Tag Archive for: illegal immigrants

Greg Abbott Signs Bill Allowing Texas Cops To Arrest Illegal Aliens

Republican Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas signed legislation Monday allowing local law enforcement officers to arrest illegal aliens.

Abbott’s signature on the legislation, known as SB4, means it will enter into law in March 2024, CBS News reported. The legislation makes illegal entry into Texas a state misdemeanor, CBS reported, with those convicted under the law facing a fine of up to $2,000 or 180 days in jail.

Repeat offenders could face a felony charge and up to 20 years in jail.

“The goal of Senate Bill 4 is to stop the tidal wave of illegal entry into Texas,” Abbott said as he signed the bill in the border city of Brownsville, according to CBS.

Opponents of the measure claim it is unconstitutional and have criticized the Biden administration for not opposing Texas’ efforts more strongly, according to The Associated Press.

The Border Patrol shut down two bridges on the Texas border to combat the entry of illegal aliens on rail cars hours before Abbott signed the legislation, according to the San Antonio News-Express.

Over 188,000 illegal immigrants have been encountered at the U.S.-Mexico border during fiscal year 2024, according to data released by United States Customs and Border Protection, following 2,045,838 encounters in fiscal year 2023, 2,206,436 in fiscal year 2022 and 1,659,206 in fiscal year 2021. A CBP official told the Washington Examiner that there were at least one million “gotaways,” people who evaded Border Patrol, in fiscal year 2023.

AUTHOR

HAROLD HUTCHISON

Reporter.

RELATED ARTICLE: ‘Clear And Present Danger’: Ron Johnson Rips Biden For Lax Security Amid Discovery Of IEDs At Border

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As Border Crisis Surges, Biden Auctions Off Border Wall Building Materials

On the afternoon of Friday, August 18, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) quietly released the latest U.S. southern border numbers, which indicate that the number of migrant apprehensions surged 33% in July over the previous month of June. At the same time, reports surfaced Sunday that the Biden administration is auctioning off unused border wall materials as a result of President Biden halting the wall’s construction on his first day in office in January 2021.

The Border Patrol reported capturing over 132,000 individuals trying to cross the border in July, with officials saying the volume of families with young children is seeing a significant rise over previous months. The number of children encountered at the border almost doubled in July from the previous month, with over 60,000 reported.

During testimony before Congress in July, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas claimed that “unlawful entries … have consistently decreased” along the southern border. However, Mayorkas was likely referring to the fact that his department allows foreign nationals to “schedule” their arrival at a port of entry through a mobile app called CBP One, which then allows them to be released into the U.S. without acquiring a visa or other entry permit. Breitbart reported Sunday that almost 200,000 migrants have been released into the U.S. since the beginning of the year by DHS simply by using the CBP One app.

All told, since President Biden took office, there have been 5.5 million illegal migrant encounters at the southern border. Of these, the Biden administration has released 2.1 million migrants into the U.S. Additionally, approximately 1.5 million illegal migrants have entered the U.S. after successfully evading the Border Patrol. Statistics show that border encounters are happening at a rate that is three times higher under Biden than under the Trump administration.

Meanwhile, Fox News reported on Sunday that the Biden administration is currently auctioning off border wall materials that have been sitting unused since Biden ordered a halt to the construction of the wall on his first day in office. Steel beams that were intended to support 30-foot-tall panels are being listed for sale on GovPlanet, a military surplus online auction site. So far, about $154 million worth of border wall materials have been offloaded for sale by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Former President Trump had originally spent about $15 billion to construct 450 miles of barriers along the southern border. About 250 miles of the wall were under construction at the time that he left office.

As a result of Biden halting construction of the border wall, states like Arizona have resorted to using old shipping containers to patch up gaps in the wall. A later investigation found that the Department of Defense was spending $47 million per year to store unused building materials in southwestern states along the border.

Ken Blackwell, former mayor of Cincinnati and undersecretary at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, was candid in his assessment of the Biden administration’s border policies.

“The Biden administration are champion supporters of a number of things, [among which is] this false notion that you can have a nation without borders,” he told The Washington Stand. “We’ve seen not only an increase in border crossings, we’ve seen an increase in ‘gotaways,’ we’ve seen a marked increase … in the number of military age Chinese [nationals] coming into the country. Our chief adversaries are laughing at this clown car called the Biden administration.”

