Dereliction of Duty

Why Doing So Gets Americans Killed

Our leaders have told us we are a nation of immigrants.

Reagan, 1984, at Fudan University: “We call ourselves a nation of immigrants, and that’s truly what we are.”

Bush, 2006: “We’re a nation of laws, and we must enforce our laws. We’re also a nation of immigrants.”

Obama, 2014: “My fellow Americans, we are and always will be a nation of immigrants.”

Hillary Clinton, 2016: “I think we are both a nation of immigrants and we are a nation of laws.”

Well, I’m in that count. Legally.

The illegals I’m going to talk about here started on the wrong foot and deliberately stayed out of step.

The first duty.

A government’s first duty is the security of its citizens.

They were here illegally. They were caught for another crime. And instead of removing them and keeping citizens safe, cities like New York, and people like Zohran Mamdani, chose the criminals’ side over Americans.

The names everyone knows.

Kate Steinle, 32. Shot dead on a San Francisco pier, 2015, by Jose Ines Garcia Zarate, an illegal alien San Francisco had released months earlier. Acquitted of murder. [1][2]

Mollie Tibbetts, 20. Abducted and murdered in Iowa, 2018, by Cristhian Bahena Rivera, an illegal alien. Life without parole. [3]

Kayla Hamilton, 20. Murdered in Aberdeen, Maryland, 2022, by Walter Javier Martinez, an illegal alien and MS-13 member. 70 years. [4][5]

Rachel Morin, 37, mother of five. Raped and murdered on a Maryland trail, 2023, by Victor Martinez-Hernandez, an illegal alien. Life without parole. [6][7]

Laken Riley, 22. Murdered in Athens, Georgia, 2024, by Jose Ibarra, an illegal alien the NYPD had arrested and released. Life without parole. [8][9]

Jocelyn Nungaray, 12. Strangled in Houston, 2024. Two illegal aliens, released at the border months earlier, are charged. [10]

Debrina Kawam, 57. Burned to death on a Brooklyn subway train, 2024. A deported illegal alien who came back is charged. [11][12]

Oscar Belgal. Illegal alien. Arrested by the NYPD in 2023, convicted of grand larceny, arrested again in 2025, and left on the street until ICE came for him in Marble Hill. [13][14]

Caught for another crime and let go, or let in and never removed. It’s a distinction without a difference.

The system had them or let them in. It didn’t remove them. Seven women and girls are dead. The eighth man was still on the street.

March 4, 2025.

President Trump stood before Congress and honored Laken Riley with her mother and sister in the gallery. [15]

I watched that speech. Every Republican stood and applauded. By my count, more than nine out of ten Democrats stayed in their seats. That’s what I saw. If you saw something different, the video is public. Show me.

They choose not to.

The city says cooperation scares people away from reporting crime. A man robbing and dealing isn’t calling 911 anyway.

The city says it needs a judge’s warrant. Its own law already allows a hold with one. [16] And the Supreme Court says Washington can’t force a city to help. It never said a city can’t. [17][18]

They’re allowed to hold them. They choose not to.

14,916 ICE detainers not honored in New York since January 2025. [13]

They know these names.

City Hall knows these names. It still hides behind “lawbreakers won’t report lawbreaking.”

Mamdani: “I am in support of abolishing ICE.” [19] “When it comes to our city, we are proud of our sanctuary city policies.” [20]

Here’s what I see.

They are not on America’s side. Not on Americans’ side. No matter how tightly they wrap themselves in the flag, no matter how they work the Constitution.

At the very least on this, they’re on the intruders’ side.

Intent doesn’t change the damage.

Nobody in City Hall swore an oath to weaken this country. I don’t need them to.

If you knowingly release a man you have in custody on a new crime, the result on the street is the same as if you had sworn that oath.

Same victims. Same funerals.

That’s dereliction of the first duty. Immigration doesn’t shrink that duty. It makes it bigger.

Coddling is as pernicious as laziness.

Releasing a man with a record because enforcing the law is uncomfortable is not compassion. It’s coddling. And coddling rots a city the same way laziness does.

Gratitude is spine. Agency. It says: this country is worth protecting, and I’ll do the hard part.

The Three A’s.

Accountability. A crime gets consequences. For everyone.

Assimilation. Come legally. Live by the law. That’s the deal I took.

Allegiance. A government’s allegiance runs to its citizens first.

That’s stewardship. You don’t get to give away the safety of the house you were trusted to guard.

Grateful, or Ungrateful?

Spine, not knees.

LIVE GRATEFUL.

