempting to play baseball and not permit your outfielders take up their defensive positions when the opposing team is at bat. Any opposing player who could hit the ball over the infielders’ heads would get an automatic “in the park” home run!

Where national security and the lives of our citizens are concerned however, this is anything but a game!

It is time for the politicians in Washington to live up to their oaths of office as well!

They must take to heart the statements made by the union leaders who represent the employes of Immigration and Custom Enforcement and do whatever is necessary to address these massive deficiencies as quickly and effectively as possible. The security of our nation and the safety of our citizens must, without equivocation take priority over any political goals or agenda.

It is unacceptable that the citizens of this nation be alienated by their own government especially where border security and the enforcement and administration of our nation’s immigration laws are concerned!

A country without secure borders can no more stand than can a house without walls!

November 2nd cannot come fast enough!

We the People, throughout this nation must seek opportunities to make it clear to our political “representatives” that we understand their game plan and won’t tolerate it!.

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 and members of al-Qaeda!

If reading this makes it difficult for you to sleep now- perhaps you could do something worthwhile- perhaps you might spend a couple of your sleepless hours writing letters to your elected representatives this evening and remind them that Election Day is just months away!

We the People can add to the consternation of these politicians who are failing to live up to their oaths of office by contacting them and making it abundantly clear that election day is coming and they should think of election day as their personal “Day of Reckoning!”

Our government must live up to its obligation of protecting its own citizens and, indeed, all who are present in our country from the criminals and terrorists who would threaten our lives and the survival of our nation and our way of life. In the end, the government is actually those who are elected to act as our “leaders.” Those who fail to truly lead and look out for those they are supposed to represent, need to be sent packing this coming Election Day!

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.

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 and the outrageous betrayal that this would represent given the national security implications that this program would have, 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. We need to create a “Bucket Brigade of Truth!”

In just over two months, each and every member of the House of Representatives is up for reelection. Later this 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!
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!

-michael cutler-

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