Entering the U.S."

Hi Gang:

Once again I have written a commentary for CAPS (Californians for Population Stabilization) that was predicated upon a news release that was issued by ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement).  A copy of my commentary is provided below.

As you read my commentary I want you to give some serious thought to the wacky assertions of many journalists and political pundits who are likely to criticize law enforcement officers for racially profiling and spread the mythology that law enforcement officers of states and municipalities that enact their own immigration laws that parallel federal immigration laws will be forced to engage in profiling.  In point of fact, the immigration laws on the federal level and thus far on the state or local levels are utterly blind as to the race, religion or ethnicity of aliens who are located in the United States and only make the distinction between those people who are citizens and those who are foreign nationals (aliens).

In point of fact, when anyone talks about the “Latino vote,” “the Jewish vote” or the “Black vote” is engaging in profiling and bigotry.  How on earth could anyone accurately predict how a person will vote purely by considering the race, religion or ethnicity of that person?  That sort of profiling is wrong-headed and divisive.  In fact, such profiling is, in my judgement, un-American! 

Think about how many times you have heard some journalist on a news program or talk show discuss how the only way for politicians to win the mythical “Latino vote” is for that political leader to take a position of advocacy on behalf of the DREAM Act or Comprehensive Immigration Reform.  Why would American citizens be in favor of making a mockery of the immigration laws that are intended to save American lives and American jobs by keeping aliens out of the United States who either pose a threat to the safety and wellbeing of our nation and our citizens?

Think about the issue of violent gangs.  The goal of gangs is to increase their membership.  Often gangs recruit high school students and children who have not yet entered high school.  Gangs seek to recruit members of the same ethnicity.  MS-13 is an extremely violent gang that consists of members of Hispanic ethnicity.  The children that this and other Latino gangs seek to recruit are all Hispanic (Latino).  Given this fundamental principle, what sense would it make for members of the Hispanic community to want to see illegal aliens from Latin America or other parts of the world to be able to run our nation’s borders- thus providing criminals and gang members with the opportunity to enter the United States to set up shop in communities across our nation?

Please consider this paragraph from the news release that served as the predication for my commentary:

“The government presented evidence that Arevalo-Cantarero is a member of
MS-13, a violent street gang composed primarily of immigrants or
descendants of immigrants from El Salvador, with members operating
throughout Prince George’s, Montgomery, Howard and Frederick Counties,
and elsewhere in Maryland and the United States. Members of MS-13
frequently engage in criminal activity, and are required to commit acts
of violence to maintain membership and discipline within the gang and
against rival gangs.” 

Consider just how much violence is an integral part of the culture of gangs- think what this means for the law abiding folks who live in the communities where pernicious gangs establish themselves.
This is not only an issue for members of the Hispanic communities around the United States but for all Americans- especially those who live in ethnic immigrant communities whether the people we are discussing came from Latin America, Asia, Africa or the Caribbean.  

Think about traditional organized crime- the so-called “Mob.”  As a rule the various organized crime “families” came from Italy and sought to recruit members of the Italian immigrant community.  

Additionally, when illegal aliens take jobs in the United States all too often American minorities are most likely to lose their jobs to these interlopers from outside the United States.  The appeal for employers who intentionally hire illegal aliens is the simple and basic fact that it is easy to intimidate illegal aliens into working for substandard wages under substandard conditions.  Why would any decent person want to see American workers lose their jobs to foreign workers who will likely be horrifically exploited?

To put this into blunt perspective- this convoluted “reasoning” is as insane as imagining that someone who lived in the United States during the immoral and reprehensible era during which slavery passed for “business as usual” would claim that someone who would not want to own a slave was “Anti-Black!”

It is certainly not “Anti-Immigrant” to not want to see illegal aliens horrifically exploited!  As an INS special agent I spent several years arresting illegal aliens who were found working in violation of our immigration laws and I can tell you without exaggeration that there were times when I encountered work situations that was so vile and despicable that I found it impossible to sleep for days after my visits to so-called “sweatshops” and other employment locations where the conditions were beyond belief!

I have conducted investigations into MS-13 and other such gangs and often found that gang members were illegal aliens who took menial jobs during the day and then participated in gang activities and crimes after work.  Often the victims of gang violence were the members of the ethnic communities in which these gangs flourished.

Members of the Hispanic community should be offended and, indeed outraged, that journalists and politicians would make presumptions about them that would certainly seem to claim that they oppose our immigration laws that are intended to protect America and all Americans.  They should also be offended that  these journal believe that they would be foolish enough to vote for candidates who favor legislation that would not only make a mockery of the process by which these lawful immigrants acquired citizenship but would enable millions of illegal aliens to suddenly have an equal standing in the labor market to seek jobs.  

Labor is a commodity and under the principles of classic economics where the cost of labor is determined by supply vs demand, as more eligible workers enter the labor pool, the more wages are depressed.

Failures by our government to secure our nation’s borders and effectively enforce our immigration laws hammers nearly every challenge and threat confronting our nation today.  It is time for all Americans to have the courage to engage in honest discussions and the reject the false arguments and suppositions.  