Blackwell continued, “What we see is an administration that is keen on expanding the welfare state, denigrating citizenship, and creating [an increase in] not only the numbers of folks who are wards of the state, but folks who are hooked on the largesse of the federal government. [W]hat [the Biden administration is] doing is expanding the voter pool for supporting the expansion of the welfare state, which is controlled by the elite of the administrative state.”

Blackwell, who currently serves as senior fellow for Human Rights and Constitutional Governance at Family Research Council, called for an accounting of the actions of top Biden administration officials.

“The solution to the border crisis has to be that we begin to hold some folks responsible,” he underscored. “I would start with impeachment proceedings for Homeland Security Secretary [Mayorkas]. Because if you turn a blind eye or award bad behavior, all you’re going to get is more bad behavior. Right now, there are key players within the Biden administration, whether it’s the head of Homeland Security or the Attorney General — they think they are immune to punitive action.”
AUTHOR

Dan Hart

Dan Hart is senior editor at The Washington Stand.

RELATED ARTICLE: Border Patrol just uncovered a terrifying reality at the border

EDITORS NOTE: This Washington Stand column is republished with permission. All rights reserved. ©2023 Family Research Council.


The Washington Stand is Family Research Council’s outlet for news and commentary from a biblical worldview. The Washington Stand is based in Washington, D.C. and is published by FRC, whose mission is to advance faith, family, and freedom in public policy and the culture from a biblical worldview. We invite you to stand with us by partnering with FRC.

Drone Video of Illegal Aliens on Rio Grande Setting up Camps Before Biden Ended Title 42

I wish to thank the Texas Department of Public Safety for the drone footage contained in the below article. May I further thank each and every law enforcement officer, National Guardsman and fireman/medic standing post along what use to be America’s southern Border. The southern Border of the United States which helps define the national sovereignty of this exceptional nation, has, by all accounts, collapsed. This has been the plan, written and spoken about by Obama when he declared that he would “forever change America.” The well-stated and written plan is to collapse the United States into the New-World Order, a global community where nations no longer have sovereign status but are part and parcel of the global community which is divided into ten regions world wide.

Not only are approximately 1 million illegals from 160 countries coming into America commencing with the abolishment of Title 42, but you need to add the approximate 6 million illegals already here. These numbers are law enforcement and threat assessment close working estimates, minus the “get aways” who could not be interdicted, recorded, checked or even detained. It is well known that hardened criminals and gang members along with military age Chinese males have made their way across the border already, NOT counting what is now crossing. The danger being allowed into America is beyond comprehension. May 6th at the Douglas, Arizona border crossing, US Customs discovered and IED (explosive device) being smuggled into our country. Cartels and Chinese military have been sending weapons and munitions for many months securing them in storage lockers at various locations across America.

Another dimension not even discussed is the medical crisis looming. My national show ARIZONA TODAY will have a presentation on this sobering and alarming dimension shortly. I already did two shows on this subject, but as I write this report one of my nationally recognized medical specialists contacted me with updated medical concerns of a serious nature now landing on our lands.

Joe Biden, Barack Obama, and each elected office holder who has not vigorously fought to protect and defend the sovereignty of the United States should be impeached or arrested for treason. Deliberately, publicly and consistently pushing to weaken our national sovereignty is a High Crime and Misdemeanor – Treason as outlined in our Constitution. Such acts are far and above political rhetoric or grandstanding. Very shortly, within days even, Americans will witness, firsthand, the effects of said treason as 1 million pour into America. Do your very best to get ready…an ugly human tidal wave is about to become reality, and quite possibly in your city or community as they are deliberately transported across America, especially into historically conservative communities and regions. That is the well thought out plan to bring disruption and even chaos to America.

Drone footage shows makeshift camps built along Rio Grande by migrants waiting for Title 42 to end

Drone footage taken along Rio Grande, the river that serves as the natural border between most of Mexico and the United States, shows sprawling tent encampments stretching out all over the border.

Hundreds of people reside in a massive camp made of tents and other dwellings with thin blue plastic sheets acting as roofs right outside of Brownsville, near the southern tip of Texas. (Related: Thousands of migrants set to flood the US once Title 42 expires this week.)

The drone footage also shows an “enormous line” of illegal immigrants who recently crossed into Brownsville. Fox News correspondent Bill Melugin, who shared the footage, noted that a large majority of the illegals are single adults.

