Today’s commentary is predicated on a New Release that was posted by ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) on September 28, 2011. A copy of that news release is attached below.
This news release reports on how enforcement personnel of ICE located and arrested some 2,900 illegal aliens who have criminal histories. Certainly the valiant efforts of those who carried out these arrests should be commended. While it is significant that nearly 3,000 criminal aliens have been taken off the streets of cities and towns across our nation, there are literally hundreds of thousands more to be found and arrested.
This press release is so important that I want you to take as much time as you need to not just skim through it but really read it carefully. The reason that this news release is so important is because it provides clear evidence that contradicts the assertions that the enforcement of our nation’s immigration laws is to be associated with xenophobia that is particularly aimed at members of the Latino community.
Those false claims have become the stock and trade of the administration and all too many politicians from both sides of the political aisle. These are also the same false assertions that have come to pass for “business as usual” when the great majority of supposed journalists discuss the immigration issue. Think about how the questions at the recent GOP Presidential debates have linked the immigration issue with the Latino Community.
This news release also makes it clear that the immigration crisis has a huge impact on all 50 states of our nation not just the “Four border states” that Jonathan Huntsman, the former Governor of Utah and GOP Presidential hopeful alluded to during the debates when the issue of immigration was raised.
While the news release noted the fact that the 2,900 criminal aliens were citizens of a wide variety of countries, the article did not disclose how these criminals entered the United States. I can assure you that not all of them ran our southern border, although I have not doubt that a significant number of these criminals did, in fact, enter the United States in precisely that manner.
The news release noted that these aliens came from as far away as Africa. Clearly a significant number of these alien felons are not members of the Latino community.
During my 30 year career with the former INS I encountered and arrested aliens from nearly every country on the planet. The immigration laws do not draw any distinctions as to race, religion or ethnicity. The immigration laws are designed to protect our nation, our citizens and, in fact, all who live and visit our country from foreign nationals whose presence in the United States poses a threat to our safety and well being.
In reading the news release, I want you to consider just how much of a threat these sociopathic criminals pose to our nation and to our citizens and the members of the immigrant communities in which they most likely resided until they were arrested.
Once again, in considering the arrest of these criminal aliens I want you to consider an important section of law to be found in the Immigration and Nationality Act.
That section of law is Title 8, United States Code section 212. It is the section of law that enumerates the various categories of aliens who, under the INA, are supposed to be prevented from entering the United States and are supposed to be removed if they are found here:
Here is a link to that section of law:
Please take the time to review the contents of this section of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA).
Among the categories of aliens who are supposed to be kept out of the United States are aliens with dangerous communicable diseases, aliens who suffer serious mental illness and are prone to violence, aliens who are convicted felons, aliens who fugitives from justice in other countries, aliens who are human traffickers and drug smugglers, aliens who are war criminals and aliens who have committed human rights violations. Also aliens who are engaged in terrorism and espionage are among those who are, by law, supposed to be prevented from entering our country and are supposed to be removed if they manage to evade the Border Patrol and enter the United States.
The next time a politician or a journalist equates immigration law enforcement with the Latino community I want you to think about this ICE news release. They are not only being dishonest but they are creating a divisive hostile environment in our country playing the game of “divide and conquer.”
This is a dangerous game- one that can cause unnecessary conflict and strife. Our nation’s motto is “E Pluribus Unum” which translates, “Out of many, one.” It is time that
hold these folks who have access to the cameras and the microphones accountable for what they say!
Words most certainly have impact!
The time has long since come for an honest discussion to be held about the extreme dangers created for our nation and our citizens by our all but nonexistent borders and corrupt, inept and incompetent immigration benefits program that is easily gamed by some truly evil individuals including international terrorists and transnational criminals.
Until and unless our elected officials are willing to understand just how important our borders and our immigration laws are to the security of our nation and the safety of our citizens, it will continue to be used as a political tool and our nation and our citizens, of all races, religions and ethnicities will pay a heavy price!
