A couple of days ago I wrote a commentary in which I commended Senator Grassley of Iowa for his efforts to get the State Department to finally implement a program that would require special agents of ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) to be assigned to all of the visa issuing posts. At present, according to the news report I have attached below, only 14 such posts of more than 220 have such agents of the DHS assigned to provide assistance in discerning aliens who, out of national security concerns, should not receive visas.
I also want you to consider the testimony of Alan Greenspan who, when he testified before the Senate Immigration Subcommittee at the behest of the Chairman of that subcommittee, Senator Charles Schumer, Greenspan called for opening up the H-1B visa program to lower the wages of America's skilled workers! Hard to believe, but true!
The terrorists who have operated in our country have always understood that they needed to gain access to our nation and then embed themselves in various communities in the United States to hide in plain sight as they carried out operations related to terrorism and espionage. In addition to physically attacking our nation, terrorists operate in the United States to gather intelligence, establish "safe houses" and engage in various activities to generate money to enable their terrorist organizations to conduct operations around the world.
My concern is not that America permits aliens to immigrate to the United States, my concern is that we have millions of illegal aliens currently living in the United States whose identities, backgrounds, affiliations and intentions are unknown and unknowable. Each day, thousands more succeed in either running our nation's borders or entering the United States through the inspection process and then, in one way or another violate the terms of their admission.
The article about Mr. Cheney did not deal with Halliburton but dealt with his warnings about the potential for future massive terrorist attacks being launched against the United States. In point of fact, I share Mr. Cheney's concerns, the problem is that for the 8 year tenure of the Bush administration, in which he was the number two official, our government steadfastly refused to not secure the border that was supposed to separate our country from Mexico and insulate our nation and our citizens from not only the millions of illegal aliens who are now present in the United States.
The idea that you could disguise a huge elephant by making him wear sunglasses was obviously preposterous- it is no less preposterous that the attorneys believe that using the initials CIR instead of the term Comprehensive Immigration Reform would confuse us! Clearly the immigration lawyers know where their bread is buttered!
The safety of our nation begins at its borders. It is therefore essential that our borders be secured and that our immigration bureaucracy honor those who abide by the laws and seeks to weed out those who would commit fraud.
When I have raised the issue of the Visa Waiver Program to many of my friends on Capitol Hill from both sides of the political aisle, most agree with my concerns but they tell me that the executives of the travel, hospitality and tourism industries have invested incredible sums of money to hire major lobbying organizations to make certain that the Visa Waiver Program not be tampered with! These executives' greed clearly takes priority over decency and even commonsense. When the attacks of 9/11 occurred travel nose-dived around the world. If these greedy fools would think things out, they should be the greatest proponents for terminating the Visa Waiver Program because their industry depends on a safe airline system. Incredibly, while it is clear that the Visa Waiver Program constitutes a threat to national security, the politicians have permitted these greedy corporate executives to make national security decisions for our nation and all they appear concerned about is their profit margin! As one of my friends told me, these executives want illegal aliens to change the sheets in the hotel rooms and then want wealthy tourists to come to the United States to sleep on those sheets!
- Article
- By Michael Cutler
- June 23, 2008
When I have raised the issue of the Visa Waiver Program to many of my friends on Capitol Hill from both sides of the political aisle, most agree with my concerns but they tell me that the executives of the travel, hospitality and tourism industries have invested incredible sums of money to hire major lobbying organizations to make certain that the Visa Waiver Program not be tampered with! These executives' greed clearly takes priority over decency and even commonsense. When the attacks of 9/11 occurred travel nose-dived around the world. If these greedy fools would think things out, they should be the greatest proponents for terminating the Visa Waiver Program because their industry depends on a safe airline system. Incredibly, while it is clear that the Visa Waiver Program constitutes a threat to national security, the politicians have permitted these greedy corporate executives to make national security decisions for our nation and all they appear concerned about is their profit margin! As one of my friends told me, these executives want illegal aliens to change the sheets in the hotel rooms and then want wealthy tourists to come to the United States to sleep on those sheets!
In the early 1980's I approached then New York Senator Alphonse D'Amato to attempt to interest him in becoming involved in a number of issues relating to immigration law enforcement. In a meeting he held with me, he asked me to get as many of my colleagues at the INS to corroborate what I had to say about failings of the INS. Over the next 6 months I managed to convince more than 30 of my fellow INS employees including some immigration inspectors (I started my career as an immigration inspector at John F. Kennedy International Airport) to attend meetings with members of the senator's staff in New York. Ultimately, Senator D'Amato met with me and three of my colleagues. We were told to expect the meeting to last 30 minutes. Instead he met with us for nearly 3 hours. This was the first time I would ever approach a member of the Congress to seek assistance with the enforcement and administration of the immigration laws. It was certainly not to be my last!
