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October 2, 2009
Exclusive: Illegal Alien Eligibility for Government-Run Health Care Violates our Sovereignty AND Our Wallets
As amazing as it might seem, the United States Senate has removed the requirement that immigrants would have to provide photo ID in order to prove that they were legally present in the United States in order to be eligible to apply for health care under the auspices of the health care program being drafted by the Congress.
Greta Van Susteren recently interviewed Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX) concerning a letter that 22 Democrat members of Congress sent to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi asking that illegal aliens be provided with medical coverage under the health care bill currently being formulated and debated in both houses of Congress.
My own experience with Rep. Jackson Lee was when she, as ranking member of the House Immigration Subcommittee, called me to testify before that committee on two separate occasions – “INS’s March 2002 Notification of Approval for Change of Status for Pilot Training for Terrorist Hijackers Mohammed Atta and Marwan al-Shehhi” and “Pushing the Border Out on Alien Smuggling: New Tools and Intelligence Initiatives.”
Rep. Jackson Lee provided me with two opportunities to share my expertise and perspectives at two important hearings on immigration issues that have serious implications for national security.
When I raised the issue of immigration fraud as being a component of the issue of alien smuggling at the “Alien Smuggling” hearing (since illegal aliens not only run our nation's borders but also manage to enter our country by committing visa fraud and immigration benefit fraud), Jackson Lee proposed the creation of a "Fraud Task Force" to attempt to address this issue.
Therefore, I was dismayed – to put it mildly – to see that Jackson Lee has, in my judgment, landed on the wrong side of the issue of immigration.
But Greta got it exactly right when she said to Jackson Lee, "Here's the problem. Here's the problem. To do that, we become aiders [and] abetters to encourage people to be here illegally. That's the problem..."
In fact, Title 8 of the United States Code, Section 1324, includes the following:
1907
Title 8, U.S.C. § 1324(a) Offenses
Title 8, U.S.C. § 1324(a) defines several distinct offenses related to aliens. Subsection 1324(a)(1)(i)-(v) prohibits alien smuggling, domestic transportation of unauthorized aliens, concealing or harboring unauthorized aliens, encouraging or inducing unauthorized aliens to enter the United States, and engaging in a conspiracy or aiding and abetting any of the preceding acts. Subsection 1324(a)(2) prohibits bringing or attempting to bring unauthorized aliens to the United States in any manner whatsoever, even at a designated port of entry. Subsection 1324(a)(3).
Alien Smuggling – Subsection 1324(a)(1)(A)(i) makes it an offense for any person who – knowing that a person is an alien, to bring to or attempts to bring to the United States in any manner whatsoever such person at a place other than a designated port of entry or place other than as designated by the Commissioner, regardless of whether such alien has received prior official authorization to come to, enter, or reside in the United States and regardless of any future official action which may be taken with respect to such alien.
Domestic Transporting – Subsection 1324(a)(1)(A)(ii) makes it an offense for any person who – knowing or in reckless disregard of the fact that an alien has come to, entered, or remains in the United States in violation of law, transports, or moves or attempts to transport or move such alien within the United States by means of transportation or otherwise, in furtherance of such violation of law.
Harboring – Subsection 1324(a)(1)(A)(iii) makes it an offense for any person who – knowing or in reckless disregard of the fact that an alien has come to, entered, or remains in the United States in violation of law, conceals harbors, or shields from detection, or attempts to conceal, harbor, or shield from detection, such alien in any place, including any building or any means of transportation.
Encouraging/Inducing -- Subsection 1324(a)(1)(A)(iv) makes it an offense for any person who – encourages or induces an alien to come to, enter, or reside in the United States, knowing or in reckless disregard of the fact that such coming to, entry, or residence is or will be in violation of law.
Conspiracy/Aiding or Abetting – Subsection 1324(a)(1)(A)(v) expressly makes it an offense to engage in a conspiracy to commit or aid or abet the commission of the foregoing offenses.
Bringing Aliens to the United States -- Subsection 1324(a)(2) makes it an offense for any person who – knowing or in reckless disregard of the fact that an alien has not received prior authorization to come to, enter, or reside in the United States, to bring to or attempts to bring to the United States in any manner whatsoever, such alien, regardless of any official action which may later be taken with respect to such alien.
The promise of an imminent, wide-ranging "Comprehensive Immigration Reform" program, as well as the promise of a health care program is tremendous incentive for aliens to enter our country in violation of law – and provide additional incentive for the millions of illegal aliens who are already present to remain in the United States. These aliens have been provided with the apparent expectation that if they can evade immigration law enforcement – an easy task since ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) is all but ignoring millions of illegal aliens who have not been convicted of committing felonies – that they will soon be on the pathway to United States citizenship.
Plus, making illegal aliens eligible to join a federally managed health care system provides them with the sense of entitlement to remain in the United States even before Comprehensive Immigration Reform legislation is debated, let alone enacted.
Meanwhile the administration has stated that any company that knowingly employs illegal aliens will be prosecuted if they are discovered violating the statutes of the immigration and Nationality Act that prohibit such employment practices.
I certainly favor having ICE conduct investigations into employers of illegal aliens, but it is absolutely hypocritical for the same government to provide incentives to millions of illegal aliens to enter our country in violation of law, remain in our country in violation of law and, no doubt, violate other criminal statutes involving identity theft and related crimes.
