Thoughts about Memorial Day, Patiotism and the Immigration Crisis

By Mike Cutler MCutler007@aol.com

Hi Gang:

As most of you know, I generally write commentaries that are based on a news article. This weekend, I have decided to write a commentary based on the simple fact that this weekend we remember and commemorate the sacrifices of countless American soldiers from all of the armed services who gave their lives in battles all over the globe beginning with the Revolutionary War and continuing until this very day in Iraq, Afghanistan and other locations around the world to insure the survival of our nation and the freedoms that we have come to take, all too often, for granted.

I have often said that computers, talk radio and telephones have made nationwide town hall meetings possible. If we are to consider our ability to communicate by computer as a component of a town hall meeting, then I would ask how many of you who are reading this commentary would consider themselves to be "Liberals" or "Conservatives?" How many might be "Pro-Life" or "Pro-Choice?" How many of you would be happy to eliminate our nation's borders and permit criminals, terrorists and those who would otherwise violate our laws unfettered access to our country? How many of you would want to provide official identity documents to millions of undocumented aliens who are unable to prove their true identities? How many would want to enable still more illegal aliens to be encouraged to enter our country in violation of law to do the jobs Americans can no longer afford to do because these illegal aliens are willing to work for far lower wages under worse, indeed, often illegally dangerous conditions? How many of you would be happy to be offered less money by your employers for the work you do because the illegal aliens would be willing to work for much less money? (This is the situation that an increasing number of American workers are finding themselves in because of the massive influx of illegal aliens.)

The point is that while many of us might well disagree about a number of issues I do not know anyone who does not believe that our nation needs secure borders. (Understand that secure borders does not mean closed borders.) I cannot imagine that if any of you own businesses or otherwise deal with cash-paying customers that you would be willing to accept a personal check from someone who was unable to produce official photo identification to prove his identity before you would be willing to accept that check. Yet, this is essentially what the Guest Worker Amnesty program would require our government to do!

The Guest Worker Amnesty program would provide millions of undocumented aliens with a golden opportunity to come out of the "shadows" and in exchange for a fine receive official identity documents that would act as "breeder" documents, enabling them to obtain driver's licenses and Social Security cards that would enable them to open bank accounts, own property and do all sorts of things under a name that these millions of illegal aliens cannot prove is really theirs! That is what the term "Undocumented" means.

George Tenet, the former director of the CIA as well as Robert S. Mueller, the current director of the FBI have both made numerous public statements about their concerns that there are many terror cells in the United States awaiting instructions to carry out an attack against our country. Less than two weeks ago such a cell was uncovered in New Jersey. This was mostly a matter of the terrorists being stupid and a store clerk being alert and notifying the authorities. Had it not been for those two factors, God knows how many of our nation's soldiers at Fort Dix might have been killed. We also know that the terrorists who attacked our nation on September 11, 2001 made ample use of false identities in order to travel freely around our country, across our nation's borders and embed themselves in communities around the United States, hiding in plain sight.

Yet the politicians blithely ignore the obvious while claiming that they are attempting to provide solutions that coincide with the recommendations of the 911 Commission. Former NYC Mayor, Rudolph Giuliani and Senator McCain have even invoked that commission when they advocate a Guest Worker Amnesty program stating that they would provide "Tamper Proof" identity documents for the millions of illegal aliens who are present in the United States today.

The issue that they ignore is what name should be imprinted on those supposedly tamper proof identity cards? They also ignore the simple fact that according to the Senate bill at least 100,000 applications per day would have to be process by USCIS! The image that comes to my mind is the way that newspapers are published. We have all seen how the newspapers rocket along a super high-speed conveyor belt as they are printed and folded. Could you imagine reading more than the headline of those newspapers as they wiz by? This is precisely the way that the adjudicators at USCIS would have to deal with the torrent of applications that would be headed their way each and every day. Meanwhile, USCIS has been shown to be an inept and incompetent agency that does little, if anything to uncover fraud, thereby encouraging more fraud-laden applications to be filed. This represents a direct threat to the security of our nation that our soldiers are fighting so valiantly to defend.

When I say that the crisis of fraud in the immigration benefits program represents a threat to national security, I would ask that you don't just take my word for it, I would ask that you consider what James F. Sensenbrenner, Jr., the former Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee had to say about it when he wrote a press release last year when he commissioned a study by the General Accountability Office to evaluate the situation at USCIS. You can read his press release at:

http://judiciary.house.gov/media/pdfs/gaoimmbenefitsrelease31006.pdf

You can read the actual report at:

http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d06259.pdf

Few candidates [are] willing to honestly address this crisis in meaningful ways. Let me make this as clear as I know how; anyone who advocates for a Guest Worker Amnesty program is advocating for a program that would facilitate the nefarious goals of terrorists and criminals. That is why I have come to refer to the Senate bill as the "Terrorist Assistance and Facilitation Act of 2007." The only thing worse than no security is false security. This bill represents the worst sort of false security I could imagine!

Finally, I want to lay the blame on those who are most responsible for the mess we are in. I blame the great majority of citizens of this great nation for their abject apathy! When only 40% of Americans vote during the so-called mid-term elections the message to the politicians is clear- "We the People" are not paying attention! When all too many citizens admit to not knowing the name of their elected representatives what are they expecting? When even those who do know the names of their politicians admit to never contacting them, the situation is clear, we have given those who work for us and are supposed to represent us enough rope for them to hang us! If we are the employers of these politicians (we are supposed to be)! Then we are doing a lousy job of supervising our employees! Would you tolerate your gardener our your babysitter ignoring your wishes the way that your elected representatives may we be doing? Of course not! Why then are we not making our wishes known to those who hold the destiny of our nation in their hands?

Democracy is not a spectator sport! If you really want to honor our nation's heroes, our men and women upon whom we depend for our freedom and our nation's security, then I would ask you to do more than display "Old Glory" and think you have fulfilled your obligation to display your patriotism and loyalty to our country. I want you to call your elected representatives and make certain that you are persistent in getting them to listen! Our elected representatives cannot represent us if they do not hear from us so that they know what we want. Some of these politicians are extremely bright while others might have a problem walking and chewing gum at the same time! One thing is certain; they cannot read our minds! If your senator or congressional representative is not doing what you want, give that politician a "piece of your mind!" Its the patriotic thing to do (and the country you save just might be our own!)

Lead, follow or get out of the way!

-michael cutler-