The Reserve Officer’s Bio

Lt. Col. Craig Trebilcock is an Army reserve officer serving with the 358th Civil Affairs Brigade in central Iraq. His unit supported the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force during the war. In his civilian capacity, he is an *immigration lawyer* in York, Pa.*

Immigration lawyers for war. Why does that not surprise me? I wonder how many business cards he gave out during his stint.

I noticed his legal specialty, too, and thought it might undermine the credibility of his message somewhat. However, many military men in Iraq have been saying similar things, not just immigration lawyers; and I felt the statement was worthwhile in itself.

I would say my comment was half in jest, but now that I think about it, if I could ‘take out’ Saddam or all the immigration lawyers (non-violently, of course) in the US, I would choose the latter. They have done us a lot more harm.

I would point out to Mr. Auster that the ‘civil affairs’ guys are precisely the people that the army tasks with ‘nation building’. They are all, to my knowledge, reservists. They believe in what they do generally. I had contact with many of them during my time in Bosnia. To me, they are a basically armed NGO types in uniform.

I second Mr. Young’s comment about civil affairs personnel. They are not combat arms soldiers and Marines, but uniformed “facilitators.” Their weltanschauung is closer to Madeleine Albright’s than to a combat arms officer’s. Foggy Bottom in fatigues.

Why does Mr. Young think non-violence is what immigration lawyers deserve, not that I advocate violence against them? Surely, they have conspired to import a lot of violence, if statistics about who commits crimes and inhabits prisons in the United States are accurate.

In Trebilcock’s defense: whatever mischief he may get up to as an immigration lawyer, he has written a useful article about why the Posse Comitatus Act does not preclude the use of the armed forces in homeland defense against terrorism: http://www.homelandsecurity.org/journal/articles/Trebilcock.htm. He does not specifically address whether the PCA precludes using the Army to patrol the Mexican border (he is an immigration lawyer, after all). My (non-immigration) lawyer’s reading of it is that it does not. The Army currently securing Iraq would be much better employed guarding the borders of the nation the Constitution established it to defend. HRS

I understand Mr. Young’s sentiment, but isn’t it silly to wish immigration lawyers out of the picture? They are simply functionaries operating within an immigration system created by the U.S. Congress, which in turn is elected by the people.

But Mr. Auster, immigration lawyers are among the strongest advocates of the current shambles of a system. Today’s system, an erratically enforced contradictory mess of laws with lots of loopholes, is exactly what they want. They also want lots of aliens in the country, including illegal ones, to be their clients. They are in cahoots with the companies that abuse H-1B and L-1 visas to displace Americans from our work-force to make room for cheaper foreigners. Who do you suppose advised Tata about how to use the L-1 visa to import Indian computer workers to the United States under the false pretense of intra-company transfers? Perhaps they are not as culpable as congressmen who write bad laws and presidents and executive branch officials who refuse to enforce the laws we have, but they have a lot to answer for. Your point about the people who elect those congressmen and president is well-taken, however. HRS

Mr. Sutherland is right. I shouldn’t have given the impression that I was defending immigration lawyers. Many of them are a bad lot, underminers of our nation and exploiters of our laws.

If you examine the brochures of legal publishers advertising treatises, looseleaf services, and databases in the field of immigration law, it is clear that the immigration lawyer’s job is to bring ever more immigrants into the country, and enable them to stay here. The pamphlet made available by West Publishing on the topic has a cover photo of an irresistably cute Asian boy, about four years old, who is destined for a prosperous life in the Land of Opportunity.

WW

Col. Trebilcock’s point will be bolstered now that videotapes are being declassified showing Saddam’s men applying gruesome and heinous tortures to their people.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,101689,00.html

If you are wondering how Col. Trebilcock became an ‘immigration lawyer,’ take a look at the attached URL. The story starts about halfway down the page.

The text is a transcript from a Brokaw story entitled “Journey to the Promised Land.”

If you are wondering how Col. Trebilcock became an ‘immigration lawyer,’ take a look at the attached URL. The story starts about halfway down the page.

The text is a transcript from a Brokaw story entitled “Journey to the Promised Land.”

http://www.protectionproject.org/vt/ne817.htm
(Sorry, rookie mistake)