Michael Cutler -- Is Mexico on the Precipice of Disintegration?

Any good driver knows that safety depends on scanning the road ahead as he drives his vehicle. It is important to look as far down the road as possible to see threats that may be developing in the distance, but it is also important to not lose sight of what the car immediately in front of you is doing as well.

The previous administration was certainly fixated on focusing on threats around the world but seemed to be oblivious to a growing threat that sits on our nation's southern border. Mexico is not unlike that car that is immediately in front of you. Ignoring that immediate threat negates whatever attention might be paid to threats on the other side of the globe.

In fact, the degrading situation in Mexico may well impact the situation to be found in the Middle East. Narcotics flooding across our nation's border originate in many countries and some of those drugs may well have been sent to Mexico to have them moved into the United States by drug organizations headquartered in Afghanistan and other such countries.

As I have noted on many occasions, it was absolutely incomprehensible that while our country detailed United States Border Patrol agents to Iraq to secure that nation against the influx of insurgents and terrorists that our own border was left as porous as the proverbial sieve!

A news report appeared this past Thursday in the Washington Times and is of great importance.

I have often discussed the deteriorating situation in Mexico but I believe that it is important to review some of the points I have previously made, especially as Mexico appears poised on the precipice of disintegration and our nation's economy continues to demonstrate a worrying crisis in solvency.

The drug cartels that are operating in Mexico required vast quantities of cash in order to wield the sort of clout that they now possess. Much of the money being used to destabilize the Mexican government has been furnished over the past decade, or more, by the proceeds relating to the drug trade in the United States.

Former President Bush, in ignoring the crisis on our nation's border with Mexico, facilitated the movement of huge quantities of narcotics into the United States while the proceeds of the trafficking activities headed south, filling the coffers of the cartels.

We have, in effect, a collision between these two countries with the citizens of both nation's being made to pay for the desires of politicians and various special interest groups who wanted to open our nation's borders in the name of "free trade."

I urge you to be very careful anytime you hear the word "free." As the saying goes, "There is no such thing as a free lunch!"

The various trade agreements such as NAFTA and CAFTA provided lots of money to those huge companies that pushed those "free" trade agreements. That was, for them, the "good news."

Just remember, whenever there is a winner, there is generally a loser! The loser where those treaties and trade agreements were concerned, was the economic hardship that these agreements created for the farmers of Mexico. Many farmers lost their land and headed north, across our nation's border.

The government of Mexico and other countries were delighted to wave goodbye to their citizens who sought to run our nation's border and secure menial employment in the United States. Those foreign workers that are believed to represent some 10 percent of the population of Mexico and other countries such as Guatemala and El Salvador as well as others, are a population that is no longer the responsibility of their countries of origin. Furthermore, these people send every last penny they earned, back home to their native countries, enriching the economies of those countries.

The government of Mexico, in fact, provided its citizens with "training manuals" that were written like comic books to instruct their citizens on the ways in which they could run our borders successfully and evade the United States Border Patrol and survive the extreme conditions to be found in the deserts along the way. In fact, there were health stations established near the border to make certain that their citizens were physically up to the dangerous trek!

More recently, the government of Mexico went "high tech" and distributed videos instead of comic books to provide the necessary training. (I don't know if the current administration of Mexico is continuing this practice, but is was certainly the way that the previous president of Mexico aided, abetted and encouraged his citizens to ignore the border that is supposed to separate our two nations.

As more and more money poured across the Mexican border, the drug cartels were able to make all sorts of critical purchases. They bought guns, they bought vehicles and then they bought politicians and members of the police and military. Our government trained members of the Mexican police and military to create a "partnership." Tragically, many of these police officers and military officers went over to the "dark side." These were the so-called "Zetas."

Armed with our playbook and virtually unlimited resources, they offered their services to the cartels and now are attempting to take over the cartels!

These well trained and heavily armed gang members employ tactics that are virtually indistinguishable from the tactics used by terrorist organizations. Beheadings are common in many Mexican cities and high-ranking police and military officials are often the target of these violent traffickers. Mexican prosecutors are similarly targeted.

Meanwhile, we are assured that the illegal aliens who run our borders are simply coming to do the "Work Americans won't do!"

I have appeared on numerous television programs over the past several years to debate the issue of immigration and border security. I cannot tell you how often I have heard some character blithely state that "Mexicans aren't terrorists!" Of course many illegal aliens from Mexico aren't terrorists or even involved with the drug trade, although many times smugglers use the illegal aliens they assist in running our borders as beasts of burden, forcing them to carry narcotics on their person. This is why such illegal aliens are referred to as "mules."

The problem is that it is impossible to look at a person and know with absolute certainty what the nationality of that person is. I speak from experience, having worked for the former INS for some 30 years. Is a person with a dark complexion who speaks Spanish a citizen of Mexico, Guatemala, Colombia, Bolivia or Uruguay?

Might a person with a dark complexion who speaks Spanish possibly be a citizen of Iran, Iraq or Yemen who spent years in Latin America to acquire excellent language skills so that he can then embed himself in our nation in support of a terrorist operation in the future? Such is the way that so-called "sleepers" would operate.

Additionally, it is important to remember that not all Mexicans are Hispanic, just as not all Americans are white or black or Hispanic.

