MICHAEL CUTLER: ALABAMA DEFENDS ITS IMMIGRATION LAW FROM A FEDERAL SUIT TO STOP IT….READ IT ALL
Hi Gang:
Here we go again!
Not long ago the federal government went after the State of Arizona for daring to enact its own immigration laws in an obvious effort to fill the void created by the failures of the federal government to secure our nation’s borders and create an immigration system that has real integrity and effectively enforce the immigration laws from within the interior of the United States.
Now, not surprisingly, the State of Arizona is in the crosshairs of the United States Department of Justice because it has also enacted its own immigration law. It is a bit ironic that until the creation of the DHS, a dysfunctional and inept bureaucratic behemoth I have come to refer to as the Department of Homeland Security, the enforcement of our nation’s immigration laws were the sole responsibility of the same Justice Department that is now determined to block the enforcement of immigration laws on the state or local level.
I have attached a news report that appeared earlier today, August 2nd in the Washington Times and was written by Jerry Seper, one of the most experienced journalists who regularly covers the immigration beat. This article discusses the reaction of the DOJ to the enactment of the immigration law (H.B. 56) in Alabama.
Here is a quote from that newspaper article that concisely explains the need for this law:
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The Alabama law was authored by House GOP Majority Leader Micky Hammon, who told reporters after the lawsuit was filed that the Obama administration and federal officials have “turned a blind eye toward the immigration issue and refuse to fulfill their constitutional duty to enforce laws already on the books.
“Now, they want to block our efforts to secure Alabamas borders and prevent our jobs and taxpayer dollars from disappearing into the abyss that illegal immigration causes,” he said.
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What is astounding about our nation’s immigration laws is just how unique they are. It would be hard to imagine the federal government objecting to the enactment or the enforcement of any other laws and, indeed, often the federal government encourages states to enforce laws that parallel federal laws. Think about kidnapping laws, bank robbery laws, tax laws, firearm laws and narcotics laws. All of these laws and many others are enforced on both the federal level as well as the state level.
During the gasoline shortages of the mid 1970’s the federal government threatened to cancel federal subsidies to local states that did not enforce a 55 mile per hour speed limit! The reason behind the speed law was to increase miles per gallon fuel efficiency of motor vehicles because virtually all vehicles suffer from a reduced level of fuel efficiency when they speed.
Certainly not all of the state and local laws match federal laws, yet, the federal government does not complain when state and local governments enforce these and still additional laws.
Where immigration laws are concerned, however, the federal government marshals its legal resources to go on the offensive to attack states and local governments that dare to enforce laws that are designed to protect our nation and our citizens!
The debate about the immigration laws have gotten as vitriolic as possible. Accusations about racism, bigotry and hatred are often the stock and trade of individuals and organizations I have come to refer to as the immigration anarchists. They claim that anyone who wants to secure our nation’s borders and enforce our nation’s immigration laws are bigots. They conveniently and blithely ignore the fundamental fact that our nation’s immigration laws make absolutely no distinction about the race, religion or ethnicity of people. The only distinction that is made is between those people who are citizens and those who are not (aliens). In fact, the term “Alien” is defined by the immigration laws that these immigration anarchists eschew.
According to the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) an alien is any person who is not a citizen or national of the United States. Those who are opposed to the enforcement of the immigration laws claim that the term Alien is the equivalent of the “N” word. When you consider the definition of the term alien- where is there any sense of bigotry or racism?
For immigration anarchists, the problem with the “A” word is not bigotry but clarity! They understand that with clarity, they cannot win their false arguments. They know that the facts, the law, commonsense and morality favor those who insist on our nation securing its borders and creating an immigration system that has real integrity that not only protects our citizens and our nation itself, but also honors those countless lawful immigrants and their descendants, of all races, religions and ethnicities that built this nation.
Title 8 of the United States Code, Section 212 is the section of law under the Immigration and Nationality Act that lists the various categories of aliens who should not be permitted to enter the United States.
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 war crimes and 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.
At present it is estimated, by the administration, that more than 230 American cities are infested by members of the Mexican drug cartels. Still more cities are infested by other transnational gangs from Latin America, Russia, Asia, Africa, the Caribbean and other parts of the world! Why on earth would politicians who are supposed to look out for the best interests of our nation and our citizens so willing to ignore the immigration laws that, especially now, as we wage a “War on Terror” and a “War on Drugs” opposed to the enforcement of the one set of laws specifically designed to protect us?
The immigration laws are also supposed to prevent aliens from entering our nation who would become public charges or are likely to take the jobs of Americans and lawful immigrants. As the unemployment and under-employment rates soar and family incomes are diminished, it is vital that Americans be able to support themselves and their families. Their well being depends on this as does the well being of all Americans and our nation.
You would be hard pressed to find a politician from any political party who would stand before the microphones and proclaim- “I am here to take jobs from Americans!”
