Lack of border security and federal accountability cost taxpayers billions

A medallion marks the spot where the US and Mexico borders meet. [Customs and Border Patrol photo by James R. Tourtellotte]We’re hearing a lot about US debt these days, with both parties vowing to cut spending. There’s an issue that should be part of the discussion and the only reason it isn’t has to do with political tactics—no one wants to shine a light on our porous border and no one wants to discuss the failure of past and current administrations to hold the federal government accountable for fraud, and no one wants to talk about the costs associated with law enforcement when it comes to citizens of foreign countries.

Michael Cutler spent 30 years working with the Immigration and Naturalization Service. He’s a well known face on programs that cover politics. Cutler, who says on his website he is a Democrat, recently called attention to a particular case involving an “immigration consulting business” catering primarily to Indian nationals.

US Immigration and Customs Enforcement disclosed that principals of the consulting business were charging aliens (term used by government) as much as $60,000 for documentation. The owners have been charged with visa fraud.

A release from ICE said, “The investigation in this case began in September 2009 after officers with the Fraud Detection and National Security Division at the USCIS Field Office in Santa Ana noted suspicious similarities involving 21 visa petitions that were ultimately traced back to MPEagle. In some instances, the applicants used the same marriage certificates, divorce certificates, marriage witnesses or even United States citizen ‘spouses.’"

In a recent newsletter, Cutler pointed out the ICE release doesn’t mention any efforts to locate the aliens who conspired with the people who were charged.

This is actually a small example of fraud that results from our open border policy.

When the financial meltdown occurred, I wrote about the prospect of fraud committed by citizens of foreign countries. I still believe we have not been told the truth about those “toxic assets” the government blamed for our current housing quagmire.

A mortgage auditor interviewed by the Norfolk Crime Examiner explained, “One borrower stole the SS# [social security number] of a retiree and took out $3.5 million in loans, turned around and did cash-out refi’s, then fled the country. The retiree was left with ruined credit, $3.5 million in loans and trouble with the IRS. Over 50% of the sub primes were for cash-out refi’s. Regardless of the loan criteria used to pull random samplings for audits, the majority of the last names were Hispanic. The loans I audited were primarily in CA, NV, AZ, FL, CO, compare those to the states with the highest number of foreclosures & illegal aliens.”

The US taxpayer underwrote such fraud when we bailed out the banks.

In December, 2010, I wrote about a warning from the US Treasury to Congress about the illegal use of Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers to get tax refunds. An ITIN can be used in the same manner as a social security number when it comes to tax refunds.

The Center for Immigration Studies pointed out what Treasury told Congress: “87 percent of ITIN applications submitted by Certified Acceptance Agents contained errors, primarily in supporting ID documents being missing or illegible and that, in addition more than 55,000 ITINs were used multiple times on approximately 102,000 tax returns, with refunds totaling more than $202 million.”

One Treasury official said, “[T]otal refunds due for new ITINs issued in the January 1, 2008-November 21, 2008 period were projected to amount to $1.929 billion based on statistical sampling.”

If you spend time reading ICE releases or releases at various FBI field offices, you will soon come to realize the US taxpayer is being fleeced, not just by politicos in Washington but also by citizens of foreign countries. The federal government is the willing enabler.

In January Cutler told a congressional subcommittee on immigration: “Leaders at ICE often note their concerns about illegal aliens working at what are described as being components of ‘critical infrastructure.’  Among such stated venues are airports, nuclear power plants, chemical plants and military bases to name the most commonly noted facilities. “

Lack of border security, and lack of accountability and oversight on taxpayer dollars is costing us billions. Yet neither party is talking about it. Instead, both parties talk about creating paths to citizenship or addressing issues such as the DREAM Act.

Both political parties are preoccupied with cutting entitlements for American citizens. There’s something wrong with that single-minded approach to addressing US fiscal issues.

Aside from the fiscal aspect, we should be asking ourselves how much citizens of foreign countries impact the votes in US elections.

Related Links

Center for Immigration Studies
Think tank with focus on immigration, border issues

Expert testifies on how undocumented workers impact wages for legal workers and citizens
The US Report


(Commentary by Kay B. Day/April 11, 2011)

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