Show me a politician who refuses to enforce the immigration laws or attempts to trivialize these laws, and I will show you a politician who needs to find out what it is like to stand on the unemployment line!

Benjamin Franklin, in discussing our then fledgeling nation, said that they had given us a republic if we could keep it!


What he was making clear was that this democratic republic required that its citizens take their citizenship seriously and keep the political leaders accountable.

It is time for the citizens of our nation to make certain that our nation’s leaders, on all levels, to come to terms with the fundamental fact that the purpose of our immigration laws is to protect our nation and our citizens from aliens whose presence has the potential to have a serious adverse impact.  Ignoring those laws exposes our nation and our citizens to a variety of serious threats and challenges ranging from national security and criminal justice and public safety to the economy, the environment, healthcare and education!

A country without secure borders can no more stand than can a house without walls!

I

our country is to survive and if our children and their children are to get their share of the “American Dream” the citizens of this nation must take their citizenship seriously!


We the People must be the best citizens we can be, citizens who are worthy of the gallantry demonstrated by our valiant men and women in the military, law enforcement and firefighters, who routinely go in harm’s way in defense of this nation and our citizens.  

My goal in writing this and other commentaries is to point out our nations many failings before more victims pay the ultimate price for the incompetence and ineptitude of our government.

The first step in problem-solving is to first identify the problems and vulnerabilities and then devise strategies to overcome them.

If you find yourself to be in agreement with this commentary, I ask that you forward it to as many of your friends and family members as possible and encourage them to do the same.  We need to create a “Bucket Brigade of Truth!”

The practice of good citizenship does not end in the voting booth, it only begins there.

For far too long our citizens demonstrated apathy which emboldened elected representatives to all but ignore the needs of the average American citizen in a quest for massive campaign funds and the promises of votes to be ostensibly delivered by special interest groups. 

It is therefore understandable that the politicians of both parties, are greatly concerned about the demonstrations currently sweeping our nation just as did the creation of the Tea Party.  Clearly  more and more of our fellow Americans are demonstrating that they are not as dumb as the politicians from both parties had expected us to be!

I am encouraged that more and more of us, We the People, are not willing to simply sit on the sidelines anymore!


I believe our nation’s is greatly benefited by the rich diversity of our people which is why I could never imagine living anywhere except New York City, arguably the most diverse city in our nation if not, in fact, the world.  However, my idea of diversity most certainly does not include members of MS-13, the Mexican drug cartels or members of other transnational gangs or members of al-Qaeda!

I also believe that the original purpose of our nation’s immigration laws need to be be brought “front and center” to make certain that our nation does not permit the entry of aliens into our country whose presence in our country is problematic for the citizens of our nation and that if such aliens do succeed in entering our country that our nation have the resources, integrity and dedication to do everything possible to make it impossible for such aliens to function within our country so that even if they are not apprehended, they will find it pointless to remain in the United States.
As I have noted on a number of occasions, “No one would break into the amusement park if they could not get to go on the rides and no one remains in the amusement park at the end of the day when they turn shut down the rides and turn off the lights!” 

If our government’s failures to secure our nation’s borders and effectively enforce our immigration laws concerns you or especially if it angers you, I ask you to call your Senators and Congressional “Representative. This is not only your right- it is your obligation! 

All I ask is that you make it clear to our politicians that we are not as dumb as they hope we are!

We live in a perilous world and in a perilous era. The survival of our nation and the lives of our citizens hang in the balance.

This is neither a Conservative issue, nor is it a Liberal issue- simply stated, this is most certainly an AMERICAN issue!

You are either part of the solution or you are a part of the problem!

Democracy is not a spectator sport!

Lead, follow or get out of the way!

-michael cutler- 

Please check out my website:

       


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http://www.caps-blog.org/articles/2012/03/01/ms-13-gang-member-sentenced-to-prison-for-illegally-re-entering-the-u-s/

MS-13 Gang Member Sentenced to Prison for Illegally Re-Entering the U.S.

Today’s commentary is predicated on a news release that was posted on the ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) website on February 16, 2012.

There are many reasons why this ICE news release is important.

First, the release provides information about how the immigration
crisis is not limited to the states found in proximity of our nation’s
southern border. Felix Noel Arevalo-Cantarero, aka Felix Noe
Arevalo-Cantarero, is an alien from El Salvador who was arrested in the
state of Maryland, a state that is nearly as far from the U.S.-Mexican
border as you can get.

He is a member of MS-13, a violent gang whose membership includes
aliens from Latin America – predominantly El Salvador, Guatemala and
Mexico. It is significant to know that the FBI recently estimated there
are some 1.4 million members of violent gangs in the United States.
While not all gang members are illegal aliens, a significant percentage
of gang members are, indeed, illegal aliens.

A recent report by the FBI also noted that there is a growing threat
posed by increasing numbers of gang members joining our military where
they are learning military tactics and how to use high-powered weapons,
many of which are being stolen.

On October 26, 2011, Military News published a disturbing article referencing that FBI report, entitled, “FBI Says Gangs Infiltrating the U.S. Military.”