Nonstop flow of illegal crossings here in Brownsville. Working on scripts in my car and look at the window and see another large group gathering for processing after crossing over,” wrote Melugin on his Twitter account. “Border Patrol buses have been coming and going constantly. It’s going to be a very busy week.”

Brownsville is one of the key spots along the border where officials have noted that the illegal immigrants are congregating in the thousands in order to cross, with the other notable crossing points being El Paso, Texas and Yuma, Arizona. But similar situations are developing and getting worse all along the nearly 2,000 miles of the U.S.-Mexico border.

[ … ]

Watch this clip of Texas Department of Public Safety spokesperson Lt. Chris Olivarez talking about the illegal crossings along the Rio Grande.

Read more.

©2023 Lyle J. Rapacki, Ph.D. All rights reserved.

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BIDEN BORDER CRISIS: Migrants Storm The Border As Fears of Rioting Escalate

DISASTER: Biden Admin’s Mass Release of Single Adult Males Illegals Across USA

DISASTER: Biden’s December Illegal Border Crossing Numbers Worse Than 3 Previous Years Combined

Democrat President Joe Biden’s administration finally released the December numbers for illegal border crossings along the U.S.-Mexico border, which showed a dramatic uptick compared to previous years.

By: Ryan Saavedra, Daily Wire, January 15, 2022:

“The number of unique individuals encountered in December 2021 was 135,040, a 5 percent increase in the number of unique individuals encountered the prior month,” U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) said in a statement. “In total, there were 178,840 encounters along the Southwest land border in December, a 2 percent increase compared to November.”

The 178,840 illegal border crossings for December 2021 was higher than the December totals from 2020, 2019, and 2018 combined when there was a total of 175,353 illegal border crossings.

Mark Morgan, former acting CBP commissioner and Heritage visiting fellow, responded to the news in a statement, saying, “More than a year ago, even as Joe Biden was preparing to roll back President Donald Trump’s effective border security policies, he claimed he did not want to end up with ‘two million people on our border.’ After a year on the job, it’s undeniable that Biden has failed even by his own basic measure.”

“In 12 months, CBP recorded more than two million encounters along the southwest border, a shocking and historic number,” Morgan added. “But that number does not include an estimated 600,000 or more ‘got-aways,’ individuals who cross the border illegally but which Border Patrol is unable to detain. And then there are the ‘turn-backs,’ those who make an effort to cross the border but eventually give up and return to their country of origin. Under Biden, that number was around 400,000. Under Joe Biden, more than three million people have tried to violate America’s sovereignty and illegally enter our country. This is not only the worst border crisis in American history—it’s the worst 12 months for any president when it comes to border security.”

Former acting ICE director Tom Homan said during an interview accused Biden’s border policies to contributing to deaths along the southern border. Homan’s remarks came after a Texas Department of Public Safety officer was killed during a U.S. Border Patrol incident over the weekend.

“Prayers out to Special Agent Salas and his family, it’s always tragic to lose one of the finest,” he said. “But look, I’ve said it many times before: people want to beat up on President Trump, but his [Biden’s] immigration policies are inhumane. Let me be clear when President Trump pushed illegal immigration to a 35, 40 year low, depending on how much you look at illegal immigration… it was down 83%. That saves lives because the most vulnerable people will not make that journey if they know they won’t succeed.”

“And Joe Biden comes in office, destroys all his policies. And what’s the result? Under President Trump last year, there was a total of 254 migrants died crossing that border —the first year under President Biden, that is more than doubled to 557,” he added. “That’s a 119% increase… Add to that over 100,000 overdose deaths, most of it from fentanyl that the DEA says, ‘come across the border.’ Add to that 59 CBP officers who die from COVID because Joe Biden is ignoring Title 42 when it comes to hundreds of thousands of children and family groups to come across with COVID, that affects these agents. So let me tell you something, Joe Biden’s policies are not humane. It’s killing people at a huge rate – more than I’ve ever seen in my career.

RELATED ARTICLE: VIRGINIA: Afghan Muslim refugee convicted of sexually assaulting 3-year-old girl at Quantico Marine base

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DeSantis Threatens To Bus Illegal Immigrants Right To Biden’s Doorstep In Delaware If He Doesn’t Secure Border

Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said Wednesday he would send illegal immigrants to Delaware if President Joe Biden didn’t secure the southern border.