Yet this is precisely what politicians are doing when they call for more H-1B visas and other such “temporary” work visas for aliens as well as advocating for sweeping amnesty programs for illegal aliens. The current administration talks about “Shovel Ready Jobs” and yet has blocked the enforcement of immigration laws that would remove aliens from the United States whose presence in our country represents a violation of law.
Think of the game of “Musical Chairs” that we all played as children. You know how the game is played, there are a number of children who circle a line of chairs while the music plays. When the music stops, the goal for each child is to get into a seat. The challenge is that there is one fewer chair than there are players. Each time the music stops and a child remains standing, that child is told to leave and a chair is removed from the game. The winner is the last child sitting!
What do you think would happen if while the kids are circling the chairs if suddenly the doors were thrown open and suddenly many more kids were let into the room but no new chairs were brought in? Imagine how those children would react! That is the impact of our federal government’s failure to secure its borders and enforce immigration laws!
The leaders of Arizona, Alabama and other states and local governments clearly understand how their citizens are being betrayed- causing them to attempt to do the work the feds won’t do- enforce the immigration laws!
Last year I assisted the law firm that Arizona Governor retained to defend her state against the lawsuit that was filed by the DOJ in an effort to block the enactment of SB 1070 (Arizona’s immigration law). I provided an extensive declaration, based on my 3 decades long career with the former INS, that laid out why these laws are so critical to the safety and security of our nation, our communities and our citizens.
I have attached a copy of my declaration below. Rather than pose all of the reasons why I am in agreement with the leaders of states that are enacting their own immigration laws here, I would urge you to review my declaration that I provided in support of SB 1070 that has become a part of the legal defense of Arizona’s immigration statute.
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At the beginning of this year, I also testified before the Indiana State Senate in support of a similar immigration bill, SB 590. That bill was enacted into law.
Here is a link to my appearance before that legislative session in Indiana and my prepared remarks as it appears on my website:
It has often been stated that America was built by immigrants. Indeed, immigrants from all over the world have come to America and contributed to the rich and extremely diverse tapestry that is the United States of America that is so eloquently described by the three word motto, “E Puribus Unum” (Out of Many- One!)
But America became the greatest nation on the face of this planet because of something else- the creation of a large and upwardly mobile middle class.
While the citizens of most countries were virtually locked into their position on the socio-economic ladder of their countries, in America literally “anyone could grow up to be President!” America’s Middle Class is the heart and soul of the United States.
In America creativity and diligence could enable inventors and tinkerers such as Alexander Graham Bell, Thomas Edison, Henry Ford and the Wright Brothers of the past generations and Steve Jobs of the current generation could amass incredible wealth with their upstart companies that may have begun in their garages, basements or kitchens!
There was a time when there was a commonly cited expression, “Build a better mousetrap and the world will beat a pathway to your door!”
The idea was that by creativity, ingenuity, diligence, chutzpah and a bit of luck, anyone could become the next success story.
Today that expression is rarely if ever quoted, and I suspect that many of our younger citizens never even heard that saying!
Today it would seem that there is a new pathway to success that is summed up by the expression, “You have to be in it, to win it!”
This is a reference to idea that a person could achieve great wealth by buying a winning Lottery ticket!
Today few are attempting to build new mousetraps but would likely call an attorney if they found mice in their homes. They would want to be able to sue someone for causing the mice to enter their homes!
Our nation was not built by dumb luck or by filing lawsuits!
I would urge that the Middle Class be placed on the “Endangered Species List!”
Politicians are quick to claim that illegal aliens will do the work that American won’t do- if you check out those politicians who are quick to make those statements, you are likely to find that they never did a real day’s work in their lives! It may well be that hard work never killed anyone, but certainly these elitist political “leaders” don’t want to take any chances!
They apparently don’t understand just how desperate so many Americans are to support themselves and provide for their families.
Each and every day Americans across this great nation go to work in coal mines and steel foundries they race into burning buildings to attempt to rescue total strangers, chase armed criminals down dark alleyways and work on constructions sites (as did my dad) where the work they do is backbreaking, filthy and hazardous- indeed, more hazardous than law enforcement!
Obama has been talking about putting construction workers back to work while his policies encourage the establishment of day labor sites that undercut construction jobs!
My mom and dad made it clear they would not tolerate me saying one thing and doing another! My mom’s used to say that “Actions speak louder than words!”
I ask you consider the actions of this administration!
You should also know that on April 30, 2011 a hearing was convened by the Senate Immigration Subcommittee that was entitled,
“Comprehensive Immigration Reform in 2009, Can We Do It and How?”
Alan Greenspan provided testimony at that hearing in which he complained bitterly about how Americans with skills and education had become the “privileged elite” and were being paid far too well!
