Michael Cutler on The Madness of the "Catch & Release" Program

By Andrew Cochran

Michael Cutler asked me to post the following comments:

I spoke with the reporter who wrote this story in the San Diego Union-Tribune last week and thought I would share it with you. He interviewed me in preparation for this article, but the story ran so long that my comments did not make it into the final piece. Nevertheless, he did a great job of reporting on the madness that is the "Catch and Release" program of the Border Patrol.

Law enforcement relies on deterrence in order to prevent violations of law. Sobriety checkpoints are established to not only arrest drunk drivers and seize their cars, but to also persuade drivers to not drink and drive. In order for deterrence to be effective, those who might consider violating the laws in question need to be convinced that the likelihood that they will be caught if they violate the law is significant. They also have to be convinced that there is a great likelihood that if they're arrested, they will be convicted of the crime for which they were arrested. Finally, they have to believe that the punishment to be meted out upon conviction will be great enough to deter their illegal conduct.

Now we come to immigration law enforcement. We have educated would-be illegal aliens and potential terrorists that there is only a moderate potential that they will be apprehended by the appropriate authorities along the border.

They have also been educated that if they can get past the Border Patrol they are "home free" considering the fact that there are only about 2,000 special agents to enforce the immigration laws from within the interior of the United States. We have also taught these people that even if they are caught by the Border Patrol, only 30% of those who are other than Mexican (OTM) are taken into custody to face a deportation hearing near the location where they were apprehended. 70% of these aliens are permitted to head for the interior of the United States with an NTA (Notice To Appear) in their hands which means that even if they are stopped after they are processed and given this document, they are permitted to remain in the United States until the date of the hearing that is recorded on the NTA; usually several months later. Not surprisingly, the great majority of these aliens never show up for their hearings and with so few field agents 'out there' the odds are extremely great that they will never be found. It is truly a game of 'Hide & Seek' where the aliens hide and nobody seeks them because of a lack of resources. Additionally, it is estimated that some 85% of illegal aliens who have been ordered deported become absconders and fail to depart from the United States.

Where immigration law enforcement is concerned, deterrence is a non-issue. There simply is no deterrence. This further encourages and emboldens still more would be illegal aliens to run the border, confident that they will be able to seek employment in the United States.

When politicians speak out in support of various "guest worker" programs or amnesty programs for aliens who have entered the United States in violation of law, would-be illegal aliens are further encouraged to violate the borders of the United States and the immigration laws of the United States.

Finally, it has been reported that aliens are arriving in Brazil from Middle Eastern countries that sponsor terrorism and that they are able to purchase phony identity documents from various vendors in Brazil that enable them to make false claims to being citizens of Brazil. Because of this, it is entirely possible that members of Hezbollah and al Qaeda who are known to be operating in Brazil, have been able to get into Brazil, obtain the identity documents that they need to enter Mexico and then head for the all but nonexistent border that is supposed to separate Mexico from the United States.

Our nation's leaders are acting as instructors to all of the would-be illegal aliens. Class is in session and the lesson is clear. If you violate our nation's borders and if you violate our laws, we will not only not punish you for it, we will reward you for it! We are told that we are waging a war on terror. The administration is running up an astronomical deficit fighting this war. Many young American soldiers are coming home wounded and worse, yet we refuse to secure our borders from those who violate our laws, commit crimes of violence, peddle drugs on our street corners and possibly even commit acts of terror. I defy anyone of sound mind who can rationally explain this - not just to me, but to the citizens of our nation. Purportedly ours is a government "...of the people, by the people and for the people." As of late, I find this impossible to believe!

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