Our nation cannot defend itself against the threats posed by terrorism, transnational criminal organizations and drug cartels until and unless our borders are truly secure.
This does not mean constructing fences or other barriers that block access to ports of entry as Texas Governor Rick Perry disingenuously claimed during two of the debates when he talked about how such a fence would require those who wished to go to Tijuana to have to travel 800 miles out of the way!
Given the fact that there is no reliable way of determining the true identities of the millions of illegal aliens who are “undocumented,” meaning that they do not possess a shred of official, reliable documentation to attest to their true names, nationalities, or when, where or how they entered the United States, it would be foolhardy to even suggest that these millions of illegal aliens should be placed on a pathway to United States citizenship. This would create a national security nightmare of unprecedented proportions!
Yet Newt Gingrich who claims to have learned the lessons that the disastrous Amnesty of 1986 taught him has actually called for the creation of such a pathway for those 12 to 20 million illegal aliens (the estimated number of illegal aliens in our country he provided).
Furthermore, when you realize that among the millions of unemployed American and lawful immigrant workers are people of every race, religion and ethnicity, it is unfathomable that members of the Latino community who are citizens of our country, would not want to have the immigration laws enforced so that they can take the jobs now being held by illegal aliens or aliens who have been admitted under various nonimmigrant work visa programs such as the H-1B visa program.
A final thought. Is it not a form of racism or bigotry to speak about the “Latino vote,” the “Jewish vote,” the “African American vote,” etc?
I would ask that that you consider this definition of the term “prejudice” that appears in the dictionary provided with the software on Apple computers:
Prejudice
This article is about a discrimination concept. For legal procedure, see Prejudice (law).
A prejudice is a prejudgment, an assumption made about someone or something before having adequate knowledge to be able to do so with guaranteed accuracy, or “judging a book by its cover”. The word prejudice is most commonly used to refer to preconceived judgments toward people or a person because of race, social class, gender, ethnicity, homelessness, age, disability, obesity, religion, sexual orientation, or other personal characteristics. It also means beliefs without knowledge of the facts[1] and may include “any unreasonable attitude that is unusually resistant to rational influence.”[2]
It is preposterous to think that all people of a particular religion, ethnic group or race think or vote the same way!
In speaking about such voting blocks, think about how most people would react to someone who might say, “You know how those (fill in the blank) think!”
Any reasonable and fair-minded person should be offended if that sort of generality is made, yet where political orientation is concerned, somehow lots of folks who should know better apparently have no compunctions against attributing particular political proclivities to our fellow Americans, based purely on their race, religion, ethnicity or other such factors!
The time has come to deal with the immigration crisis in honest terms.
It is time for our nation’s leaders, on all levels, to come to terms with the fundamental fact that the basis 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!
A country without secure borders can no more stand than can a house without walls!
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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.
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!
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!
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-
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http://www.ice.gov/news/releases/1109/110928washingtondc.htm
News Releases
September 28, 2011
Washington, DC
ICE arrests more than 2,900 convicted criminal aliens, fugitives in enforcement operation throughout all 50 states
18 weapons seized during operation
WASHINGTON — As part of the Obama administration’s ongoing commitment to prioritizing the removal of criminal aliens and egregious immigration law violators, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) today announced the results of a seven-day national “Cross Check” enforcement operation-which led to the arrest of more than 2,900 convicted criminal aliens.
“The results of this targeted enforcement operation underscore ICE’s ongoing commitment and focus on the arrest and removal of convicted criminal aliens and those that game our nation’s immigration system,” said ICE Director John Morton. “Because of the tireless efforts and teamwork of ICE officers and agents in tracking down at large criminal aliens and fugitives, there are 2,901 fewer criminal aliens in our neighborhoods across the country.”
This seven-day operation, the largest of its kind, involved the collaboration of more than 1,900 ICE officers and agents from all of ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations’ (ERO) 24 field offices, as well as coordination with our federal, state and local law enforcement partners throughout the United States. Arrests occurred in all 50 states and four U.S. territories.