As you read the account of Mr. Arevalo-Cantarero you will see that
his life revolves around violence, as a gang member and as an apparent
sociopath to whom violence is a way of life.

According to the news release, Arevalo-Cantarero had been convicted
of joining with two other MS-13 members and attacking three victims,
leaving one of the victims with what would appear to be life-altering
injuries as a result of having had his skull fractured.

The news release did not furnish any information about the
citizenship of the two other gang members who participated in the
vicious attack, nor was any information provided as to how any of them
had entered the United States, presuming that the two other gang members
were aliens. It is likely, however, that members of MS-13 from Latin
America would have entered the United States by running the U.S.-Mexican
border – the border that Ms. Napolitano, the Secretary of Homeland
Security, insists is secure!

Here is an excerpt from the ICE news release that reports on the
vicious assault in which Arevalo-Cantarero and his cohorts participated:

In 2009, Arevalo-Cantarero was part of an MS-13
assault. In that case, Arevalo-Cantarero and two other men approached
two males and one female shouting derogatory slurs. One of the males was
dressed as a woman at the time of the assault. Arevalo-Cantarero and
the others identified themselves as MS-13 gang members and began
throwing rocks at the victims. One of the victims was hit in the head by
a rock, fracturing the victim’s skull, and causing severe internal
bleeding. The victim suffered significant pain and loss of memory and
motor function.

It is impossible to know what the judge was thinking
when he sentenced Arevalo-Cantarero to 20 years in prison for his role
in the attack and then reportedly suspended all but six months of that
jail sentence. But if I had to guess, the judge may have been thinking
about the high cost of incarcerating prisoners and felt that, since this
defendant was to be deported, a few months in jail followed by
deportation were appropriate. (I wonder what the victim of the crime and
his family thought about the “logic” behind this reasoning, if this
were the case!)

Arevalo-Cantarero was deported to his native El Salvador on November
18, 2010 and ordered to not return to the United States without
appropriate authorization.

Here is the account of how Arevalo-Cantarero was discovered by the police as noted in the ICE news release:

On July 31, 2011, Frederick police officers,
responding to a report of a stabbing, found Arevalo-Cantarero in a
playground, suffering from numerous cutting/stabbing wounds to the head
and neck. He was taken to Hagerstown Medical Center and was arrested
upon his release from the hospital. Further investigation revealed that
Arevalo-Cantarero is an active MS-13 member, part of the Fulton Clique,
which is active in the Frederick area. Arevalo-Cantarero was in
Frederick attending a party, along with other MS-13 members and
associates, when the stabbing occurred. Investigators found that the
stabbing was related to MS-13 activity.

The investigation was conducted by HSI and the Frederick Police
Department, Hagerstown Police Department and the Washington County
Sheriff’s Office.

Please give some thought to the circumstances surrounding this
incident. The officers found him when they responded to a report of the
stabbing of a victim at a playground, of all places! (His assailants
were not playing – but imagine what this sort of mayhem does to law
abiding residents of a community!) Think about how such an attack can
impact the way that decent people live. Think about how children would
likely be kept from that park for fear that they might get caught up in
it and, if these kids are in their teens and especially if they are of
Hispanic ethnicity, how they themselves may be recruited into MS-13 or a
rival gang by being in the proverbial “wrong place at the wrong time!”

Again it was not noted, but it must be presumed that
Arevalo-Cantarero evaded the inspections process and ran the supposedly
secure southern border of the United States sometime between November
18, 2010, the day he was deported from the United States, and July 21,
2011, the day he was discovered, in that playground, suffering from
knife wounds.

This means that he had entered the United States illegally during Ms.
Napolitano’s watch at DHS, an agency I have come to refer to as the
Department of Homeland Surrender for obvious reasons! Recently Secretary
Napolitano said that the “spillover” of violence from Mexico was not a
problem for the United States. On February 23, Fox News Latino published
my Op-Ed about my concerns about this. My Op-Ed was entitled, “Border Spillover Violence is a National Reality.”

Finally, consider how often news reports discuss how having local
police work with ICE can have a chilling effect on police/community
relations. (Pardon the pun!)

Nothing could be further from the truth!

The local cops could not have arrested Arevalo on any state charges
when they found him – after all, he was the victim of a violent attack.
What enabled law enforcement to take this violent thug off the streets
was the authority that is vested in ICE to arrest and have criminal
charges brought against him for unlawful re-entry. It will also be up to
ICE to seek to have him deported, once again.

If ICE had not gotten involved in this case, this dangerous convict
would likely have simply been put back on the street, endangering the
lives of those around him.

It is important to, once again, make it clear that the purpose of our
nation’s immigration laws is to protect our nation and all who live in
our country from those aliens whose presence is problematic. Yet we
continue to see our government refusing to allocate resources to enforce
these critically important laws and, for the most part, even the GOP
candidates for the Presidency have failed to demonstrate their true
commitment to the enforcement of these laws, rarely willing to talk
about the real importance of these laws and generally limiting their
discussions to talk about border fences and E-Verify.