In order to move their cargo of drugs and illegal aliens, smugglers working for the cartels are intent on gaining control over our border. By controlling our border they can move people and contraband virtually at will. Smugglers will move any cargo, human, narcotic or weapons for a price. Smuggling organization use other gangs as enforcers. Gangs such as MS-13 often assist in the movement of contraband across our nation's border and then the move themselves across our nation to assist with the distribution of drugs and the movement of the proceeds of the drug trade.

MS-13 members can be found in many major cities from coast to coast. They have spread clear across our country not unlike a malignant tumor that has metastasized, threatening the
lives of decent people throughout our nation. No one is immune from the extreme violence that these gang members use to intimidate competitors and those who might get in their way but often, it is members of their own community who are most likely to fall victim to their violence. Yet, incredibly, the groups that allege to be concerned about the rights of "immigrants" will never address this issue, nor will those groups address the issue of how terribly illegal aliens are treated in our country.

It is interesting that the news article ends with the statement:

The grim assessments from north of the border got wide play in the Mexican media but came as no surprise to people here. Many said the solution lies in getting the United States to give more help and let in more migrant workers who otherwise might turn to the drug trade to make a living.

Given the opportunity to flee the madness of Mexico, is there really a limit as to how many Mexicans would want to come to the United States? Can our nation absorb millions more without going bankrupt even more quickly than we are now?

The last thing our nation needs is to permit the entry of still more foreign workers!

When we take an airplane flight the flight attendants always advise us that if the oxygen masks are deployed that we should put the mask on first before we attempt to help a child or someone who requires assistance. In order for the United States to help Mexico or any other country, it must, itself be strong. The massive influx of illegal aliens threatens our nation's security and impacts everything from criminal justice to the economy, the environment, health care and education. This crisis concerning illegal immigration must be addressed swiftly and effectively!

Here is something else I would like you to consider:

The financial crisis our nation finds itself in now appears to have started with the infamous "sub-prime" mortgages. I have read various estimates about how many of those mortgages were given to illegal aliens who had no reliable way of identifying themselves. I have seen some estimates that peg that number of illegal aliens who received those mortgages in the range of more than one million individuals! I would love to know what the total number really is!

The Bank of America which led the charge to accept the Matricula Consular cards issued by the government of Mexico, is one of the banks in deepest trouble and has already gone back to the trough for more bailout money. They provided money to people who could not provide positive proof of their identities. If you cannot prove your identity, how in blazes could any bank or other financial institution assess your credit worthiness?

It actually gets worse! The Bank of America and other lending institutions provided illegal aliens with credit cards! God knows how many illegal aliens using stolen identities, or simply bogus identities, ran up large balances that they have no ability or intention of repaying!

It would not surprise me to find out that criminal or terrorist organizations might have also availed themselves the opportunity to dip into the "till." Criminal and terrorist organization need lots of cash to carry out their objectives. They often commit all sorts of crimes to get their hands on the cash. As an INS special agent I have seen, first hand, how such criminal and terrorist organizations sell narcotics, commit arson (often injuring and killing innocent people), dabble in mail fraud, carry out armed robberies, run brothels, traffic in firearms and commit all sorts of other crimes.

Here is the Change We the People Can Believe In:

Secure our nation's borders. Create an immigration system that possesses real integrity. And never forget that the difference between an immigrant and an illegal aliens is equivalent to the difference between a houseguest and a burglar!

We the People must make it clear to our elected representatives that we want our nation's borders secured and that we want the entire immigration system to possess real integrity. This would help protect our nation, protect our citizens from criminal and terrorists seeking to enter our country and embed themselves in communities across our nation and invigorate our nation's faltering economy.

Good citizenship does not end at the voting booth but it simply begins there. In order for our representative democracy to represent us, we need to communicate with our elected representatives to let them know in clear and unequivocal terms what we want.

I implore you to get involved!

We live in a perilous world and in a perilous era. The survival of our nation and the lives of our citizens hang in the balance

This is neither a Conservative issue, nor is it a Liberal issue- simply stated, this is most certainly an AMERICAN issue!

Michael W. Cutler graduated from Brooklyn College of the City University of New York in 1971 with a B.A. in Communications Arts and Sciences. Mr. Cutler began working for the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) in October 1971 when he entered on duty as an Immigration Inspector assigned to John F. Kennedy International Airport. In August 1975 he became a Criminal Investigator (Special Agent) for the INS at NYC.

He rotated through virtually every squad in the Investigations Branch. From 1988 until 1991 he was assigned as the INS representative to the Unified Intelligence Division (UID) of the DEA in New York. In 1991 he was promoted to the position of Senior Special Agent and was assigned to the Organized Crime, Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) which required that he work with members of other law enforcement agencies including the FBI, DEA, ATF, U.S. Customs and local and state police as well as law enforcement organizations of other countries including Israel, Canada, Great Britain and Japan, to conduct investigations of aliens involved in major drug trafficking organizations. He retired from the INS in February 2002, after a career that spanned some 30 years.

Finally, Michael Cutler has appeared on numerous television and radio programs including Lou Dobbs, Fox News, MSNBC and many other television and radio news-oriented programs to discuss the enforcement of immigration laws.