By Steve Pomper
With the driving deluge of negativity showering American cops at all levels, local, state, and federal, U.S. Border Patrol Chief Rodney S. Scott is a commonsense beacon in the anti-law enforcement fog. He is resisting Biden administration instructions to alter legal immigration terminology into nonlegal terminology.
American law enforcement today hungers for competent and courageous leadership, which is so rare in large organizations. Incidentally, Detroit Police Chief James Craig is another fine example of courageous and competent law enforcement leaders in large jurisdictions not bowing to the “woke” storm.
The crisis (yes, crisis) at the border is clearly the Biden administration’s fault despite vice pretender Kamala Harris and press secretary circle-back Psaki blaming President Trump. How is that even a thing? The border was being handled competently before Biden, then the border becomes a disaster immediately after Biden takes over and implements his horrendous border policy.
One of these flawed policies has spurred Chief Scott to stand up against the White House’s irrational demands to change official immigration law terminology. According to Brodigan, at LouderwithCrowder.com, “Scott has this radical idea that instead of executive orders and partisan memos, if the terminology is really that important, legally change the law.”
He’s right. Why is that such a difficult concept? For the anti-law enforcement left, it sure seems to be. If mayors don’t like a law in their city, just ignore it. If governors don’t like a law in their state; just executive order it. And if Biden (and those behind the curtain) don’t like laws at the federal level, just toss so many executive orders at them, they could be used for confetti, if they ever let us have parades again.
According to BallotPedia.org, “As of April 27, 2021, President Joe Biden (D) had signed 42 executive orders, 14 presidential memoranda, 49 proclamations, and 10 notices.” It’s just so much easier to snap your fingers rather than going through all that legislative malarkey the Constitution’s framers set up.
Specifically, according to DailyWire.com, Chief Scott “sent a memo to Troy A. Miller, Senior Official Performing the Duties of the Commissioner, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, informing Miller that he cannot comply with the Biden administration’s softening of legal terms to refer to illegal aliens.”
Essentially, Biden issued a memorandum instructing immigration officials to replace the following terms, as they are written into current U.S. immigration law, with conscripted terms including those listed below:
Legal Term Non-Legal Term
Alien Noncitizen migrant
Illegal Undocumented
Assimilation Integration
Some might see these replacements as simply semantics, but they’re not. The current legal terms are written into law. As previously mentioned, if you don’t like it, change the law. The Left is all about how things look and sound. Lots of façade and little substance. My police department did similar things over the years. Though they weren’t altering language in the law, a few years back Seattle “leaders” issued a new policy instructing officers to refer to felony suspects as, “community member.” Sorry, not an SNL skit.
Chief Scott explained himself, writing a poignant memo of his own to Acting CBP Commissioner Troy Miller. “Despite every attempt by USBP leadership to ensure that all official messaging remained consistent with law, fact, and evidence, there is no doubt that the reputation of the USBP has suffered because of the many outside voices. Mandating the use of terms which are inconsistent with law has the potential to further erode public trust in our government institutions.
“I am also concerned about the morale of our workforce. To be clear, when I reference morale, I am not referring to an employee’s happiness. I am referring to an individual’s willingness to take personal risk each day to keep others safe. There are countless human capital studies which indicate that mission criticality and support from leadership affect the willingness of personnel to comply with policy and professional standards.”
Hear that? “further erode public trust in our government.” But isn’t that exactly BLM, Antifa, and the anti-law enforcement left’s goal? Those of us who work or have worked in law enforcement at any level over the past three decades have seen the steady chipping away, and now chopping away, at traditional American institutions.
But, while things often look so bleak, lately, we can take solace that there are law enforcement leaders such as Chief Scott who will still stand up for the rule of law. In other words, for what is right.