Customer Reviews

Fixing the INSanity

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Mr. Cramer's insight into the formulation of immigration policy in the United States is a must read for every American concerned with the future of our nation. Given the current proposal before Congress to legalize millions of illegal aliens, this book is an invaluable primer on the mistakes of the past. As an insider who watched the failure of previous amnesty programs, Mr. Cramer's recommendations to fix the the current morass we find ourselves immersed in should be considered as part of any immigration control ligislation.

I worked in the former INS for over 26 years and verify that the information provided in this book is not only accurate but only tells a very small part of the story. I support my friend and former collegue Neville W. Cramer in the long past due release of this essential material to the public. A high five star rating is well deserved. I only hope that a follow-up to this material is forthcoming. RJAtwater

I started in the INS as part of the author's Border Patrol Academy class in 1976 and we also worked together in Chicago INS Investigations before Mr.Cramer transferred to another location.His book provides detailed and frankly very scary insights into the upper level workings of the agency and does much to explain how we got into a situation where the immigration problem is out of control.I myself never even saw headquarters,let alone worked at that level-I was a street agent my whole career and spent about half of my 21 years assigned to anti-smuggling,drug enforcement(9 years),and criminal aliens,so I really had no chance to see the problem from Mr.Cramer's perspective-he pulls no punches and is non-partisan in his criticisms-both political parties come in for their well-deserved shares of blame-it is sickening to read how such an important agency of the federal government was run by incompetent and /or venal individuals-those of us working "on the bricks" felt this disgust every time we had to release a convicted drug dealer we had just picked up because there was no detention space -just one example of screwed up priorities set by people either ignorant of immigration law and procedures or having an agenda to cripple the interior enforcement capability of the agency.Mr.Cramer worked in different areas of enforcement than myself and I learned a lot of new information by reading this book-most importantly Mr Cramer makes this information accessible to the general reader who has no professional training in the field by not using too much technical jargon nor bombarding the reader with dry statistics or arcane legal discussions-this book is a must-read for anyone truly interested in this timely issue.

Wow, what an eyeopener to the Immigration system. The writer was well informed and kept my interest peaked. Was written a little too much like an outline.

Clearly Cramer is in favor of reducing the illegal alien problem, as am I. His logic regarding how to do it, however, is at times laughable.

Early in the book Cramer correctly notes that black leaders have become part of the problem - by failing to note, when they complain about high unemployment among black youth, that illegal aliens are a major source of the problem. Instead, at least some (eg. the Rainbow Coalition) go on to defend both blacks and illegals. Cramer then also points out that Rep. Tancredo (R., Colo), while adamently supporting improved illegal alien management, simultaneously refuses to support mandatory employer verification of Social Security numbers - probably the #1 key to control.

For some reason, however, Cramer himself opposes a national ID card, though he does support a national birth registry and standardized drivers' licenses.

Cramer then goes on to commit a classic statistical blunder - confusing correlation with causation. He reports that while the number of Border Patrol agents has increased, so have the number of illegals within the U.S. - concluding that "the more agents, the more illegals." Ridiculous! If that were true, the "cure" would be to simply eliminate the Border Patrol.

Through the years there has been a lack of Congressional will to effectively resolve the problem - Cramer cites the immediate complaints every time an effective program is proposed or implemented. In addition, the agency undoubtedly suffers from lack of professional leadership - for example, Bush II initially appointed the House Sgt. at Arms from Congress when he took office.

The "bottom line" is that Cramer has little to offer (though verifying SS numbers is very valid), continually repeats it, and also draws at least one very erroneous conclusion.