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New York Invites Terror Steve MalzbergNew York, New York, so nice they had to name it twice. New York, New York, victim of the single largest act of terror ever carried out against the United States on our own soil. New York, New York, where the constant cry since those 9/11 attacks has been over the way anti-terror funds are allocated by the federal government. New York, New York, their politicians say, was and still remains the number one target of terrorists around the world and should be granted funding accordingly. Yet New York, New York, its City Council and its mayor, Michael Bloomberg, continue to make it easier and easier for terrorists to slink around their fair city and possibly do it harm. Story Continues Below You may not have heard much about this, but on June 23 the New York City Council passed a bill banning the questioning of applicants for street vending licenses about their immigration status. The vote was an unbelievable 42-8. And then on July 11, just days after the London bombings, Mayor Bloomberg put his signature to the legislation, which put an end to a legal procedure that had been in place since the late 1930s. Under the law that this new bill erases, applicants for street vending licenses had to show the Department of Consumer Affairs documentation of citizenship, or valid immigration or working status before obtaining their licenses. Yes, the margin of the City Council vote was veto proof, but a veto would have at least put Bloomberg on record as having opposed this obscene loosening of the rules regarding illegals. What makes this even worse is that the bill was introduced by City Councilman Charles Barron. Barron is a former Black Panther and says he's proud of that fact. He is considered by many to be the most radical leftist in that legislative body, and has long been at odds with Mayor Bloomberg over most city issues. But at the signing ceremony at New York's City Hall, the pair had nothing but praise for each other. There's more. The Acting Consumer Affairs Commissioner of New York is quoted as thanking Barron for "relieving us of this last vestige of citizenship status checks in the laws" that his agency is responsible for carrying out. Barron's next bill now pending would get rid of other safeguards on perspective street vendors such as fingerprinting. At this point I want to make it perfectly clear that I am not assuming that all or most of New York's street vendors are illegal immigrants. I am not claiming that all or most of the illegal aliens in New York are or would ever consider becoming terrorists. But making it harder to find the one, two, three or four who might is simply foolish. No, it's suicidal. Unfortunately, this is not the first time that Mayor Bloomberg has caved to the pressure of political correctness, nor is he the first New York City mayor to do so. In 1989 Mayor Ed Koch signed Executive Order 124. It prohibited city employees from inquiring about a person's immigration status and from transmitting that information to federal authorities such as INS. For the sake of clarity, "city employees" include police. The twisted logic behind this order appears to be that if you allow city workers to rat out illegals, then the illegals will be frightened away from using vital city services, which will make the entire city less safe. They won't go to the police for help, to city hospitals for health care, and won't send their kids to public schools. Whether the logic is sound or not is, in my view, beside the point. You don't pass laws or sign executive orders that permit law breakers to get away with breaking the law. Back in 1989 Koch's order was bad enough. But who would believe that even in the aftermath of 9/11, "America's Mayor" Rudy Giuliani would refuse to rescind or in any way tamper with Executive Order 124. It's true. It defies logic, but it's true. In fact Rudy fought a 1996 law passed by Congress that in effect rendered 124 null and void. Enter Mayor Bloomberg, who on May 13, 2003, issued Executive Order 34, which mended, not ended, Koch's order. It prohibited city employees from asking about immigration status, but allowed them to report illegals to the Department of Homeland Security under certain circumstances. But that didn't sit well with so-called "immigrant advocacy" groups and various elected officials, some of whom took to the streets in protest. So Mayor Bloomberg mended his own order with a new one, signed on September 17, 2003. Under this latest one, there are very specific circumstances which would allow a city worker to disclose illegal status. The illegal would have to be suspected of engaging in illegal activity other than mere status as an "undocumented alien." Or dissemination of the illegal's status would have to be considered necessary to apprehend a person suspected of engaging in such illegal activity. Or finally, such disclosure would need to be deemed necessary in furtherance of an investigation of potential terrorist activity. Can you believe it? Bloomberg's latest order actually mentions the word "terror" and explores the possibility of "an investigation of potential terrorist activity." New York, New York, it's a hell of a town.
You can e-mail Steve by going to his Web site at www.malzbergtalk.com. You can sign up for his free e-mail alerts by going to www.newsmax.com/malzberg
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