During his appearance on Happel's program, Cutler talks about the consequences of having a border policy that is too open. Cutler has worked for three decades at the former Immigration and Naturalization Service and began as an inspector at the John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City. He describes his experience as a time when he "had his eyes to the people on America's front door."
Cutler challenges two notions that come to people's minds whenever the topic of immigration is mentioned. First, people often associate the border policy with the border shared with Mexico and the four border states – California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas. "The reality is that America doesn't have four border states, but 50," he says.
Second, he points out that Republicans, not Democrats, are responsible for bringing in cheap immigrant labor. According to Cutler, the GOP introduced the notion as a way to placate their campaign donors such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other entities. He also says that GOP donors "saw in our borders not a line of defense, but an impediment to their wealth."
Cutler however clarifies that his position is not anti-immigrant. He describes himself as a "middle-of-the-road guy" who was a registered Democrat.
The immigration expert's conversation with Happel comes at a time when the Trump administrations' gains on immigration law have been reversed by President Joe Biden. As soon as he entered the White House in January 2021, Biden signed a number of executive orders reversing former President Donald Trump's mandates on immigration. Biden defended his move by saying that was only "erasing bad policy," Voice of America reported.
Cutler: Nothing wrong with using term "aliens," enforcing immigration law
Cutler tells Happel two important points to think about. First, he says that a country without a secure border cannot stand, like a house without walls. Second, there is nothing anti-immigrant about enforcing immigration laws.
According to Cutler, former President Jimmy Carter insisted that INS employees stop using the word "aliens" and use the term "immigrants" instead. "The term 'alien' is not an insult, it's not a pejorative. It's a legal term," Cutler says, explaining that the definition of "alien" in Title VIII of the Immigration and Nationality Act is "any person not a citizen or national of the U.S."
The immigration expert also notes how the U.S. admits roughly a million lawful immigrants on a yearly basis. These lawful immigrants possess certain rights their illegal counterparts do not have. "[They're] given green cards, they're on the path to citizenship. They can bring family here, they're here forever. They can hold any position in our government other than president and vice president."
He then returns to Title VIII and its definition of aliens: "That section of law tells us who we're supposed to keep out. Not one word about race, ethnicity or religion. [When] we say 'we need to enforce anti-immigration laws,' that's not anti-immigrant. Why in the world would anybody not want to enforce these laws?" (Related: Tucker Carlson: No country could survive Biden's border policies.)
Cutler's remarks echo the sentiments of Chad Wolf, the former acting secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Biden's refusal to implement overturning of current immigration laws will cause "an immigration and border security crisis," Wolf said during a January 2021 interview with Fox News.
"[The actions] Biden and [his] administration have taken is actually going to cause an immigration and border security crisis on the southwest border, and that's something we don't need right now," he said. (Related: Former ICE official: 'Biden has declared the entire country a sanctuary jurisdiction'.)
According to the former DHS head, the Biden administration is effectively saying it will not deport illegal aliens "with final orders of removal" for a period of 100 days. Wolf said: "What the Biden administration is saying is, 'we're not going to deport them because we're going to focus on other things. They're moving resources to the border to process immigration … [and] asylum claims. I think in a COVID-like environment, that's dangerous."
OpenBorders.news has more articles about the consequences of refusing to enforce immigration laws.
Sources include:
Please contact us for more information.
