My Op-Ed in today’s Washington Times: "CUTLER: Tough questions about immigration ‘reform’ "

Hi Gang:
The Washington Times just posted my commentary on their website.  Immigration is not a single issue but rather a singular issue that impacts nearly every challenge and threat that America and Americans are facing today.  The immigration laws were enacted to protect innocent lives and the jobs of American workers.  Just as the immigration issue is hardly a single issue, the cure for the failures of the immigration system involves much more than supposedly securing the Southwest border of the United States against the illegal entry of foreign nationals whose identities, (including their true countries of citizenship), backgrounds and intentions are unknown and unknowable.  
It is not difficult to understand how this border must be made secure to insure national security and address the myriad other problems that can be created by the entry of those aliens whose presence is not only illegal but potentially problematic for the United States.  Yet even this issue served as the focus for a debate! 
However, there are many more moving parts to the immigration system that are not being currently being addressed and would not be addressed under the provisions of S. 744 except, to exacerbate many of these failings.
Now the debate moves to the House of Representatives and it is vital that these representatives live up to their oaths of office and obligations to America and Americans.
This is the backdrop for my commentary today.
We the People must reach out to our representatives in the House of Representatives and remind them about their oaths of office and obligations to live up to the lofty ideals as President Abraham Lincoln so eloquently noted in his Gettysburg Address when he spoke of our government as being “Of the people, by the people and for the people!” 
Immigration is not a single issue but a singular issue that impacts nearly every challenge and threat confronting the United States today!  

Our armed forces are charged with securing America’s borders externally while the DHS is supposed to secure those same borders from within.  The failures of the DHS to live up to its half of the equation are undermining the efforts, valor and incredible sacrifices of Americas men and women who serve in our military!The immigration laws are supposed to achieve two primary goals- to protect American lives and protect Americans’ jobs. 

Our nation 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 or other terrorist organizations!

It is also vital that American workers never be made to compete with foreign workers for their jobs!  (This requirement is a component of the Immigration Laws that are not being enforced today!)

If our government’s failures to secure our nation’s borders and effectively enforce our immigration laws that are intended to protect our nation and our citizens 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! 

I also ask that you pass this e-mail along to your friends and neighbors- I am attempting to create a “Bucket Brigade of Truth!”

We the People must 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:

https://www.michaelcutler.net/

       

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.

Call in and join the conversation!  The phone number is 310-982-4145

I hope you will be listening!  (Please tell your friends and neighbors!)

Here is a link to the program:

http://www.usaradionetwork.com/cutler.htm


http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/jul/3/tough-questions-about-immigration-reform/


Washington Times: “Why I will be voting for Gary Johnson for
CUTLER: Tough questions about immigration ‘reform’
Wednesday, July 3, 2013


Questions must be answered by the advocates for comprehensive immigration reform. Despite Senate approval of the bill last week, these questions have not yet been asked — let alone answered.

How will U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services adjudicate the millions of applications, indeed, tens of millions of applications for lawful status with even a shred of integrity? The agency won’t be able to conduct in-person interviews or field investigations to make certain the information contained in the applications is truthful and accurate. As it is, the adjudications officers are already under tremendous pressure to approve most of the more than 6 million applications they are already handling each year. It takes just minutes to approve an application, but may take hours, if not days, to deny an application. The 9/11 Commission identified immigration fraud as the embedding tactic of choice for terrorists.

Who are the aliens who would emerge from the “shadows?” While we have been told that comprehensive immigration reform would take these undocumented illegal aliens out of the shadows, how will we verify their true names or even their true countries of citizenship? “Undocumented” means that they have no official identity documents to attest to their true identities. An alien who has an extensive arrest record in other countries, but who has never been fingerprinted in the United States, or a handful of other countries that are our allies and take law enforcement seriously, may be fingerprinted in conjunction with legalization and not have his prior records show  up. Such an alien, including transnational criminals and terrorists, could easily game the legalization process by using a false name.

What was the real purpose for an illegal alien to enter the United States in the first place? While the prospect of employment may have been the motivation for the great majority of illegal aliens to run our borders, a significant percentage of the illegal-alien population includes those who know they could not be lawfully admitted via the inspections process that is designed to prevent the entry of aliens who have dangerous communicable diseases, severe mental illness, serious criminal histories, are fugitives from justice in other countries or have committed war crimes or human rights violations, or are spies or terrorists.

Where did an illegal alien who applies for legalization really come from? Today, many illegal aliens who run the U.S.-Mexican border are not citizens of Mexico. Often aliens, especially those from Latin American countries, falsely claim to be Mexican so they will not be deported to their home countries. They calculate they will be simply pushed back into Mexico where they can easily make another attempt to run the border just hours after the Border Patrol releases them. Additionally, we know that there is a growing population of Iranian shock troops arriving in Venezuela each week, and there are also increasing members of Hezbollah present in Latin America.

When did an alien who applies for participation in comprehensive immigration reform actually enter the United States? An alien who sneaks across the border creates no record of his entry. It may sound like a terrific idea for Congress to include a provision in amnesty legislation requiring that the applicant for amnesty be present in the United States for a certain number of years. However, how could the Department of Homeland Security determine the alien’s actual date of entry? There will be no resources for conducting field investigations, only to run a name and fingerprints in a computerized series of databases with no means of verifying entry data.

Why would politicians elected to represent American workers and their families ignore the national security issues and the impact of adding millions of authorized workers to a labor pool that cannot find work now?

How will the federal government deal with aliens who apply for lawful status but are rejected because it is determined that they are ineligible? Will they be arrested, and will deportation proceedings be initiated, or will they simply not be rewarded for their illegal entry into the United States and violations of other laws including, perhaps, lying on their applications for legalization?

How will the Department of Homeland Security deal with those aliens who don’t seek legalization because they know that they have serious criminal histories? How many agents will be assigned to tracking down a population of illegal aliens whose numbers would likely exceed 1 million? These aliens pose a serious threat and one that would persist if the department continues to ignore them.

Michael W. Cutler is a retired senior special agent for the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service.


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