The issue of illegal immigration, having festered for the last decade, is now coming to a boil.  Beginning in the early 2000s, as Americans have been forced to deal with the crushing costs of our social entitlement programs, we have sought to limit illegal immigration as a way of reducing the welfare costs associated with many such immigrants.  More recently, the issue of immigration has been linked to the drug cartels of Central America and the threat of terrorist infiltration.

Thus, we must ask the question:  Are illegal immigrants coming because they want to join and become a part of the American experience, or are they coming to destroy the American way of life?

In a post 9/11 world, we cannot afford to give those who wish us harm easy access to our society.  Indeed, nearly 100 years ago, Theodore Roosevelt struck a similar chord when he said:

In the first place we should insist that if the immigrant who comes here in good faith becomes an American and assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated on an exact equality with everyone else, for it is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed, or birthplace, or origin. But this is predicated upon the man's becoming in very fact an American, and nothing but an American...There can be no divided allegiance here. Any man who says he is an American, but something else also, isn't an American at all. We have room for but one flag, the American flag, and this excludes the red flag, which symbolizes all wars against liberty and civilization, just as much as it excludes any foreign flag of a nation to which we are hostile...We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language...and we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the American people.

Theodore Roosevelt, January 3, 1919

America is the one country on the face of the planet where people of all nations wish to come.  Those who are willing to wait in line, and follow the rules, really want to be here.  They come not only to better themselves, but our nation as well.  Those who come illegally, aided by a network of groups who have their own agendas for helping them get here, are less likely to pledge allegiance to the United States of America.  At best, it results in a fracturing of community and culture, not the building and nurturing of American culture. At worst, it provides cover for those who wish to do our nation harm as they invade, undermine and destroy our nation in a post 9/11 world.

          Teddy Roosevelt calls to us today, admonishing our leaders to be loyal to the American people.  In 2012, we are looking for a President with a vision for 2020 who agrees with President Roosevelt’s statement that “There can be no divided allegiance here.  Any man who says he is an American, but something else also, isn’t an American at all.”

The Three Pillars of a 2020 Vision for Immigration Policy

In his farewell address, George Washington made the following statement:

Citizens, by birth or choice, of a common country, that country has a right to concentrate your affections. The name of American, which belongs to you in your national capacity, must always exalt the just pride of patriotism more than any appellation derived from local discriminations.

Much has been said about building fences to keep illegal aliens out, about not having amnesty, and about creating a path to citizenship for those who are the children of illegal aliens and have known America as their only home.  All these issues, while important, skirt the real issue – that we have not asked immigrants to become Americans, because we have forces here in America that wish to subvert the very essence of what being an American means. 

From the statements of Teddy Roosevelt and George Washington,  I wish to distill the following Three Pillars upon which a policy toward illegal immigration must be based.

1.    Identify and halt efforts to grant illegal immigrants voting rights and thus undermine the integrity of our electoral system of government. 

2.    Focus our criminal justice resources on illegal aliens who traffic in identity theft from legitimate American citizens as a way to mask their illegal gun and narcotics trade.  

3.    Identify and end the collusion between criminal, foreign and domestic political elements to corrupt the American free enterprise and political system.

1.   Identify and halt efforts to grant illegal immigrants voting rights and thus undermine the integrity of our electoral system of government. 

According to their website, www.immigrantvoting.org, The Immigrant Voting Project “is a resource and a network dedicated to promoting informed discussion about the practice of non-citizen immigrants voting.”  That’s right – they want to give non-citizens the right to vote.  Their website indicates that non-citizens were allowed to vote up until the 1920s.  It is no coincidence that the practice of non-citizen voting came to an end not long after Teddy Roosevelt spoke out against it.  He raised then – and we should raise now – the question:  “What happens to a nation when people who do not have the country’s best interests at heart take over from within?”

If this happens, we will loose our national self-identity, and witness the American Way of Life denigrated to being about nothing more than “all that stuff.”  While most Americans agree with this sentiment, many don’t realize that there is a concerted effort to destroy the American Way of Life by undermining the electoral system of this nation.

          In 2005, Representative Luis Gutierrez (D-IL) was the Chairman of the Democratic Caucus Immigration Task Force.  In the mid-2000s, Gutierrez, a member of Congress from the Chicago area, was at one time considering a run for mayor of that city.  He expressed interest in tapping illegal aliens and mobilizing them to build a political power base.   In 2006, he said the following:  "Instead of marches in 50, 60, 70 cities, we're going to set up citizenship workshops in 50, 60 70 cities.[1] And I want to be a spokesperson for people that are new to this country.”[2]

          When Representative Gutierrez engaged in his efforts to obtain voting privileges for illegal aliens, he was cheered by the Socialist Party, USA.  In 2006, Co-Chair Raul Cano said: [3]

As a political Party, the SPUSA has been active in this issue, with many of our locals and at large membership working with and leading the immigrant rights struggle. We fight for an amnesty program for all who are currently in this country. We stand against a guest worker program and instead propose an immigration policy that is reflective of a mobile work force. All who work in this country should have full protection under our laws and are entitled to the full benefits of citizenship.” (emphasis added).

