RUTHFULLY YOURS

The Third Reich’s principle of the “Big Lie” involved the frequent repetition of lies so that the lies became perceived as the truth by the masses.

Orwell noted, “Political language is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind. ”

In this era of “Fake News” those tactics are purposely wielded by “journalists” to mislead Americans.

On March 15, 2019, News Leader, a subsidiary of USA Today, published an infuriating opinion piece, School owes apology for ICE agent talk at Kate Collins Middle: Our View.

While the article noted that the ICE agent was invited to the school and limited his activities to simply addressing the students of that school to explain the mission of ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement), the mere presence of that federal agent was enough to set off the editors who wrote their “hit piece” about the mere presence of an ICE agent at a public school.

The editors of the publication then spewed utter lies and false “facts” to justify their vitriolic attack on the federal agency that is charged with enforcing federal immigration laws.

In fact, the lies began at the beginning of the editorial and were liberally sprinkled throughout that which followed.

Here is the opening salvo they fired against ICE:

If you were born in 1968 or before, you’ve spent most of your adult life in American without any awareness of ICE. Because it didn’t exist. There was no entity called U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. It was only created in 2003.

Before that time, we had immigrations officials who dealt with cases of people overstaying their visa or being in the country illegally. We had the FBI to investigate criminal issues related to terrorism as it relates to trade, travel and immigration.

ICE is a modern creation, an experiment. It’s one we should regret.

To begin with, ICE as not an “experiment” but was created as an element of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) created in the wake of the terror attacks of September 11, 2001.

Prior to the creation of the DHS the enforcement of our nation’s immigration laws was the reasonability of  the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS).  I have argued in my articles and in testimony I provided at several congressional hearings, that breaking the former INS into multiple agencies actually impeded the effective enforcement of our immigration laws.

Nevertheless, arrests of illegal aliens was commonplace for INS agents long before DHS was created through passage and enactment of the Homeland Security Act of 2002.

In point of fact, I began my career with the former INS (Immigration and Naturalization Service) in October 1971 as an Immigration Inspector and I became an INS agent in 1975.

The INS was ultimately split into multiple components in the wake of the terror attacks of September 11, 2001 when the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) was created.

INS agents frequently and routinely arrested illegal aliens for both administrative as well as for criminal law violations of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA).  Administrative law violations were addressed through the immigration hearings which could result in an alien being stripped of any lawful status they may have acquired and then deported from the United States.

Criminal law violations of the INA would lead to those defendants being charged with crimes the same way that drug traffickers, tax evaders, counterfeiters and bank robbers would be charged in federal court.  While most of the defendants in the immigration prosecutions were aliens, United States citizens who violated those laws by smuggling aliens, engaging in fraud conspiracies or otherwise violated criminal provisions of the INA could and were also charged criminally.

The notion that prior to the creation of ICE that there was no immigration law enforcement is a huge, flaming lie!  The article complained about how ICE agents raid factories.  I cannot remember how many such factory raids I participated in back in the 1970’s and 1980’s.

The article then went on to detail several arrests by ICE agents of illegal aliens who were found with family members or in other such circumstances creating a false image to discredit and vilify the agents and turning criminal aliens into victims.

Those aliens were, in fact, wanted for involvement in felonies in the U.S. and Mexico.

Consider the case of Perla Morales-Luna whose arrest by the Border Patrol was included in the editorial.  The Washington Examiner posted an article about that arrest, The ‘scandal’ of Perla Morales-Luna’s arrest is fake news and included this tweet by the Border Patrol:

Perla Morales-Luna was identified as an organizer for a transnational criminal smuggling organization operating in East County, San Diego.  She was arrested as a result of a targeted operation on March 3, 2018, in National City for being in the country illegally.

The editorial also included a a breathless account of the arrest of Joel Arrona-Lara by ICE agents.  At the time of his arrest he was purportedly driving his pregnant wife to the hospital.

What the editorial failed to disclose is that Arrona-Lara is wanted in Mexico for his involvement in a homicide.  Information about his situation was reported upon in a Los Angeles Times report, Warrant confirms man detained while on way to hospital with pregnant wife is wanted for murder in Mexico.

The editorial also included an outrageous ACLU piece, Citizenship service conspired with ICE to ‘trap’ immigrants at visa interviews, ACLU says.

This is yet another example of the application of “The Big Lie.”  USCIS (United States Citizenship and Immigration Services) is the division of the DHS the is charged with adjudicating more than 6 million applications for various immigration benefits.  Prior to the creation of the DHS it was a component of the former INS.

Aliens who have criminal convictions or who enter the United States illegally after deportation are not eligible for immigration benefits but may be subject to criminal prosecution for concealing material facts in their applications and/or for other crimes such as unlawful reentry which carries a maximum of 20 years in prison.  These aliens are also subject to deportation (removal) from the United States.

The best and safest place to take criminals into custody is at a federal building where they are not likely to be carrying firearms or other weapons.

In 1973 I was given a one year temporary assignment to the unit that adjudicated applications for residency based on marriage to U.S. citizens and lawful immigrants.  I worked closely with INS agents to develop fraud cases and, in fact, one of those cases led to the arrest and conviction of an immigration lawyer for arranging sham marriages between citizens of China who had jumped ship and married American women who, for the most part, were of Puerto Rican ancestry and engaged in prostitution.

A wide variety of government agencies on all levels seek the arrest and prosecution of those who file false applications.

It is important to note that  the official report, 9/11 and  Terrorist Travel warned, “Once terrorists had entered the United States, their next challenge was to find a way to remain here. Their primary method was immigration fraud.”

The title of my recent article will serve as the summation for my commentary today, The Truth About Immigration Can Unite All Americans.