Administration's Creation of Public Advocate Position Undermines American Citizens and Mocks Lawful Immigrants

On February 7, 2012, the Obama administration announced that it had created the position of a “Public Advocate” for illegal aliens who are described as “stakeholders!”  Not surprisingly this action has been decried by several important leaders in Washington:  Rep. Lamar Smith, Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, Rep. Steve King a current member of the House Immigration Subcommittee and former Ranking Member of that subcommittee have decried this as has the president of the National Border Patrol Council, Shawn Moran, whose organization represents the estimated 17,000 members of the United States Border Patrol.

On February 8, 2012 the Washington Times published an article entitled: Border Patrol union decries hiring of immigrant ‘public advocate’

As you might anticipate, I share their consternation at this latest, of a long list of other assaults, on the immigration system that is supposed to enforce and administer our nation's immigration laws.  Before we go any further, I want you understand just how important those immigration laws are.  I believe that this is important because if you listen to the President, Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano and a laundry list of politicians from both political parties in Washington and on the local level in many cities and states, you would likely think that immigration laws are a mere formality and an impediment to the flow of people into the United States who are essential to the profit of our companies and the expansion of our faltering economy.

I hope to dispel those myths in short order.

Our immigration laws were promulgated to protect our nation and our citizens from a wide array of aliens whose presence in our country would be harmful or even dangerous.  Simply stated, the goal of these laws is to protect American lives and American jobs.  Each year our nation admits more than 1.1 million lawful immigrants who, on the day that they are admitted are immediately placed on a pathway to United States citizenship.  This is a level of lawful immigration that eclipses any other nation on the face of the planet- and this “lawful” system is beset by fraud that permeates the system and goes unchecked.

“Immigration Anarchists” insist that illegal aliens are doing the work Americans won't do.  Meanwhile, each and every day, Americans who are fortunate enough to have jobs, trudge off to work in coal mines, steel foundries, construction sites and other places where the work they do is dangerous, filthy and back-breaking.  My dad was one of those hard working construction workers who helped to build this country back then and those tradesmen of the construction industries continue to build this country to this very day!  They embody the “Can-do spirit” that was seen as the embodiment of the American work ethic where no challenge was too great!

Some time ago when Doris Meissner was the Commissioner of the old INS (Immigration and Naturalization Service) and I was an INS Special Agent, Doris repeated told us that we needed to be “customer oriented.”  I actually agreed that we needed to be customer oriented; however, we disagreed as to who the “customer” was!  She thought that our customers were illegal aliens and, believe it or not, I naively thought that our customers were the citizens of the United States.  (Wasn't that what President Abraham Lincoln had in mind when he so eloquently said that ours was a government “of the people, by the people and for the people?”)

Now the Obama administration is focused on addressing the concerns of illegal aliens and is providing a public advocate, at public expense, declaring these illegal aliens to be “stakeholders” while his administration goes after states that dare to promulgate and enforce their own immigration laws that parallel federal immigration laws that the federal government refuses to enforce.  Any such state, can, in fact, expect a visit from Attorney General Holder or at least one of his attorneys in conjunction with a lawsuit!  When did American citizens stop being “stakeholders” where the effective enforcement of our immigration laws is concerned?

The President and member of Congress, on both sides of the political aisle, have openly advocated that illegal aliens who violate the inspections process and immigration laws that are intended to protect our nation should be granted a pathway to United States citizenship!  Does this not undermine the lawful immigration system and make a mockery of it?

If so much concern is being espoused by the President of the United States to provide all sorts of benefits to illegal aliens, why should any foreign national seek to enter the United States legally?  What is the point to having a legal pathway to entry into our country and a legal mechanism to provide aliens who seek to immigrate to the United States when illegal aliens are likely to be treated as well, if not better, than aliens who abide by our nation's laws?

The President, many politicians and many of the “talking head” political pundits are quick to talk about the “Hispanic Vote” and how the only way to win that vote is to provide pathways to citizenship for illegal aliens, as though Americans of Hispanic origins favor lawlessness!  What an insult to our fellow Americans!  If you want to talk about profiling and bigotry, this is about as bad as it gets!

Why on earth would any American, of any race, religion or ethnicity want to see lawless conduct rewarded?  Not only is this an affront to their morals but an affront to their intelligence!

Every alien who is provided with employment authorization represents a competitor for an American job, which so many Americans desperately need to support themselves and prevent their homes from being lost to foreclosure!  In point of fact, American minorities are the most likely to lose their jobs to aliens!  The most likely victims of transnational gang members are, in fact the members of America's immigrant communities!

These assertions about the way to win the mythical “Hispanic vote” is as false as are the claims that Americans come in two categories- Americans who are too lazy to do the hard, physically demanding jobs and too stupid to do the “hi-tech” jobs!

Title 8, United States Code, Section 1324, is contained within the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), that in part, deems it a felony to aid, abet, encourage or induce aliens to enter our country illegally or remain in our country illegally.

Consider this excerpt from that section of law:

(iii) knowing or in reckless disregard of the fact that an alien has come to, entered, or remains in the United States in violation of law, conceals, harbors, or shields from detection, or attempts to conceal, harbor, or shield from detection, such alien in any place, including any building or any means of transportation;

(iv) encourages or induces an alien to come to, enter, or reside in the United States, knowing or in reckless disregard of the fact that such coming to, entry, or residence is or will be in violation of law…

Certainly any person in our country who is subject to arrest should be treated appropriately and fairly, however, the time has come for our government to recognize its obligations to the citizens of the United States.  The divisive rhetorical and assertions by our “leaders” and supposed journalists must end and be replaced by an understanding that immigration laws are among the most essential for the protection of our nation and our citizens.  The fact that states that seek to enforce immigration laws get sued by the federal government while states that show open contempt for these vital immigration laws and create “sanctuary” policies that clearly violate the above-noted law nevertheless, face no consequences for obstructing the enforcement of these law turns logic and reason on its head, and this must, for once and for all stop- for the good of America and for the good of all Americans!