Here is a direct quote from his prepared testimony- remembered this was his prepared testimony- this was not an extemporaneous statement in which he may have misspoke- this was a part of the written statement he provided for the hearing:
The second bonus would address the increasing concentration of income in this country. Greatly expanding our quotas for the highly skilled would lower wage premiums of skilled over lesser skilled. Skill shortages in America exist because we are shielding our skilled labor force from world competition. Quotas have been substituted for the wage pricing mechanism. In the process, we have created a privileged elite whose incomes are being supported at noncompetitively high levels by immigration quotas on skilled professionals. Eliminating such restrictions would reduce at least some of our income inequality.
In those words it became clear that Greenspan believes that Americans need to be made to compete with foreign workers so that their wages can be cut!
This is an outrage and is not only immoral but illegal! At least in theory, the immigration laws are supposed to prevent the entry of foreign workers into our country if, by their presence in the labor market, American workers suffer reduced wages, worsened working conditions and/or the loss of their jobs!
Here is a link to my commentary about that hearing and Greenspan’s testimony that appears on my website:
Senator Chuck Schumer, the Chairman of the Senate Immigration Subcommittee called for that hearing and arranged for Alan Greenspan, arguably the architect of the current economic crisis our nation finds itself in, to testify at the hearing. Schumer is the Senior Senator of New York, the state and city that suffered the greatest harm as a result of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. The 9/11 Commission, to which I provided testimony, established that failures of the immigration system that enabled the terrorists to enter the United States and successfully embed themselves in communities throughout the United States as they went about their plans to carry out those terrorist attacks.
In fact, Schumer also was behind the Special Agricultural Worker (SAW) provisions of the 1986 Amnesty that enabled between 3 million and 4 million illegal aliens to gain lawful status even though so many of them had no reliable or verifiable way of proving their true identities. In 1985 I met with Schumer who was, at that time, my elected Congressman. I asked him to reconsider his efforts to provide amnesty to agricultural workers but he not only did not want to listen to me- he insisted that he tell me what he knew about immigration and then he hastily escorted me out of his office in Brooklyn! I suspect he did not want me to confuse him with the facts!
I warned him that his provisions of a special amnesty program for agricultural workers was particularly odd since there were no farms in his entire district! I predicted that the rate of fraud in the entire amnesty program in general and particularly in the SAW program would guarantee my then one year old son with job security if, when he turned 21 he decided to follow in my footsteps and become an INS Special Agent. I told him that his program would create a national security problem for our nation!
Unfortunately, I had no idea, at that time, just how prophetic my warning about the national security implications for his proposed legislation would be.
On September 1, 2006 I was called to testify before a field hearing conducted by the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives at Dubuque, Iowa on the topic,
“IS THE REID-KENNEDY BILL A REPEAT OF THE FAILED AMNESTY OF 1986?”
Here is a link to the complete transcript of that hearing:
http://commdocs.house.gov/committees/judiciary/hju29745.000/hju29745_0.htm
When I testified at that hearing, I raised the issue of how one of the terrorists who attacked our nation at the World Trade Center in February 1993 was an alien who had, in fact availed himself of Schumer’s SAW program. He lied on his application for amnesty claiming to have been an agricultural worker. In point of fact, the only thing this thug ever planted was a bomb in the garage of the World Trade Center!
Here is a relevant excerpt from my prepared testimony:
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“A notable example of such a terrorist can be found in a review of the facts concerning Mahmud Abouhalima, a citizen of Egypt who entered the United States on a tourist visa, overstayed his authorized period of admission and then applied for amnesty under the agricultural worker provisions of IRCA. He succeeded in obtaining resident alien status through this process. During the 5 year period he drove a cab and had his license suspended numerous times for various violations of law and he ultimately demonstrated his appreciation for our Nation’s generosity by participating in the first attack on the World Trade Center in 1993 that left six people dead, hundreds of people injured and an estimated one-half billion dollars in damages inflicted on that iconic, ill-fated complex. America had opened his doors to him so that he might participate in the American dream and he turned that dream into our worst nightmare. The other terrorists who attacked our Nation on subsequent attacks, including the attacks of September 11, 2001, similarly exploited our generosity, seeing in our nation’s kindness, weakness, gaming the immigration system to enter our country and then hide in plain sight among us.”
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Apparently the quest for new voters and the cheap labor so desired by the Chamber of Commerce and the quest by some unions, for new membership with the attendant dues and political leverage that additional members would bring outweigh the harm that uncontrolled immigration does to our nation where nearly every challenge and threat that confronts our nation is concerned.
Meanwhile the Department of Justice has made it clear that it will not tolerate any local or state government doing the job that the administration is utterly opposed to doing- securing our borders and enforcing our nation’s immigration laws!
The lawsuit that has been filed against Alabama is not only a betrayal to the citizens of Alabama and Arizona, it is a betrayal to all citizens of all ethnicities, races and religions of the entire nation and, it represents a betrayal of the oaths of office the members of this administration took when they were sworn in!
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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