DeSantis was responding to a question about secret “migrant flights” sent to Florida from areas near the southern border. White House press secretary Jen Psaki previously said Oct. 19 it should be “no surprise” to Americans that the Biden administration is flying migrants to Florida and New York from the southern border.

WATCH:

“If they’re going to come here, we’ll provide buses. I will send them to Delaware and do that. If he’s not going to support the border being secured, then he should be able to have everyone there,” DeSantis said. 

DeSantis issued an executive order in September that prohibited Florida state agencies from helping the Biden administration to transport illegal immigrants. DeSantis also said he would be suing the Biden administration for its “catch and release” program.

DeSantis previously characterized the border crisis as an “intentional policy” based on an “open borders ideology.”

“The Biden Administration refuses to abide by the immigration laws of our country, and states bear the brunt of the federal government’s failures,” DeSantis’ office said in a statement to the Daily Caller. “Governor DeSantis is committed to filling that void of leadership and doing everything in his power to protect Floridians.”

“Of course, it would be ideal if the federal government would do its job and use the resources at their disposal to enforce federal law, but since that’s not happening, the state has to step up wherever possible to mitigate the impact of the Biden Border Crisis,” the statement reads.

“If that means sending illegal aliens to Delaware, or even Martha’s Vineyard, so be it. Since Biden believes the open border free for all is good for our country, I’m sure he won’t object,” DeSantis’ office said.

COLUMN BY

TAYLOR GILES

Contributor.

RELATED ARTICLE: Ron DeSantis Is Sending Florida Law Enforcement To The Southern Border

EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Caller column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

Immigration anarchists are responsible for undermining the civil rights of every American

Immigration anarchists have repeatedly drawn false analogies between their efforts to block the enforcement of immigration laws and the heroic action of those whose hard-fought efforts for decades provided black Americans with civil rights, but at great cost.

These anarchists emulate Jimmy Carter, creator of the Orwellian term ‘Undocumented Immigrant’ by referring to advocates for fair and effective immigration law enforcement as being “Anti-Immigrant.”  This despicable tactic is now being used to falsely attack Senator Jeff Sessions, the nominee for Attorney General, accuse his support for such effective enforcement of our immigration laws as running contrary to civil rights and being against immigrants.

These anarchists refuse to concede what should be obvious, while aliens illegally present in the United States are entitled to human rights and due process, they are not entitled to broad civil rights protections.  It is an outrageous contradiction in concepts to claim that aliens whose mere presence represents a violation of law should be provided with opportunities equal to those provided to American citizens and lawful immigrants.

In reality, immigration anarchists are, themselves, responsible for undermining the civil rights of Americans, particularly American minorities who suffer the greatest harm because of the failures of our government to enforce the immigration laws.  Those immigration anarchists also are responsible for undermining the civil rights of lawful immigrants.

For the sake of clarity and to prevent any potential misunderstandings, illegal aliens, not unlike others, are entitled to human rights and are properly entitled to due process when accused of committing crimes.  There are two reasons why due process must be devoid of consideration as to the immigration status of the accused.  First of all, it is a matter of fairness and justice.

Creating a lower standard for convicting illegal aliens for committing crimes would undermine the judicial system.

Additionally, unscrupulous prosecutors who simply wanted a “quick kill” would be encouraged to seek the conviction of illegal aliens who did not actually commit the crime.  This is immoral and unjust.  Secondly, under such circumstances, law enforcement authorities would stop looking for the actual criminal who would therefore remain at large and continue to pose a threat.

Civil rights laws were initially enacted to address the wrongs visited upon black Americans beginning with slavery and then segregation.

Today those laws are focused on providing citizens, irrespective of race, religion, ethnicity, gender or sexual identity or orientation, with equal protection under our laws and equal opportunities, thereby enabling them to be full participants in the communities where they live and throughout our nation.

Sanctimonious and hypocritical mayors of “Sanctuary Cities” portray themselves as heroic figures, perhaps on par with the “Freedom Riders” who, decades ago, at great personal risk, fought to end racial discrimination and segregation in the South.

Make no mistake, those Freedom Riders were heroes who should be lauded and remembered for their morality, courage and achievements.

Mayors of Sanctuary Cities, however, are anything but heroes.  They are betrayers.  Betrayers of the Constitution, betrayers of their oaths of office, betrayers of national security and public safety and betrayers of their constituents.

