French officers look to ICE HSI for guidance on gang enforcement"

Hi Gang:

Often I find that news releases that are issued by ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) provide invaluable insight into the way that our nation’s immigration laws are being enforced or are not being enforced.  These news releases also often provide clear evidence, in the words of the leadership at ICE, that while the administration may make a bunch of statements to justify their failures to secure our borders and enforce our immigration laws the information contained in these news releases paint a very different picture and often contradict the public pronouncements of the President and high ranking members of his administration.

With this in mind, I decided to write a commentary for CAPS (Californians for Population Stabilization) that provides clear and unequivocal evidence that when enforcement personnel from ICE work in close cooperation with local police and other law enforcement agencies, that a synergy is created.

While some may challenge the use of the term “War” to describe efforts to combat transnational gangs, narcotics trafficking organizations and terrorists, in point of fact, there is a war being fought and it is being fought across our nation in small towns and major cities.  There are many casualties in this war and all too often they are teenagers who have gotten caught up in the gangs, who have become hooked on drugs and may have succumbed to the violence that is associated with gangs and narcotics.  

Not unlike “Humpty Dumpty,” when these kids become addicted to illicit drugs or become immersed in the gangs and often screw up their lives so badly that there is no way of putting their lives back together again!  When this happens they certainly pay one hell of a price as do their families and, in fact as do all Americans!

When you realize that there are hundreds of thousands of gang members operating inside the United States who are aliens, you realize, as I note in my commentary for CAPS, that our immigration laws can prove absolutely essential to winning the wars we must win if our nation and our citizens are to survive!

Politicians have become so focused on winning elections that it is often impossible to understand why they wanted to seek public office in the first place.  So many claim that they enter politics to provide leadership and then get caught up in the lunacy that passes for the political process.  The first victim is likely to be the ideology that may have enticed these candidates to run for office in the first place.  The second casualty is actually not one person, but all people who live and work in the United States- it is 

We the People

!


Immigration laws are among the most important laws that any nation can promulgate.  These laws deal with sovereignty and deal with protecting the citizens of a nation from foreigners (aliens) whose presence, in one way or another would threaten the safety, security and well-being of the citizens of that nation and the nation itself!

I ask that you not only read my commentary that I provided below, but that you take the time to click on the link contained in that commentary and read the news release issued by ICE that served as a predication for my article today.

The immigration laws that so many politicians and members of the administration are unwilling to enforce are at the bedrock of national security and the other issues and challenges that confront our nation today.


Show me a politician who refuses to enforce the immigration laws or attempts to trivialize these laws, and I will show you a politician who needs to find out what it is like to stand on the unemployment line!

Benjamin Franklin, in discussing our then fledgeling nation. said that they had given us a republic if we could keep it!

What he was making clear was that this democratic republic required that its citizens take their citizenship seriously and keep the political leaders accountable.

It is time for the citizens of our nation to make certain that our nation’s leaders, on all levels, to come to terms with the fundamental fact that the purpose of our immigration laws is to protect our nation and our citizens from aliens whose presence has the potential to have a serious adverse impact.  Ignoring those laws exposes our nation and our citizens to a variety of serious threats and challenges ranging from national security and criminal justice and public safety to the economy, the environment, healthcare and education!

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

I

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.

For far too long our citizens demonstrated apathy which 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. 

It is therefore understandable that the politicians of both parties, are greatly concerned about the demonstrations currently sweeping our nation just as did the creation of the Tea Party.  Clearly  more and more of our fellow Americans are demonstrating that they are not as dumb as the politicians from both parties had expected us to be!

I am encouraged that more and more of us, We the People, are not willing to simply sit on the sidelines anymore!


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!

I also believe that the original purpose of our nation’s immigration laws need to be be brought “front and center” to make certain that our nation does not permit the entry of aliens into our country whose presence in our country is problematic for the citizens of our nation and that if such aliens do succeed in entering our country that our nation have the resources, integrity and dedication to do everything possible to make it impossible for such aliens to function within our country so that even if they are not apprehended, they will find it pointless to remain in the United States.
As I have noted on a number of occasions, “No one would break into the amusement park if they could not get to go on the rides and no one remains in the amusement park at the end of the day when they turn shut down the rides and turn off the lights!” 

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:

       


On Friday evenings from 7:00 PM until 8:00 PM Eastern Daylight Savings Time, I 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:


The Michael Cutler Hour 
Friday7pm Eastern


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http://www.caps-blog.org/articles/2012/01/05/ice-news-release-top-story-french-officers-look-to-ice-hsi-for-guidance-on-gang-enforcement/

ICE News Release: TOP STORY: French officers look to ICE HSI for guidance on gang enforcement

Often
a review of the news releases on the ICE (Immigration and Customs
Enforcement) website can provide important insight into the immigration
crisis that confronts the United States.  On December 27, 2011 ICE sent out a news release
that focused on how they were helping the residents of Dallas, Texas to
combat transnational gangs–a problem that is being confronted by many
countries around the world.

The news release made note of the fact that members of French law
enforcement traveled to the United States to get an “Up close and in
person” view of how ICE and local police working together can benefit by
the synergy that is created by this multi-agency approach.

