“ICE agent revolt: ‘Vote of No Confidence’ for illegal enforcement charade”

Hi Gang:

This news article [click here] appeared a couple of days ago in The Examiner and reports on the utter lack of confidence that the employees of the Department of Homeland Security have for the director of ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement). This is the agency that was created when the DHS was created in the wake of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 and is supposed to enforce, among other laws, the immigration laws from within the interior of the United States.

That mission, the enforcement of the immigration laws from within the interior of the United States is a mission I am intimately familiar with because this was my mission when I served our nation as an INS special agent for roughly 26 years.

As I have often noted, the failures of our nation to secure our borders and create an immigration bureaucracy that has real integrity impacts every serious challenge that confronts our nation today- everything from national security and criminal justice to the economy, the environment, healthcare and education are the most prominent of those challenges.

The “9/11 Commission Staff Report on Terrorist Travel” was a report issued by members of the 9/11 Commission staff that made it clear that the failures of the INS to secure our nation’s borders and effectively enforce the immigration laws from within the interior of the United States contributed significantly to the ability of the terrorists who attacked our nation to enter our country and embed themselves in communities around our nation as they prepared to launch the devastating attacks that took 3,000 lives on 9/11 and wrought so much other damage that our nation has still not fully recovered from.

Here is a link to that report, in its entirety:
http://govinfo.library.unt.edu/911/staff_statements/911_TerrTrav_Monograph.pdf

The employees of ICE are in the best possible position to know just how well the agency they work for each and every day carries out its awesome responsibilities to protect our nation and our citizens from criminals as well as terrorists and others whose presence in our country would be harmful to our nation.

It should be no surprise that politicians would seek to politicize a number of issues- that is why they are, after all, politicians, however, when those who are elected to protect our nation and our citizens and uphold our nation’s Constitution along with the other laws fail to live up to their oaths of office, oaths, I might add, that are essentially the same as those taken by our men and women in the military and by our federal agents, then we have a problem of unparalleled gravity!

Nancy Pelosi has said that it was “UnAmerican” to enforce the immigration laws!

The United States Department of Justice is now suing the State of Arizona for doing the work the federal government absolutely refuses to do- secure our borders and effectively enforce our nation’s immigration laws while all but praising so-called “Sanctuary Cities” that seek to harbor and shield illegal aliens from detection by ICE even though it is clear that the leaders of ICE are seeking to enact a de facto “Amnesty” that would provide unknown tens of millions of illegal aliens with lawful status under names that are likely to be false is nothing short of the betrayal of our nation, of our citizens and of the Constitution of the United States of America.

There used to be a commercial that aired on television stations in which a man who touted the services offered by his company to help men who were bald. At the end of the commercial the president of the company would say, “I am not only the president of the company I am also a client!”

The men and women who work for ICE are not only government employees who work for ICE and hence DHS (an agency I have come to refer to as the Department of Homeland Surrender) but they are citizens of our nation. They, perhaps better than most Americans fully understand just how critically important their work is to the security of our nation and the safety of our citizens.

The vote of “No Confidence” reminds me of a meeting I had with then New York States Senator Al D’Amato when I met with him and members of his staff nearly 30 years ago to try to convince him to get the old INS more resources and change policies and procedures as well as change an immigration law I thought needed changing. I was accompanied by three of my close friends and colleagues at that meeting. As best as I can recall, so many years later, I began our meeting with the senator by telling him that the four of us who attended the meeting were INS officers who had all come to the unhappy conclusion that we were unable to get a successful day’s work from our efforts each day, not through any failings of ours but because we came to understand that the agency that we worked for made it all but impossible to do an effective job each day. I went on and told him that while we were all government employees, we came not as employees of the government but rather as tax paying American citizens who wanted nothing more than to get our money’s worth from our own efforts and the efforts of our colleagues at the INS. I asked him to help us achieve that goal.

Today the new generation of the federal employees of ICE have obviously come to a similar conclusion under different circumstances. Today it is abundantly clear that nothing less than the survival of our nation and the lives of our citizens hang in the balance.

Whistle-blowers are important in any industry or profession because they have the unique insight to know when something is really fouled up!

The whistles are blowing loudly and our citizens across this nation must recognize the loyalty that the employees of ICE are demonstrating to our nation and our citizens.

We must make every effort to have our voices heard by those who purportedly represent us.

I provided a declaration to the State of Arizona to assist them in their defense against the outrageous lawsuit filed by the Department of Justice.

Here is a copy of my declaration:

What have you done or are you planning to do as a citizen of this great nation?

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!”

Later this year, 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-