All of the 2,901 individuals taken into custody had prior criminal convictions including at least 1,282 aliens who had multiple criminal convictions. More than 1,600 of those arrested had felony convictions including manslaughter, attempted murder, kidnapping, armed robbery, drug trafficking, child abuse, sexual crimes against minors, and aggravated assault. Of the total 2,901 criminal aliens arrested, 42 were gang members and 151 were convicted sex offenders.
In addition to being convicted criminals, 681 of those arrested were also immigration fugitives who had previously been ordered to leave the country but failed to depart. Additionally, 386 were illegal re-entrants who had been previously removed from the country multiple times. Because of their serious criminal histories and prior immigration arrest records, at least 146 of those arrested during the enforcement action were presented to U.S attorneys for prosecution on a variety of charges including illegal re-entry after deportation, a felony which carries a penalty of up to 20 years in prison.
The arrestees include:
- Virgilio Lopez-Ruiz, 54, a national of the Dominican Republic, who was residing in the Bronx, N.Y., convicted on Nov. 16, 1988, of second degree attempted murder.
- Ike Romanus Bright, 51, a national of Nigeria, who was residing in Kyle, Texas, was an ICE fugitive alien convicted on Nov. 5, 1986, of second degree attempted murder.
- Jose Gallardo, 51, a national of Mexico, who was residing in North Hollywood, Calif., convicted on March 21, 1996, of kidnapping a child under 14 years of age and shooting at an occupied dwelling. The Department of Justice is filing criminal charges for illegally re-entering the United States after having been removed.
- Ian Kirt Kuar, 52, a national of Trinidad and Tobago, who was residing in Hauppauge, N.Y., convicted on Nov. 14, 1975, of second degree manslaughter and convicted on May 12, 1995, of fifth degree criminal sale of a controlled substance.
- Roberto Hackett-Baquie, 54, a national of Panama, who was residing in Stone Mountain, Ga., convicted on March 26, 2008, of child molestation.
- Euford Brown, 60, a national of Jamaica, who was residing in Mattapan, Mass., was an ICE fugitive alien and a registered sex offender convicted on April 2, 1986, of rape.
- Austin Alfredo Alonzo-Fiallos, 36, a national of Honduras, who was residing in West Columbia, S.C., was an ICE fugitive alien convicted on March 2, 1998, of felony burglary-armed assault and felony assault and battery on official employee. He is also wanted in Miami on charges of attempted first degree murder and charges of kidnapping, burglary and armed assault. He is pending extradition to Miami on the criminal charges.
ICE conducted the first successful Cross Check operation in December 2009, and has since conducted Cross Check operations in 37 states, including regional operations in the Southeast, Northeast and Midwest regions. In May, ICE conducted the first nationwide Cross Check operation. These previous Cross Check operations resulted in ICE arresting 4,506 convicted criminals, fugitives and aliens nationwide who have illegally re-entered the United States after removal.
Last week’s enforcement action was spearheaded by ICE’s National Fugitive Operations Program (NFOP), which is responsible for locating, arresting and removing at-large criminal aliens and immigration fugitives. The officers who conducted last week’s operation received substantial assistance from ICE’s Fugitive Operations Support Center (FOSC) and ICE’s Law Enforcement Support Center (LESC) both located in Williston, Vt.
ICE is focused on smart, effective immigration enforcement that targets serious criminal aliens who present the greatest risk to the security of our communities, such as those charged with or convicted of homicide, rape, robbery, kidnapping, major drug offenses and threats to national security. ICE also prioritizes the arrest and removal of those who game the immigration system including immigration fugitives or those criminal aliens who have been previously deported and illegally re-entered the country.
You may also visit us on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, or access this news release on your mobile device.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is the largest investigative arm of the Department of Homeland Security.
ICE is a 21st century law enforcement agency with broad responsibilities for a number of key homeland security priorities. For more information, visit www.ICE.gov. To report suspicious activity, call 1-866-347-2423.
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