Such rogue politicians act against the best interests of their constituents and those who reside in, or visit their cities by turning their jurisdictions into magnets for aliens who are illegally present in the United States.  Among those illegal aliens are those who have serious criminal histories, have outstanding arrest warrants in the United States or in other countries or may be international terrorists or supporters of terrorism.  These aliens may have entered the United States without inspection or entered through ports of entry but went on to otherwise violate our immigration laws that, it must be noted, are completely and utterly blind as to race, religion or ethnicity.

Such rogue politicians act against the best interests of those who reside in, or visit their cities, because they are turning their jurisdictions into magnets for aliens who are illegally present in the United States.  Among those illegal aliens are those who have serious criminal histories, have outstanding arrest warrants in the United States or in other countries or may be international terrorists or supporters of terrorism.  These aliens may have entered the United States without inspection or entered through ports of entry but went on to otherwise violate our immigration laws that, it must be noted, are completely and utterly blind as to race, religion or ethnicity.

The ultimate “hate crime” involves acts of violence committed against members of a community because of factors such as race, religion, ethnicity or sexual orientation.  Transnational gangs often target their victims because of such factors.  Failures of immigration law enforcement have enabled such violent gangs to flourish across the United States.

Beyond undermining national security and public safety, Sanctuary Cities additionally attract massive numbers of illegal aliens who have no legal authority to work in the United States yet are able to secure illegal employment, thereby displacing American workers.

This includes American teenagers – often American minority teenagers, who find themselves unable to find a job, creating for them the conundrum of not being able to get a job without a resume but not being able to assemble a resume without first getting a job.

Furthermore, labor is a commodity.  Flooding the labor pool with foreign workers, suppresses the value of labor.  Consequently, even Americans and lawful immigrants who don’t lose their jobs to illegal aliens likely face wage suppression because of them.

It is more than mere coincidence that the division of the Civil Rights Commission that deals with discriminatory employment practices is referred to as the Equal Employment Opportunities Commission.

Employment, in point of fact, provides opportunities to those who are able to work.

Opportunities to be self-sufficient, opportunities to succeed and advance and prosper all revolve around the ability to be gainfully employed.

Blocking qualified workers from job opportunities deprives them essential and fundamental opportunities to be successful.

Politicians who comply with the demands of campaign contributors and others who exert pressure on them to flood America with cheap and compliant foreign labor to displace American workers and suppress wages.

The destruction of the middle class is not an “unintended consequence” but the goal of their duplicitous conduct.

A news report on how job losses create multiple stresses quoted Michael McKee, a psychologist at the Center for Integrative Medicine at the Cleveland Clinic who articulated his concerns about how the possible loss of financial ability to support oneself and family my lead to a loss of self-respect and the respect of others.  Thus leading to the loss of identity, security and daily structure, ultimately leading to people who lose meaning and hope.

A study published a couple of years ago found that poverty stresses the brain so much that it’s like losing 13 IQ points.

Prior to the Second World War the enforcement of our nation’s immigration laws was vested primarily within the Labor Department to make certain that Americans would not have to compete with foreign workers for jobs.  This is how America created the largest and most upwardly mobile middle class of all countries on this planet at the time, thus creating the “American Dream.”

Civil rights laws also enforced in conjunction with our immigration laws to make certain that employers treat all employees equally including aliens provided that the aliens in question are authorized by law to be employed in the United States.  Indeed, even where the employer sanctions provisions of the Immigration Reform and Control Act.

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 ended segregation and under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, discriminatory employment practices were prohibited to insure, equal employment opportunities.  Over time these laws were amended to protect additional groups of protected workers and even include aliens who are authorized to work in the United States.

In fact, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has posted the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (IRCA) on its website.  Among the provisions of IRCA was a massive amnesty program for millions of illegal aliens and the provision that, for the very first time, deemed the knowing employment of illegal aliens to be a violation of law.

The EEOC has a vested interest and, indeed, jurisdiction, in cases involving allegations of Employment Discrimination.

Not only does the EEOC have jurisdiction when Americans claim employment discrimination, but it also has jurisdiction if an allegation is made that an alien, authorized to work in the United States seeking employment, suffered discrimination during the hiring process by an overly zealous employer who went beyond the requirements of preparing the Form I-9 to verify the identity and eligibility of an alien applying for a job or if an alien, authorized to work in the United States, faced discriminatory policies by his/her employer.

