The argument by politicians and mayors in sanctuary cities they only need to stop illegal immigrants who are violent criminals is illogical and dangerous, a former top Immigration and Naturalization Service special agent told Newsmax TV.
"Let's realize that most of the terrorists have no criminal histories," Michael Cutler told host Bill Tucker on Monday's "America Talks Live." "And, in fact, four of the terrorists just days before 9/11 had been stopped by local police for motor vehicle violations.
"One of them, Ziad Jarrah was stopped for going, I believe, 90 or 95 miles an hour in a 65-mile zone. [He was] given a ticket, went on his merry way, and a couple days later took part in the hijackings that resulted in 3,000 plus deaths.
"So, when you look at this notion that we're only going to focus on known criminals, I think that's dangerous."
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Cutler said by collateral arrests of illegal aliens, the United States shows that it treats its immigration laws seriously.
He also said he is leery of recent surveys that say the number of people trying to cross U.S. borders illegally has dropped, but believes President Donald Trump's no-nonsense immigration policies are working.
"My gut says that probably deterrence is working, but I'm a little bit more cautious about interpreting those arrests of [undocumented immigrants]," said Cutler, adding those coming into the U.S. illegally are not just crossing the Mexico border.
"There's the northern border, there's stowaways on ships, and then we have the visa violators," he said.
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