Al Gore's Outrageous Comments Remind Us of Clinton Administration's Politicization of Immigration

By Michael Cutler

I have made the point repeatedly that Democrats and Republicans have contributed to the lunacy that passes for immigration policy and that has resulted in the utter chaos that now threatens the sovereignty and security of our nation especially as we confront the possibility of future terrorist attacks being launched within our country more than four years after the worst terrorist attack ever committed on American soil. In many of my e-mails I have focused on the current administration simply because I am appalled that they have not secured our nation's borders nor have they restored integrity to the immigration system, further imperiling our nation's security. But, you must understand that the politicization of immigration is not the invention of this administration nor is it the invention of the Republican Party.

Last week former Vice President Al Gore went to Saudi Arabia and made absolutely outrageous statements that accused our law enforcement officers at ICE and other agencies involved in national security investigations with unfairly enforcing immigration laws where citizens of Arab countries were concerned. His diatribes infuriated me and caused me to think back to the Clinton Administration when the administration of immigration laws was literally perverted by an overwhelming desire to crank out new citizens who would, it was apparently believed, vote for the Clinton-Gore ticket in the 1996 election. The name of this program was Citizenship USA or simply "CUSA." Here's an article detailing the findings of the former counsel for the House Judiciary Committee, David P. Schippers, when he investigated Citizenship USA. Mr. Gore's recent statements caused me to think back to how easily he ordered INS district directors to approve large numbers of applications for United States citizenship under the threat of losing their jobs if they failed to comply.

A good friend of mine and the former head of investigations in a large office of the former INS testified before the House Committee on Government Reform and Oversight about his concerns about rampant fraud in this program. He described Citizenship USA as the "Jiffy Lube Process" (scroll down on this site to see a summary of his testimony). He had been a highly-regarded INS special agent and manager who was awarded the Hammer Award for re-inventing government by the Vice President's a year or two before he testified before Congress. When he initially told me about that award, I cautioned him to be wary that they didn't ultimately smack him in the head with that hammer! How prophetic my warning was! After furnishing testimony to Congress, he returned to his office to find out that he was under fire by INS HQ. Ultimately he was pressured into resigning his position in management.

Clearly Mr. Gore thought little about immigration law enforcement when he was the Vice President and still apparently sees no reason why our nation should enforce these laws today! Our immigration crisis goes back decades and Mr. Gore bears a considerable responsibility for the situation we find ourselves in today. I believe in giving credit where credit is due, so here's your credit for helping to undermine the integrity of the Immigration system, Mr. Gore!

When I was an INS special agent assigned to the FBI to assist in a major narcotics investigation I identified an alien who was naturalized while he was pending sentencing for a narcotics conviction that resulted from his having pleaded "guilty" to being a major player in a drug investigation. He had prior convictions for crimes involving drugs, guns, money laundering and other such crimes. We conferred United States citizenship upon this "pillar of the community." From what I was able to determine, he absconded before he was to be sentenced and was a fugitive from justice when I left the former INS. The reports I have read in various open source materials indicates that there are possibly thousands of such criminals who not only should have never been naturalized, but should have been removed from our nation so that they would not be able to victimize our citizens and our nation.

Additionally, a lack of integrity in the immigration system enabled a third of the terrorists who have been identified as operating within our nation for about a decade prior to the attacks of September 11 were able to enter the United States and embed themselves in our country, hiding in plain sight as they prepared to attack our nation and our people. This fact was uncovered by Janice Kephart, a former counsel to the 9/11 Commission. Politicians from both sides of the political aisle who were willing to put political considerations ahead of national security bear a significant share of the responsibility for this intolerable situation.

Finally, I would remind you that after the first attack on the World Trade Center on February 26, 1993, it was clear that the terrorists from Middle Eastern countries had our nation and our citizens in their sights. Yet incredibly, all Mr. Gore could seem to care about was cranking out new voters! We should have tightened up on the enforcement of our immigration laws but we did not. This is absolutely unforgivable! I do not know what might have been, but in my heart of hearts I believe that perhaps we might have averted the attacks of 9/11. Today I am fearful that our leaders have apparently not learned this crucial lesson, leaving us vulnerable to future attacks.

All I can say is that any politician who seeks to undermine the integrity of our nation's immigration system is demonstrating a lack of integrity of his own. Our nation desperately needs real leaders with real integrity. We live in perilous times and our nation has seen more than its share of "Not ready for prime time players" spewing foolishness!

Lead, follow, or get out of the way!

TrackBack