I spent roughly half of my 30 year career with the INS working in
close cooperation with a diverse conglomeration of law enforcement
agencies on the local, state and federal level as well as with foreign
law enforcement agencies and can attest to the many ways in which such
cooperation among diverse law enforcement agencies can yield important
successes in combating transnational criminal organizations, drug
smuggling organizations and international terrorist organizations.

It should be obvious that when aliens move across international
borders in order to achieve their criminal or terrorist objectives that
the federal agency that has primary responsibility to secure borders and
enforce immigration laws from within the interior of the United States
should have a significant responsibility to participate in
investigations that are focuses on such individuals and the criminal or
terrorist organizations that they are affiliated with.

Adding the immigration component to the investigation of aliens who
are involved in criminal activities provides important benefits to such
investigations.  There are specific criminal statutes that relate to
aliens who violate our borders and our laws.  To provide an examples
there are specific federal criminal statutes that address aliens who had
been previously deported and then reenter the United States without the
authority of the government, laws that deem false statements on visa
applications or applications for lawful immigrant status and United
States citizenship to all be felonies while yet another law deems the
possession of a firearm or ammunition by an illegal alien to be a
felony.  These are crimes that can only be prosecuted when immigration
laws are brought to bear.

Additionally, when any criminal suspect is arrested, the first issue
is to properly identify that suspect to determine all possible names he
(she) has used and to determine if any criminal or administrative
warrants are outstanding.  Once the suspect is fingerprinted and
photographed the next order of business is to bring the defendant before
a judge or magistrate to set bail.  Bail determinations focus on two
major factors, risk of flight and danger to the community.  The issue of
danger to the community is generally addressed by providing evidence
about any force used by the defendant in the commission of a crime
and/or any weapons he may have had in his possession.  Possession of
narcotics may also indicate a danger to the safety of the community. 
Risk of flight can be a more nebulous issue to address.  When the
defendant is an illegal alien especially one who had been previously
deported and then reentered the United States without authority to do so
provides a clear image of an individual who disregards lawful orders
issued by appropriate authorities.  When a defendant has failed to show
up for hearings, for example, deportation hearings and has used numerous
false names and has provided law enforcement officers in prior
encounters with law enforcement agencies with false or nonexistent
addresses, the picture painted becomes even clearer where the issue of
risk of flight and the setting of an appropriate and commensurate bail
is concerned.  This is not a hypothetical issue, as an INS Special
Agent, I have provided testimony at many bail hearings and in each case,
the evidence I was able to furnish that was gleaned by reviewing the
immigration file of an alien defendant in a criminal case resulted in
either an extremely high bail being set or in having the federal
magistrate or state court judge remanding that defendant without bail
because it was clear that the defendant an extreme flight risk.

Incredibly the administration has attempted to tout the successes of
such cooperative investigations on the one hand, but then make all sorts
of assertions about how community policing suffers when local police
officers enforce immigration laws.  Simply stated, they cannot have it
both ways!

The administration is not alone in attempting to justify not
enforcing immigration laws.  A number of cities have declared themselves
to be “Sanctuary Cities” where police will not seek to determine if
criminal suspects are citizens, lawful immigrants or aliens who are
illegally present in the United States.  In some cases, mayors of some
cities, and governors of several states, have made it clear that they
will not even honor detainers lodged by ICE when individuals who are
being held in city or state jails are to be released, preventing ICE
from being able to arrest these aliens whose mere presence in the United
States represents a violation of our nation’s immigration laws that are
intended to protect our nation and our citizens from aliens whose
presence in the United States represents a threat to our safety or
wellbeing!

There is an extreme lack of resources at ICE and CBP (Customs and
Border Protection) to secure our nation’s borders and then enforce the
immigration laws from within the interior of the United States when
aliens violate our nation’s borders and violate our nation’s immigration
laws.  The idea that by enforcing immigration laws local police would
lose the confidence of the members of the immigrant communities around
the country is a false argument.  Many members of the various immigrant
communities from around the world come to the United States with an
abject fear of law enforcement officials because of their experiences
with law enforcement in their home countries.  In many countries
corruption within the ranks of law enforcement agencies is the rule
rather than the exception.  The lessons that these immigrants learn
early in life remain with them long after they immigrate to the United
States.

In reviewing the ICE News Release it is important to pay attention to
the references made to how the ICE agents work with confidential
informants.  There can be no better example of community policing than
the cultivation of informants and cooperators.  When I worked with other
law enforcement agencies, whether it was local or state police or other
federal agencies, one of my areas of responsibility was to help to
cultivate informants.  Most law enforcement agencies can only offer
individuals who cooperate in ongoing investigations is money or the
potential for having criminal charges reduced in cases where an
informant is a defendant in an investigation.  Special Agents of ICE
have the additional capability of providing cooperating aliens with
authorization to remain in the United States for a temporary period and
be granted employment authorization.  In some cases, such alien
cooperators can become eligible for permanent residency and even have
their immediate family members join them in the United States as lawful
immigrants.

The immigration laws can and do provide invaluable opportunities for
local police to hammer some of the most pernicious criminals that they
are apt to encounter–criminalswho create nightmares for the members of
the various ethnic an immigrant communities.  When the members of these
communities come to realize how effective these police agencies are at
removing some of the most violent thugs imaginable from their midst,
rather than fear the police, they invariably come to feel indebted to
them and consequently become more motivated to cooperate with these
police officers.

The cooperation of local and state police with ICE represents community policing at its best!

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