However, all of the laws and regulations that have been promulgated to end workplace discrimination are undone by the veritable army of foreign workers who have displaced beleaguered American workers.

Think of how many politicians running for office promise to help “create jobs” and to “bring back jobs to America.”

Whether politicians are running for political office on the local, state or federal level.  Whether they seek to become a member of the city council, mayors or governors.  Even if they are candidates for the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate or even the Presidency of the United States, they all make that same  promise about jobs and “getting Americans back to work.”

Failures of the immigration system make those promises largely meaningless when American workers are displaced by aliens.

For open borders/immigration anarchists, failures of the immigration system are to be engineered and then celebrated.

In reality, those failures are devastating to America and Americans and undermine the letter and spirit of our civil rights laws.

If immigration anarchists want to point to those responsible for undermining civil rights, they should stand in front of a mirror and point at themselves.

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DHS Loses Thousands of ‘Keys to the Kingdom’

President-Elect Donald Trump’s campaign promise to build a wall to separate the United States from Mexico resonated with many Americans and galvanized their support, which ultimately enabled him to win the election.  These voters want to prevent narcotics and illegal aliens and the criminals and terrorists among them from flowing freely into the United States.

Indeed, that porous border must be made secure.  However, simply securing that problematic border would not end the immigration crisis.  Indeed, the lack of security along the southwest border had nothing to do with the ability of the 9/11 hijacker-terrorists to enter the United States nor did that border play a role in the great majority of terrorists who have entered the United States prior to the attacks of 9/11 or after those deadly attacks.

While illegal immigration represents a huge multi-faceted challenge and, indeed threat, to America and Americans, the multiple failures of the legal immigration system is no less problematic.

Many politicians have said that after the Trump administration secures the southwest border and removes the estimated two to three million criminal aliens that we should then consider how to address the remaining millions of illegal aliens.  In reality, in addition to removing the criminal aliens the Trump administration must take immediate and decisive steps to address the abject lack of integrity in the legal immigration system that is utterly unable to deal with its current workload let alone deal with any further increases of applications.

Green Cards, also known as Alien Registration Receipt Cards, are issued to provide reliable documentation that attests to aliens granted lawful immigrant status.  These cards serve many purposes including providing prima facia evidence of the bearer’s identity as well as his or her immigration status that enables that individual to be lawfully employed in the United States.

Green Cards also enable aliens to enter the United States through ports of entry not unlike a passport.  Green Cards can also serve as required ID to enable the bearer to board airliners and have access to corporate and government office buildings and facilities.

In a very real sense, given the multitude of lawful uses for these documents, Green Cards represent the “Keys to the Kingdom” and consequently have serious national security implications.

On November 21, 2016 OIG (the Office of the Inspector General) of the DHS (Department of Homeland Security) issued a press release on the continuing failures of United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to address numerous deficiencies in the process by which Green Cards are issued.

The relatively bland title of the press release, “DHS OIG Finds USCIS Continues to Struggle to Ensure Proper Green Card Issuance” does not convey the true seriousness of the egregious examples of incompetence and ineptitude reported upon in that press release or the actual report of the investigation conducted by the OIG, “Better Safeguards Are Needed in USCIS Green Card Issuance: (OIG 17-11).”

To begin with, here is the full text of the press release:

A new Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General (DHS OIG) report concludes that U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) continues to struggle to ensure proper Green Card issuance. The audit was conducted as a follow-up to a March 2016 report where where the DHS OIG disclosed that USCIS had sent potentially hundreds of Green Cards to the wrong addresses.

In fact, the problem was far worse than originally thought. Over the last 3 years, USCIS produced at least 19,000 cards that included incorrect information or were issued in duplicate. Additional mistakes included over 2,400 immigrants approved for 2-year conditional residence status being inadvertently issued cards with 10-year expiration dates. The agency also received over 200,000 reports of cards potentially misdelivered, or not being delivered to approved applicants.

The majority of the card issuance errors were due to the flawed design and functionality problems in the agency’s Electronic Immigration System (ELIS). The delays and cost overruns of the ELIS system have been documented in previous OIG reports. Although USCIS conducted a number of efforts to recover the inappropriately issued and missing cards, its efforts to address the errors have been inadequate.

