By Michael Cutler
An excellent news article appears in today's edition of the Washington Times and is important to consider.
There have been a large number of high-ranking government officials and politicians who have blithely stated that it was no crime for illegal aliens to run our nation's borders and in so doing, circumvent the immigration laws of the United States.
Every time I hear such outrageous statements, I am forced to think, "What is wrong with this picture?"
Legislators are professional law makers. In fact, when journalists write about members of the U.S. Congress or legislative bodies on the local, city or state level, they often refer to such legislators as “Law makers.”
They are well paid and provided with incredible perks for writing laws and then are quick to thumb their noses at the laws of our country that they find inconvenient or contrary to the goals of their deep-pocketed contributors!
The attorney general of the United States is often referred to as the “highest ranking law enforcement officer” of the United States while attorneys general of the 50 states are similarly described as being the “highest law enforcement officer” of the state in which they serve.
The President of the United States wears many hats. He is known as the “Commander-in-Chief” of the armed forces. He is also the “Commander-in- Chief” of every federal agent who works for the various federal agencies. Similarly mayors and governors are also the ultimate authority for the law enforcement officers who work within their respective town, cities or states.
Recently no less an official than the Secretary of Homeland Security, Janet Napolitano made light of aliens who run our nation's borders.
Speaker of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, who, by the way, is in the chain of succession for the Presidency, said that it was “Un-American” to arrest illegal aliens!
The news article reports on an outbreak of a heretofore unknown strain of swine flu that has shown up in Mexico and has, reportedly, caused the death of dozens of people in Mexico. Now there have been reports of this deadly virus showing up in a couple of the border states in this country.
If you wonder why I began this commentary by noting those “leaders” who have made light of aliens who circumvent the immigration inspections process, I want you to consider that the inspections process, as I have noted on so many previous occasions, is not a mere formality to be minimized and, indeed, scoffed at by so many “leaders,” but is designed to protect our nation and our citizens and others residing in the United States from those foreign nationals whose presence in our country would represent a threat to our well being.
An alien who evades the inspections process is not the equivalent of a “fare-beater.” For those of you who are not familiar with the term “fare-beater,” in New York and other cities, individuals who manage to sneak onto a bus or jump a subway turnstile are referred to as “fare-beaters.” They are stealing a service- transportation. In New York police officers who are members of the Transit Bureau often arrest such individuals.
Interestingly mayors who favor the arrest and prosecution of “fare-beaters” are often among the politicians who decry the arrest of illegal aliens and have, in some instances, declared their cities to be “Sanctuary Cities.” Other such “leaders” may not have gone as far as to declare their cities as sanctuary cities, but have impeded the cooperation between their police departments and ICE.
The point is that when an alien enters the United States by running our nation's borders, there is no way of knowing his (her) motivation. He may simply be seeking a job. Certainly as an INS agent I did have feelings of empathy for the desperate aliens who were seeking to find a way out of the grinding poverty of their home countries. The problem is that our nation cannot single-handedly combat world poverty by allowing all of the worlds billions of poverty stricken people to come here. With every passing day, the economic crisis confronting our nation and our citizens drives home the basic point that our nation is a nation of finite resources.
The other issue that must be remembered is that among those illegal aliens are those who are legally excludible. Section 212 of the Immigration and Nationality Act establishes the grounds for excludability for aliens seeking entry into our country.
Here is the first ground for excludability as noted in that section of law:
INA: ACT 212 - GENERAL CLASSES OF ALIENS INELIGIBLE TO RECEIVE VISAS AND INELIGIBLE FOR ADMISSION; WAIVERS OF INADMISSIBILLITY
Sec. 212. [8 U.S.C. 1182]
(a) Classes of Aliens Ineligible for Visas or Admission.-Except as otherwise provided in this Act, aliens who are inadmissible under the following paragraphs are ineligible to receive visas and ineligible to be admitted to the United States:
(1) Health-related grounds.-
(A) In general.-Any alien-
(i) who is determined (in accordance with regulations prescribed by the Secretary of Health and Human Services) to have a communicable disease of public health significance; 1b/
(ii) 1/ except as provided in subparagraph (C) 1a/ who seeks admission as an immigrant, or who seeks adjustment of status to the status of an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence, and who has failed to present documentation of having received vaccination against vaccine-preventable diseases, which shall include at least the following diseases: mumps, measles, rubella, polio, tetanus and diphtheria toxoids, pertussis, influenza type B and hepatitis B, and any other vaccinations against vaccine-pre ventable diseases recommended by the Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices,
(iii) who is determined (in accordance with regulations prescribed by the Secretary of Health and Human Services in consultation with the Attorney General)-
(I) to have a physical or mental disorder and behavior associated with the disorder that may pose, or has posed, a threat to the property, safety, or welfare of the alien or others, or
(II) to have had a physical or mental disorder and a history of behavior associated with the disorder, which behavior has posed a threat to the property, safety, or welfare of the alien or others and which behavior is likely to recur or to lead to other harmful behavior, or
(iv) who is determined (in accordance with regulations prescribed by the Secretary of Health and Human Services) to be a drug abuser or addict, is inadmissible.