Sheila Jackson Lee noted that it would be helpful for as many people, irrespective of immigration status, to join a government health care program because the more people who join, the more money will be pumped into the system to help fund the program.
Again, I have to disagree.
Most people who enter the United States from "Third World Countries" do not have the same level of health as do those who are born and raised in the United States. I am concerned that people in foreign countries who are unable to get health care at home would find the prospect of obtaining health insurance in the United States a powerful "magnet" for those who have serious illnesses to head for the United States to seek treatment. It might also encourage members of their families to seek to enter the United States so as to make certain that they could seek employment and thus obtain health insurance for all of the members of their family.
Consider this quote from the interview transcript:
LEE: Let me say this. I mean, you raise valid points, and I know these are going to be points raised by the American people. First of all, all of us want to ensure that criminal aliens, people who are here to do us harm, are not here in this country.
This statement underscores the biggest concern for health care for illegal aliens is concerned as well as a massive "Comprehensive Immigration Reform" program for millions of illegal aliens whose identities are unknown and unknowable.
I’ve said it before, but it bears repeating here. When an alien is "undocumented" the alien has no reliable documentation to attest to his (her) true identity. There is no way of knowing that person's true name, date of birth or even nationality. There is, therefore, no way of knowing if that person has a criminal history in another country. There is no way of being certain that the person in question is not on the various terrorist watch lists because many of those individuals on those lists are known by their names and we have no fingerprints for them on file.
There is also no way of knowing how, when or where these aliens entered our country.
If these millions of illegal aliens would be eligible to file for enrollment in the government health insurance program, they would, of necessity, be given an official identity document that would, no doubt, enable them to apply for other identity documents under a fictitious name. This is the primary concern that had been addressed by the Real ID Act that Congress is now working to gut – even as a significant terrorist plot is being unraveled by the FBI, DHS, the NYPD and other agencies concerning an Afghani citizen by the name of Najibullah Zazi.
In fact, as I have been following the news reports about that ongoing investigation, I thought back to testimony I provided at a Congressional hearing that was conducted on May 11, 2006 before the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations of the Committee on International Relations entitled “Visa Overstays: Can We Bar the Terrorist Door?”
The following portion of my prepared testimony is worth considering as I addressed the issue of how terrorists embed themselves in a community as they prepare to participate in a terrorist attack:
There have been published accounts in newspapers of terror suspects who have worked at a wide variety of seemingly menial jobs in the United including one guy who drove an ice-cream truck and others who have driven taxi cabs while still others have worked in used car lots or even taught school. I can tell you from personal experience having spent years conducting surveillance in conjunction with conducting various criminal investigations into a wide variety of criminal activities that when a bad guy gets in his or her car and drives to a location where he gets out of his vehicle and meets with another individual, that it is easy presume a meeting has taken place and we could follow the other participant in that meeting to further the investigation. In the case of the terror suspect who drove an ice-cream truck, think about how many people may approach that truck on a warm afternoon seeking to buy ice-cream. How could you tell if any of them were actually associates of the driver of that truck who were there to meet with him in a very effective clandestine manner? How many meetings could a terrorist have with his ''passengers'' in his taxi cab that would evade detection by a surveillance team? Furthermore, ice-cream trucks and taxi cabs are truly ubiquitous. They can be used for surveillance by terrorists because they blend in so well with the urban landscape. These menial jobs can help terrorists to hide in plain sight.
Yet, the administration talks about targeting sensitive locations such as airports and nuclear power plants and military bases to look for illegal aliens. Certainly these locations should come under intense scrutiny because of their obvious potential as targets for terrorists, but by focusing on these locations we are, in effect, providing a play book to our adversaries. The message is clear, if you want to embed yourself in our country and not arouse the attention of law enforcement, especially ICE, do not get a job in a nuclear power plant but sell hot dogs outside that power plant and no one will bother you or even pay attention to you.
Finally, I would like you to consider what Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee said about the legislative process:
LEE: And as the bill comes back from the Senate in conference, the American people will have the opportunity to see the full and final bill, as well.
Greta Van Susteren was absolutely correct when she noted that emergency medical care is, right now, available to anyone who is in need of emergency medical treatment. Illegal aliens must not be provided with regular health care insurance.
I would also love to see our government bill foreign government when the citizens of those countries receive emergency treatment and are unable to pay for it.
The great majority of Americans want our nation to gain control over its borders and create an immigration system that possesses real integrity. Providing health care to millions of illegal aliens is antithetical to this commonsense objective.
Family Security Matters Contributing Editor Mike Cutler is a Fellow at the Center for Immigration Studies and a recognized authority who addresses the implications of immigration on national security and criminal justice.
Reader Comments: Submit Your Comment (1)
I know a lot of people are pissed about this ruling but the fact is that there isn't a hospital in the US right now, under the current private system, that will refuse an illegal alien if they are dying or having a baby. If you or I were illlegals and you had a bullet wound near your heart, and were admitted, would you expect the doctors to throw you out on the street because you didn't have health care? NOT! It is against their hypocratic oath as doctors.
Socialized health care is going to have a lot of hurdles but you will still be allowed to have your private insurance. If you prefer faster, better treatment you get Privatized Health Insurance. If you don't care or cannot afford it you are on the Socialized Health care. It's a simple solution that too many are making "from a mole hill to a mountain".
Instead, why don't concentrate all your energies on a solution to the REAL problem- and "put a stop to immigration", illegal or otherwise.
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