It’s not surprising that in the current environment, this same organization is now encouraging the Occupy Wall Street movement.  From their own website, we read the following:[4]

The Socialist Party USA supports the mobilizations to occupy Wall St. in New York and various cities across the US and encourages our locals to take part in these actions.

It should come as no surprise that other groups have advocated granting illegal aliens voting rights in the past, and are now involved with the current Occupy Wall Street movement.  As just one example, the New York Coalition to Expand Voting Rights wants to let illegal aliens vote in New York.  Here’s what they say on their web site’s FAQ page: [5]

 “What is the New York Coalition to Expand Voting Rights? The New York Coalition to Expand Voting Rights is a broad coalition of individuals and organizations working to enact city and state legislation that will give immigrants the right to vote in municipal elections.What do you mean by "resident"? Who will benefit from this campaign? All New York City residents of voting age would be granted the right to vote by this legislation without regard to immigration status.” (emphasis added)

          The New York Coalition to Expand Voting Rights is just one of the activities of the Immigrant Voting Project.  On their website’s list of Members and Endorsers,  one can see a list of groups supporting the Project.  First on the list is the now bankrupt New York affiliate of ACORN.

          Like the Socialist Party, the recent Occupy Wall Street movement has ties to ACORN and other elements of the Immigrant Voting Project.  In an October 27, 2011 article published by Catholic Online, revealed: [6]

As reported by Fox news, the former director of the New York branch of ACORN, Jon Kest, and his affiliates are now canvassing communities seeking donations for various causes, then funneling the money to the Occupy Wall Street movement. They are masquerading as New York Communities for Change (NYCC). 

          Make no mistake.  There is a vast network of groups and organizations which have formed an alliance with certain political elements within the Democrat Party to undermine the integrity of the electoral system in the United States.  America needs a President with 20/20 Vision who will uproot and hold accountable these 5^th column of anti-American interests, especially if it turns out that these groups are affiliated with criminal elements trafficking in stolen identities, guns, and narcotics. 

2.   Focus our criminal justice resources on illegal aliens who traffic in identity theft from legitimate American citizens as a way to mask their illegal gun and narcotics trade.   

In 2005, the United States Attorney General, District of Colorado indicted one Pedro Castorena, age 42, of Guadalajara, Mexico for masterminding a criminal organization responsible for the production and distribution of counterfeit identification documents.  He was charged with forming cell groups operating in over a dozen major US cities that created forged identities, among other things.  On September 11, 2009, he was sentenced to prison.  In the sentencing of Castorena, Judge Lewis T. Babcock said: [7]

The production and distribution of 3,000,000 counterfeit identity documents allows the inference that there are millions of people who have been able, by paying money to the Castorena family and others, to be in this country illegally. That is a huge insult to the law of the United States and even more to the sovereignty of the United States of America and its integrity in its borders.

Efforts to identify and bring to justice such criminals as Castorena, begun under the Bush Administration, have been eviscerated under the watch of Attorney General Eric Holder and the Obama Administration.  At this time, Congress is investigating the Justice Department’s actions in the gun running case known as Fast and Furious.  Christian Adams, author of Injustice: Exposing the Racial Agenda of the Obama Justice Department, has indicated that the Obama Justice Department is blatantly ignoring the law, selectively applying it based on race and ethnicity.  In a Wall Street editorial, addressing a voter intimidation case against the Black Panthers that was dropped, Adams wrote:[8]

Most disturbing, the dismissal is part of a creeping lawlessness infusing our government institutions. Citizens would be shocked to learn about the open and pervasive hostility within the Justice Department to bringing civil rights cases against nonwhite defendants on behalf of white victims. Equal enforcement of justice is not a priority of this administration. Open contempt is voiced for these types of cases.

What is the result of a policy that does not apply the law to illegal immigrants in a post 9/11 world?  The potential for national destruction.  While the vast majority may be people who wish nothing more than a better life, there are many who wish to do us harm.  As far back as 2006, Congressman Adam Putnam (R-FL) recognized the danger of allowing a radical element of illegal immigrants to flout our laws: [9] 

They are part of MS-13 gangs, they are part of human exploitation or sexual traffickers or even terrorists trying to bring in bombs or other equipment to do our society fundamental harm.”

When Iran believes that it can send terrorists to attempt the assassination of Saudi Arabian Ambassador Adel al-Jubeir, it is clear thatCongressman Putnam’s warnings have gone unheeded by the Obama Administration.  Americans demand a President with a vision for 2020 who believes that we “have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the American people.”

3.   Identify and end the collusion between criminal, foreign and domestic political elements seeking to corrupt the American free enterprise and political system.   

