Is It Safe?

This was the question that was repeatedly posed by the former Nazi SS dentist at Auschwitz, Dr. Christian Szell, of Thomas “Babe” Levy, in the novel “Marathon Man” that became a 1974 hit film.  Dr. Szell was seen drilling Levy’s teeth without any anesthesia as he questioned Levy and asked him again and again, “Is it safe?” as he attempted to determine if it was safe to move a load of ill-gotten diamonds stolen from the victims of the Holocaust. Today the question, “Is it safe?” should be asked of our nation’s leaders who are quick to proclaim that the border is safe. This past Sunday, October 31, the Washington Times ran an Associated Press story entitled, “Arizona beheading raises fears of cartels:  Police suspect punishment for drug theft.” The news report began with these two paragraphs: “CHANDLER, Ariz. | The gruesome case of a man who was stabbed and beheaded in a suburban Phoenix apartment has police investigating whether the killing is the most extreme example of Mexican drug cartel violence spilling over the border. Martin Alejandro Cota-Monroy’s body was found Oct. 10 in a Chandler apartment, his severed head a couple of feet away. One man suspected in the killing has been arrested, and a manhunt is under way for three others.” Several months ago an Arizona rancher by the name of Rob Krenz was shot and killed on his ranch as he went about his routine chores.  It is believed that his murder was committed by smugglers. Every day Americans lose their lives to aliens who have no lawful right to be in the United States; yet Janet Napolitano, the Secretary of Homeland Security, a division of our federal government that I have come to refer to as being the Department of Homeland Surrender, repeatedly makes the baseless claims that our border is safe!  Joining her in these false claims are members of Congress who seek to impose a massive fraud upon the citizens of our nation by various schemes to provide millions of illegal aliens whose true identities and backgrounds are unknown and unknowable with lawful status and a pathway to United States citizenship. I make this assertion because there has been a long list of reports issued by the GAO (General Accountability Office) and the OIG (Office of the Inspector General) indicating that there is scant effort being made to weed out the fraud in the way that applications for various immigration benefits, including the conferring of resident alien status and even United States citizenship, are adjudicated. Just a few days ago, on October 25, the way in which aliens all too often seek to secure resident alien status and acquire a pathway to United States citizenship was highlighted in a Fox News report that blared the headline: “EXCLUSIVE: Aide to Harry Reid Lied to Feds, Submitted False Documents About Sham Marriage.” This is the same Harry Reid who is now promising to use his clout as the Majority Leader in the United States Senate to force the Senate to once again take up the DREAM Act even though it was recently defeated by his colleagues in the Senate. While it is is true that his aide who had been involved in that fraud scheme resigned, what is of importance to note is that the woman, Diana Tejada, Reid’s Hispanic Press Secretary, according to court records, admitted that she had engaged in a marriage fraud with a citizen of Lebanon, Bassam Mahmoud Tarhini, in 2003 and intended to provide him with lawful residency in the United States. The Fox News report also provided some other truly disturbing information.  The marriage fraud was not uncovered because of routine efforts of USCIS (United States Citizenship and Immigration Services) to uncover fraud, but because Tejada’s “husband” came to be investigated by the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) and during the course of the investigation, about which the FBI would not comment, the marriage fraud was uncovered. The Fox News story also noted that while the application for residency based on the marriage was pending, Mr. Tarhini was provided with authorization to work in the United States. The report noted that Mr. Tarhini was criminally prosecuted for his attempt to obtain resident alien status through fraud.  However, it is equally interesting to note that although both Tejada and Tarhini entered into a criminal conspiracy, she was never charged, only Tarhini was prosecuted and ultimately deported from the United States. Of additional interest is the fact that the Fox News article contained the following paragraph: “Last month Tejada spoke in her official capacity as Spokesperson, Office of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, as a guest on a Spanish-language radio program’s immigration-themed special on the DREAM Act, which included a section in which the host answered listeners’ questions ‘about the do’s and don’ts of applying for residency and naturalization.'” You have to wonder about what sort of advice someone who herself was an un-indicted co-conspirator might have to say in providing advice to aliens who would want to remain in the United States. This past Friday, October 29, the various news agencies around the world reported on bombs that had been hidden in packages that were destined to the United States that were apparently prepared by al Qaeda of the Arabian Peninsula.  Clearly the “All Clear” has not sounded. We certainly live in an extremely perilous world in which the threats to our nation come from all directions and widely divergent groups. Our nation’s security and the safety of our citizens are at risk because of the operations of the pernicious and highly violent Mexican drug cartels and other transnational gangs. Our nation’s security and the safety of our citizens are at risk because of the ongoing efforts being mounted by al Qaeda and other terrorist organizations, and it has never been of greater importance for our nation to secure its borders against the illegal entry of aliens who seek to evade the inspections process for reasons that are only known to them.  Only the illegal aliens who run our nation’s borders know what their goals are.  Only they know why they have not attempted to secure visas in order to enter our country legally.  It may be that they lack the financial wherewithal to convince consular or embassy officials of the United States that they are not intending to reside permanently and illegally in the United States and seek unlawful employment. It may be that they are convicted felons, have dangerous communicable diseases, or are engaged in narcotics smuggling, human trafficking or other criminal enterprises. It may be that they are fugitives from other countries for having committed heinous crimes such as crimes involving human rights violations or war crimes. It may be that they were previously deported from the United States or that they are intending to engage in espionage or terrorism. The point is that our officials have no way of knowing and what we don’t know can and all too often does harm us. But the issue of safety and the immigration system does not end at our borders.  The way that criminals and terrorists can and have gamed the immigration system to gain lawful status and the appearance of normalcy and respectability also represents a huge threat to our safety.  This tactic has been used by many of the terrorists who have been identified as operating in the United States and, no doubt, is being used right now, by foreign nationals (aliens) whose presence in our country represents a threat to our safety and the security of our nation. The fundamental immigration laws of our nation that are on the books today are based, in large measure on the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 that was promulgated by an administration and by a Congressional session in which our nation’s leaders acted on behalf of our nation and our citizens. Back then, our nation’s true leaders were part of the tail end of what we now wistfully refer to as our “Greatest Generation!”  Those leaders sought to act in the best interests of our nation and our citizens and they came from both political parties. I suspect that if those leaders were alive today (most have since passed on) they would not recognize either party’s objectives or agendas.  They would probably be at least as angry and frustrated as We the People are today. Yet Janet Napolitano, Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer and all of the other “usual suspects” continue to push their open borders agenda attempting to undo the protections afforded our nation and our citizens in the Immigration and Nationality Act. Today’s crop of “leaders” who eschew the concept of sovereign borders and commonsense immigration laws need to be asked, and somehow need to be compelled to answer one fundamental question, “Is it safe?” “Is it safe to leave our borders wide open and to ignore the need to make certain that the administration of our nation’s immigration laws have real integrity?” Commonsense provides the answer.  Commonsense dictates that our borders be secured and our immigration laws administered in an effective fashion that not only protects our nation but honors those countless millions of lawful immigrants from the four corners of this planet who, over the past two hundred plus years, hitched their wagon to the star our nation has become and, in doing so, built this nation and created the American Dream for themselves and for all of us fortunate enough to be citizens of this great nation.