I focused on the issue of the grounds for excludability based on health because it dovetails perfectly with the news report I have attached below.
In years past, it was not uncommon to quarantine families when a member of that family contracted a dangerous communicable illness. There was, in fact, some talk by the previous administration of plans to quarantine people who might contract the dreaded Avian Flu.
As you read through the various grounds for exclusion for aliens, you will find those who are members of terrorist or criminal organizations. Those who have trafficked in human beings (alien smugglers). Those who have been convicted of serious crimes or suffer mental illness that cause them to be a threat to others. In total, the document to be found online from which I copied the first page runs approximately 20 pages in length.
I have attached that document to this commentary along with another document that can be found online on the State Department website that deals with grounds for which aliens should not be granted visas to come to the United States.
The politicians and other “leaders” who make light of the inspections process are either ignorant or are corrupt. All that needs to be asked is which category they fall into!
Perhaps We the People should e-mail the attached documents containing the legal grounds for the exclusion of aliens whose presence is deleterious to the well being of our nation and our citizens, to our elected representatives and especially “leaders” like Nancy Pelosi and Janet Napolitano.
Then we should follow that up with specific questions. For example, “Is it okay to permit people with dangerous and highly infectious diseases to enter the United States?” “Is it okay for child molesters and murders to enter the United States?” “Is it okay for those who wish to create man-caused disasters?” (I meant to say terrorists, but then Ms. Napolitano might have a problem with that term!) Incidentally, I wonder why she said “Man-caused” and not “Person-caused?” Was she being sexist?
Every elected representative and every government official is required to be sworn in, just the way that law enforcement officers and members of the military are.
That oath does not read like a menu. When you go to a restaurant you get a choice of meals. You get to decide if you want soup or salad (or both). You get to pick your beverage and decide what desert, if any you would like at the conclusion of your meal.
The oath of office for these positions require allegiance to all of the laws!
When I was a young boy my parents made it clear to me that a man (woman) must stand by their word!
They told me that a person was only as good as their word. If politicians wonder why most of them are so reviled by most people it is because they prove again and again that they are not to be trusted! The most important thing about civil servants and elected representatives is that they hold positions of trust and they, all too often, violate our trust!
Our borders are supposed to keep out those who pose a threat to our safety and well being. As I have noted on many occasions, “A house without secure borders can no more stand than can a house without walls.”
Doctors take an oath of a different sort. Their oath is known as the Hippocratic Oath. One of the most basic tenets of that oath can be summed up by the expression, “First do no harm.”
Perhaps that phrase should be added to the oath of office taken by our elected representatives and high-ranking members of our government.
The time has come for our nation's leaders to demonstrate the sort of courage, patriotism and integrity demonstrated on a daily basis by our nation's valiant soldiers and law enforcement officers.
In many ways, our nation stands at crossroads. Nothing less than the survival of our nation and our way of life is on the line. How will history remember our generation? The courageous Americans who rose to the challenge and fought and won the Second World War have come to be referred to as “The Greatest Generation!” I fear that unless we get real “change” our generation may well be remembered as America's “Last Generation!”
We the People must not leave the critical decisions to chance. This is the time for getting our voices heard.
These decisions will have a long lasting impact on the safety and security of our nation and our citizens. These decisions will impact the lives of our children and their children. The time for complacency is over.
Good citizenship does not end at the voting booth but it simply begins there. In order for our representative democracy to represent us, we need to communicate with our elected representatives to let them know in clear and unequivocal terms what we want.
Please, I implore you to get involved!
© 2009 - Michael Cutler - All Rights Reserved
Michael W. Cutler began working for the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) in October 1971 when he entered on duty as an Immigration Inspector assigned to John F. Kennedy International Airport. From 1973 until 1974 He was assigned as an examiner to the unit which was responsible for adjudicating petitions filed by United States Citizens and Lawfully Admitted Permanent Resident Aliens (LPRs) on behalf of their alien spouses to accord them LPR status. His goal in this assignment was to attempt to uncover fraud marriages and fraud marriage rings.
In August 1975 he became a Criminal Investigator (Special Agent) for the INS at NYC. He rotated through virtually every squad in the Investigations Branch. From 1988 until 1991 he was assigned as the INS representative to the Unified Intelligence Division (UID) of the DEA in New York. In 1991 he was promoted to the position of Senior Special Agent and was assigned to the Organized Crime, Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) which required that he work with members of other law enforcement agencies including the FBI, DEA, ATF, U.S.Customs and local and state police as well as law enforcement organizations of other countries including Israel, Canada, Great Britain and Japan, to conduct investigations of aliens involved in major drug trafficking organizations which ultimately resulted in the seizure of their assets as well as their arrest and successful prosecutions for a wide variety of criminal violations.
Finally, Mr. Cutler has appeared on numerous television and radio programs including the O'Reilly Radio Factor, O'Reilly's No Spin Zone, Fox News and the Lou Dobbs Tonight Program on CNN to discuss the enforcement of immigration laws and has participated in various public debates and panel discussions on issues involving the enforcement and administration of immigration laws.
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