Blinded by their own quest to acquire and retain political power, some have no idea that they may be serving a fifth column element that wishes to undermine the very economic and political foundations of this country.  One union, the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees International Union, worked with a number of organizations  promoting the rights of illegal aliens to sponsor the “Freedom Ride.”  (Seehttp://www.yclusa.org/article/articleview/1522/1/292/ )   This same union had as a guest speaker to its July 17, 2001 international convention, Mexican Secretary of Foreign Affairs Jorge Castaneda.  Here’s how Dr. Raul Hinojosa Ojeda from UCLA reported on the message Secretary Castaneda conveyed: [10]

“In the last few months, the Mexican Government has put forth a new comprehensive proposal that consists of five components:

(1) legalization of undocumented workers currently in the United States

(2) expanded permanent visas program

(3) enhance guest worker visas program

(4) border control cooperation

(5) economic development in immigrant sending regions

Notice that he called for the legalization of all “undocumented workers.”  He has an ally in former Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi.  In 2003, Pelosi released a press release in which she proudly announced that, because of her efforts, the Federal Building in San Francisco was making Mexican Matricula Consular cards available.  The Mexican Matricula Consular ID card is an ID card issued to Mexican foreign nationals in the United States. The card is useful for illegal aliens living in the United States.  It isn’t required by legal immigrants, who already have legal U.S. government-issued documents.  Her press release stated: [11] 

“The Mexican Consulate in San Francisco has informed me that the San Francisco Federal Building will be the first in the nation to pilot the acceptance of the Matricula Consular. I am grateful to the United States Marshals Service and the General Services Administration -- the agencies responsible for security at the Federal Building -- for working with my office on the acceptance of the Matricula Consular. I also wish to thank the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, La Raza Centro Legal, the Immigrant Legal Resource Center, and other community leaders for working with my staff on this important matter.  For questions about the acceptance of the matriculas at the Federal Building, please contact Harriet Ishimoto of my San Francisco district office at (415) 556-4862.” (emphasis added).

Americans want a President with 2020 vision who will echo the words of Teddy Roosevelt, who said that we: “have room for but one flag, the American flag.”  Some believe that catering to illegal immigrants will insure their election.  Nothing can be further from the truth.

Once, years ago, Teddy Roosevelt was the President of the Board of Police Commissioners.  Among the laws he was asked to enforce:  The Anti-Sunday drinking laws. Time Magazine wrote of Roosevelt this way:

“German Americans, missing their beer gardens, held an anti-Roosevelt parade. Two mail bombs arrived and were defused. ‘I would rather see this administration turned out for enforcing laws than see it succeed for violating them,’ Roosevelt proclaimed.”[12]

In a letter to his wife, the future president confided that the “Sunday Excise” law was causing him political problems.  He wrote:  “It is altogether too strict, but I have no honorable alternative save to enforce it and I am enforcing it, to the furious rage of the saloon keepers, and of many good people too; for which I am sorry.”[13]

Of course Teddy Roosevelt, a politician who enforced ALL the laws, went on to become President.

The Threat of a Gathering STORM

It is important to draw a connection between the efforts of certain radical groups  to win votes by giving illegal aliens voter rights, the threat of aiding and abetting criminal and terrorist elements who infiltrate the US, and the collusion between criminal, foreign and domestic political elements to corrupt the American free enterprise and political system.  It is no coincidence that those who seek to overthrow the American Way of Life have found a safe haven in the district represented by Nancy Pelosi.  The booklet, Reclaiming Revolution: History, Summation and Lessons from the work of the Standing Together to Organize a Revolutionary Movement (STORM), was produced by a group of self-avowed Marxist-Revolutionists living in the Bay area.  Based on an older group called RAW (Roots Against War), the organization:[14]

“…fused militant direct action, sharp politics and exciting cultural work.  In doing so, it laid the groundwork for the next decade of revolutionary politics among young people of color in the Bay Area. …(their leaders) … were veterans of the Revolutionary Communist Youth Brigade, the youth wing of the Revolutionary Communist Party.  Informed by these young militants, the group took hard and uncompromising positions that expressed anti-capitalist and anti-imperialist politics from the beginning.”

Conclusion

As has been pointed out in this essay, there are a number of interlocking groups and organizations that promote illegal immigration and are vested in promoting the Occupy Wall Street movement.  It will take courage to name them, and stand up to them.  America needs a President with a vision for 2020 who embodies the sprit of Teddy Roosevelt.  We need a President who understands that when someone comes here legally “and assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated on an exact equality with everyone else, for it is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed, or birthplace, or origin.” 

In 2012, the Republican candidate who can articulate this message will gain the trust and respect of the American people.

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David Lantz is the author of Point/Counter Point:  Illegal Aliens and the American Way of Life, and also Think Like Jesus, Lead like Moses: Leadership Lessons from the Wilderness Crucible.  Visit him on his website at www.wisejargon.com