Gang of 8 Ignore Dangers of Their Amnesty Bill

Earlier last month, ICE Union President Chris Crane was denied requests to meet with the gang of 8 who have been working on the latest amnesty bill.  Crane had requested the meeting a week before stating, “Any comprehensive immigration bill would have enormous consequences for our officers and for the citizens we protect…Fundamentally, I would implore you to consider this issue from the perspective of our officers who risk their lives every day in a constant uphill climb to uphold the laws of the land.”

Interesting however that the gang still has not met with someone who has valid concerns for those on the front lines, yet they did work out a deal with the AFL-CIO and Chamber of Commerce according to Senator Chuck Schumer, (D) N.Y. “Business and labor have an agreement and on the future flow, which has been the issue that has undone immigration reform in the past…So this is a major, major obstacle that’s overcome. Each of us has to look at the language and approve it. But I don’t think on the business labor side, there’s any disagreement.”  While the ICE union is affiliated with the AFL-CIO, Crane said that Union boss Richard Trumka has ignored the ICE union’s concerns about the immigration bill.

Senator Jeff Sessions (R) Ala. asks a logical question: ““If anyone should be consulted on reform, it should be the officers on the front lines…Why should Trumka and the Chamber be consulted but not law enforcement?”

Again, the border issue is all about committees set up to discuss border control issues which if the Secretary decides that “the Department has not achieved effective control in all high risk border sectors during any fiscal year beginning before the date that is 5 years after the date of the enactment of this Act, not later than 60 days after the date of the certification there shall be established a commission to be known as the ‘Southern Border Security Commission’.’”

Meanwhile, how many illegals and possible terrorists have poured over our border already, and how many more will keep on coming while committees discuss border control?

When Chris Crane appeared on Greta Van Susteren’s show, she asked him about Marco Rubio, who Crane has been asking to leave the gang. Crane told her that Rubio finally set up a phone call to get ICE’s input. He also pointed out that it had been asked of Rubio, ‘if you don’t get enforcement first, or securing the borders first, is that a deal killer for you?’ To that, Rubio had replied, “absolutely…Because we will be right back here again.”  Yet Chuck Schumer has admitted that “we’ve come to a basic agreement, which is that first, people will be legalized…then, we will make sure the border is secure.”

Later in April, it was reported that Chris Crane was taken out of a Senate press conference when he tried to question Schumer about the immigration rewrite.  Senate staff had screened those attending and reporters were required to show their Senate provided press passes. Typical of Schumer however, he ignored three requests from Crane as he tried to ask about proposed promises to tighten immigration laws at the borders, and air and seaports.  As he was being removed, Crane asked, “Will you take a question from law enforcement?”

This past week Crane was speaking out again, in a letter this time joined by other law enforcement executives, and has accused the Obama administration, Dept. of Homeland Security Secretary Napolitano and ICE Director John Morton of abdicating “their leadership in the enforcement of immigration laws and the protection of U.S. borders and citizens.”  He also said that Immigration Enforcement is run by far left immigration advocate group La Raza.  The letter said in part, “As a result, the legislation before us may have many satisfactory components for powerful lobbying groups and other special interests, but on the subjects of public safety, border security, and interior enforcement, this legislation fails. It is a dramatic step in the wrong direction…We therefore conclude that this legislation fails to meet the needs of the law enforcement community and would, in fact, be a significant barrier to the creation of a safe and lawful system of immigration.”

Now the Obama administration is trying to reverse a court ruling made last month by a federal district judge in Texas who ruled that the law requires agents to arrest all illegal immigrants they find.  The ruling is the result of a lawsuit brought by Crane and others last year against the administration over their handling of illegal deportations.  The judge however has delayed implementing the ruling because he said it’s not clear that a court is the right place to decide the matter. The Obama administration has said it is using “prosecutorial discretion” to decide which illegal immigrants to put in deportation proceedings. ICE Director John Morton issued a policy in 2011 directing that only the most serious criminals be put in deportation, and then last year Obama announced a policy telling agents to stop deporting illegal immigrants brought to the U.S. younger than the age of 16.

The judge issued an order that said the administration cannot ignore the law, which directs ICE agents and officers to arrest illegal immigrants but he did say the administration still could “exercise discretion later in the process to drop deportation proceedings.” The administration argues that they are still deporting a record number of immigrants, yet data introduced in the ICE agents’ lawsuit showed that those numbers have been changed by deportations of recent arrivals at the border, rather than deportations from the interior of the U.S.

An exclusive report put out by WorldNetDaily warns of a terrorist strike within the US by Al Qaeda, Iranian Quds forces and Hezbollah.  They say a source has provided information on a planned terrorist attack that is described as “spectacular”, and said Iran has given the green light for operatives of the three terrorist groups who have infiltrated the US to carry out missions in the U.S. The article claims that one of the attacks is going to resemble the Mumbai attack in which hostages taken and 164 people were killed over several days in 2008.

A GPO Report to the Department Of Homeland Security which was presented before a Subcommittee on Counterterrorism and Intelligence from 2011 shows that the US was aware of Hezbollah training in Central and South America.  It has been reported as well that Napolitano has been aware of terrorists coming across the southern border.

This bill and any other amnesty bill must not pass. With the gang of 8 and Obama’s willingness to reward illegals who have broken the law in entering the US, and not taking care of border security first and foremost, they are derelict in their sworn duty to support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic…and to provide for the common defense of the nation, ensuring peace and safety for our citizens.  It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to realize that there is something fundamentally wrong with any proposed immigration bill when the Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers show how dangerous such a bill would be.