“It appears that thousands of Green Cards have simply gone missing. In the wrong hands, Green Cards may enable terrorists, criminals, and undocumented aliens to remain in the United States,” said Inspector General Roth. “It is vital that USCIS ensure better tools and procedures are in place to mitigate such risks.”

The preceding paragraph contained in the OIG press release noted that “In the wrong hands, Green Cards may enable terrorists, criminals, and undocumented aliens to remain in the United States.”  Yet efforts to flag those cards at ports of entry through the computer system employed by CBP (Customs and Border Protection) Inspectors, have not been consistently implemented.  Consequently, aliens improperly issued those cards may still be able to use them to enter the United States.

The press release referenced a previous report issued in March 2016.  That report, “USCIS Automation of Immigration Benefits Processing Remains Ineffective” was also given a nondescript title that downplayed the national security implications of these failures.

These problems are not new but are decades old and have been getting increasingly worse as USCIS is forced to adjudicate a growing avalanche of applications for various immigration benefits including applications filed by aliens for political asylum, lawful immigrant status and even United States citizenship.

In fact, I testified at a hearing conducted by the House Subcommittee on Immigration and Border Security on March 19, 2002 when it was discovered that two of the 9/11 terrorists, Mohammed Atta (the ringleader) and Marwan al-Shehhi had been granted authorization to attend flight school in the United States six months after the terror attacks. The topic of that hearing was, “INS’S March 2002 Notification Of Approval Of Change Of Status For Pilot Training For Terrorist Hijackers Mohammed Atta And Marwan Al-Shehhi.”

The hearing created a media circus and was covered by C-SPAN.  The C-SPAN video is worth watching.

Every member of Congress that participated in that hearing was indignant about this unbelievable failure of the immigration system.

However, virtually none of the promises made during that hearing, nearly 15 years ago, has been kept to this very day, allowing history to repeat itself over and over again.

Aliens who seek to naturalize are supposed to be subjected to a thorough investigation to determine if they possess, “Good Moral Character.”  however, those investigations are rarely, if ever conducted.  Indeed, even face-to-face interviews of these applicants have often been dispensed with.

I addressed the significance of the naturalization process in terms of national security in my article, “The Immigration Factor – Naturalized U.S. Citizen Added to FBI’s Most Wanted Terrorists List.”

Additionally, these disturbing reports focus purely on the multitude of failures of the mechanics of the system for issuing Green Cards to aliens but do not address the issue of aliens who commit fraud.

On May 30, 2013, UPI posted a report about an alleged former member of Hezbollah successfully immigrating the United States by allegedly concealing his terrorist background as noted in this headline, “Immigrant allegedly failed to reveal Hezbollah membership.”  That immigrant was ultimately naturalized and held a security clearance.

On December 6, 2014 Fox News published a report, “Saudi-born US naval engineer allegedly gave undercover agent info on how to sink carrier” that focused on how Mostafa Ahmed Awwad was educated in the United States and became a naturalized U.S. citizen, agreed to provide an FBI undercover agent with the plans of the Gerald R. Ford, a 13 billion dollar aircraft carrier that was still under construction.  Allegedly Awwad even told the undercover agent where the ship would be most vulnerable to being sunk by a missile strike.

On February 11, 2014, a hearing was conducted by the House Judiciary Committee on the issue: “Asylum Fraud: Abusing America’s Compassion?”

On December 12, 2013, an additional hearing was conducted on the issue: “Asylum Abuse: Is it Overwhelming our Borders?”  This hearing focused on the impact on our borders when, in reality the asylum abuse impacts each and every state.

Of course limiting the hearing to the issue of only “our borders” coincides neatly with the myth that all that our nation needs to do in preparation for a massive amnesty program, likely involving tens of millions of illegal aliens, is to “secure our southern border.”

I wrote about this issue in my February 5, 2015 article, “The ‘Secure Our Border First Act’ Deception » Why it’s no solution to the immigration crisis.”

Donald Trump has promised to “Drain the Swamp” as he referred to the filth and corruption of our current political system.  All Americans should be cheering him on.  However, he must also turn his attention to another “swamp” the Department of Homeland Security or, as I have come to refer to it, the “Department of Homeland Surrender,” especially where all of the immigration components of that horrifically overwhelmed and inept agency are concerned.

EDITORS NOTE: This column originally appeared in FrontPage Magazine.