Sources

Ninth Circuit, Steinle v. City and County of San Francisco (2019) (detainer sent March 27, 2015; released April 15, 2015). https://cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/opinions/2019/03/25/17-16283.pdf
AP, “Jury acquits Mexican man in San Francisco pier killing,” Nov. 30, 2017. https://apnews.com/article/e586a1a9688d4287a3412b756a6b225d (Garcia Zarate was acquitted of murder and manslaughter.)
AP, “Man gets life sentence in 2018 killing of Mollie Tibbetts,” 2021. https://apnews.com/article/business-immigration-mollie-tibbetts-61b4beb398a50c20ec0f5cc29ffc0d2e
Harford County State’s Attorney, “Illegal immigrant & MS-13 gang member pleads guilty in brutal 2022 murder.” https://www.harfordcountystatesattorney.org/illegal-immigrant-ms-13-gang-member-pleads-guilty-in-brutal-2022-murder/
Fox Baltimore, “19-year-old illegal immigrant sentenced to 70 years for the murder of Kayla Hamilton.” https://foxbaltimore.com/news/local/19-year-old-illegal-immigrant-sentenced-to-70-years-for-the-murder-of-kayla-hamilton (Sentence: life with all but 70 years suspended.)
Harford County State’s Attorney, “Maximum penalty imposed for brutal 2023 Ma-Pa Trail murder,” Aug. 11, 2025. https://www.harfordcountystatesattorney.org/maximum-penalty-imposed-for-brutal-2023-ma-pa-trail-murder/
AP, “Fugitive from El Salvador gets life in prison in woman’s killing on a Maryland hiking trail,” Aug. 2025. https://apnews.com/article/rachel-morin-killer-life-sentence-maryland-salvador-1fdadf5b38201d54ee7da75de1b823fe
CBS News, “Suspect in murder of Georgia nursing student entered U.S. illegally, ICE says,” Feb. 2024. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/jose-ibarra-suspect-murder-georgia-nursing-student-illegal-entry-venezuela/ (Ibarra’s NYPD arrest and release before a detainer are per ICE; NYPD said it had no record, later reported sealed.)
AP, “Man convicted of killing Laken Riley sentenced to life in prison,” Nov. 20, 2024. https://apnews.com/article/georgia-nursing-student-laken-riley-immigrant-d8d75ccc6d81e7a88eb7890829d9fc9c
CNN, June 26, 2024. https://www.cnn.com/2024/06/26/us/jocelyn-nungaray-killing-houston ; FOX 26 Houston (ICE detainers, release at El Paso). https://www.fox26houston.com/news/venezuelan-nationals-face-capital-murder-charges-houston-girls-death-ice-confirms
NBC News, “Man charged in woman’s burning death on NYC subway was deported from U.S. in 2018.” https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/man-charged-womans-burning-death-nyc-subway-was-previously-deported-us-rcna185276 (Zapeta-Calil: entered illegally June 2018, deported June 7, 2018, re-entry date and place unknown, per ICE.)
Reuters, Jan. 7, 2025. https://www.reuters.com/legal/man-accused-killing-woman-new-york-subway-fire-pleads-not-guilty-2025-01-07/ (Charged; pleaded not guilty.)
DHS press release, Oct. 9, 2026. https://www.dhs.gov/news/2026/10/09/dhs-debunks-new-york-sanctuary-politicians-lies-about-ice-shooting-illegal-alien (DHS claims: in the country illegally, entry “at an unknown date and location,” released days after the Dec. 7, 2023 arrest; 14,916 detainers figure is DHS data.)
Mayor’s Office transcript, NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch on the Marble Hill shooting, Oct. 8, 2026. https://www.nyc.gov/mayors-office/news/2026/10/transcript–mayor-mamdani-holds-press-conference-on-ice-shooting ; AP via PBS, Oct. 9, 2026. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/ice-officer-shoots-a-man-while-making-an-arrest-in-new-york-officials-say (Belgal record per NYPD Commissioner Tisch; 2025 drug-sale charge pending, not guilty plea. A detainer for Belgal is claimed only by unnamed federal sources in the New York Post and is not confirmed.)
ABC11, joint address live coverage, March 4, 2025 (“received applause from Republicans in the chamber”). https://abc11.com/live-updates/trump-joint-session-of-congress-live-updates/15977198/entry/15978677
NYC Administrative Code §§ 9-131, 14-154 (detainer laws). https://www.nyc.gov/assets/immigrants/downloads/pdf/nyc-detainer-laws.pdf
Printz v. United States, 521 U.S. 898 (1997). https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/521/898/
Murphy v. National Collegiate Athletic Assn., 584 U.S. 453 (2018). https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/584/16-476/
ABC News, “Mayor Mamdani says he supports abolishing ICE.” https://abcnews.com/Politics/mayor-mamdani-supports-abolishing-ice-calls-humanity-dealing/story?id=129385475
MEAWW, June 2026 (Mamdani on MS NOW; February executive order). https://news.meaww.com/ice-should-be-abolished-zohran-mamdani-rejects-democratic-concerns-on-immigration

Grateful vs. Ungrateful, Episode 1: The Interpreter and the Streamer

Presidents from both parties have told you the same thing.

Barack Obama, 2014: “My fellow Americans, we are and always will be a nation of immigrants.”
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Q_Xk66gsRU&t=828s
Transcript: https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2014/11/20/remarks-president-address-nation-immigration

George W. Bush, 2006: “We’re a nation of laws, and we must enforce our laws. We’re also a nation of immigrants…”
Transcript: https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2006/05/20060515-8.html

Hillary Clinton, 2016: “I think we are both a nation of immigrants and we are a nation of laws…”
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANT_ZBhpvtw&t=1439s
Transcript: https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/presidential-debate-the-university-nevada-las-vegas

Be that as it may, there are two kinds: Grateful and Ungrateful.

This week it comes down to one question. Where does your loyalty sit?

GRATEFUL: FAHAD AL-KADHIM

https://www.abc15.com/news/uplifting-arizona/u-s-military-interpreter-gifted-truck-to-launch-his-own-trucking-company

In 2007, Fahad Al-Kadhim was 17 and living in Iraq. Al-Qaeda grabbed him because his parents worked for the U.S. military. He says they tortured him for three days. His family paid a ransom to get him back.

He had a choice: hide in his room or fight back. He fought back. From 2008 to 2011 he interpreted for U.S. troops in combat. Then he came here, became a citizen, and joined the Army National Guard, where he trained as a truck driver.

On September 17, Progressive’s Keys to Progress program handed him the keys to a 2024 Freightliner, plus $50,000, to start his own trucking company. His plan is to put his girls through college and hire veterans. In his words: “To make sure I pay back to another veteran and keep that culture to support each other.”

He had every reason to stay bitter. He stayed grateful, stayed down to earth, and never got rich off what he went through.

Sources:
ABC15 Arizona: https://www.abc15.com/news/uplifting-arizona/u-s-military-interpreter-gifted-truck-to-launch-his-own-trucking-company
Progressive: https://progressive.mediaroom.com/2026-09-17-U-S-Army-Veteran-to-Receive-2024-Freightliner-Cascadia-Through-Progressives-Keys-to-Progress-R-Program

UNGRATEFUL: HASAN PIKER

Hasan Piker was born in New Jersey. He’s an American citizen with more than 3 million followers on Twitch. On The Axios Show, Alex Thompson asked him straight: “Do you think America then is worse than al-Qaeda?”

His answer: “Pound-for-pound as far as the number of deaths, yes. We have caused tremendous terror all around the world.”

To be fair to him, in the same interview he called 9/11 “a horrifying tragedy” and said, “I truly believe in the promise of America.” Take him at those words too. Then weigh the answer he gave when the question was put to him straight.

That answer isn’t a one-off. In March 2026 he joined the Nuestra America Convoy to Cuba, a trip billed as solidarity with Cuba against U.S. sanctions. In May, Fox News reported that the Treasury Department’s sanctions office sent records requests to about 40 Americans from that trip, Piker and CodePink co-founder Medea Benjamin among them. The question is whether the trip’s money, planning, or supplies broke U.S. sanctions on Cuba. No one has been charged, and Piker says he was never formally served.

On his stream that weekend, he told viewers: “The news is not great, OK? I mean, it’s bullsh*t, but still not great that they’re after your boy.” He said, “Everything we did was cleared by Treasury,” and that he believes the real target is Neville Roy Singham, a pro-communist tech millionaire living in Shanghai who funds CodePink and groups like it.

Here’s the part that matters most. Piker built his career telling millions of people that capitalism is the villain. That same system made him rich. In 2021 he bought a $2.74 million, five-bedroom home in West Hollywood. When people called it hypocritical, his answer was, “Tax the f*** out of people like me.” He sells his own merch. He keeps the lifestyle.

You can believe whatever you want in this country. That’s the whole point of it. But gratitude means living in a way that matches what you say you believe. Take everything the system gives you, then call it the villain from inside the house it paid for. By his own standard, that’s the ungrateful part.

This one doesn’t shout. There’s no flag burning, no rock through a window. It’s calm, it sounds reasonable, and it comes with a body count to back it up. That’s the soft kind of ungrateful, and it reaches more people than the loud kind ever will.

Sources:
Axios interview (video): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hBJx9ypjF90&t=1153s
Axios: https://www.axios.com/2026/09/17/hasan-piker-axios-show-terrorism-america
Fox News, Treasury records requests (May 23, 2026): https://www.foxnews.com/politics/feds-subpoena-hasan-piker-medea-benjamin-over-cuba-trips
Newsweek, Piker’s stream response: https://www.newsweek.com/hasan-piker-says-theyre-after-your-boy-as-cuba-trip-investigated-11990078
Just The News, Singham comments: https://justthenews.com/government/federal-agencies/marxist-streamer-hasan-piker-says-scrutiny-over-cuba-trip-about-china
Business Insider, 2021 home purchase: https://www.businessinsider.com/hasan-piker-house-twitch-streamer-criticized-los-angeles-2021-8
The Daily Beast, his reply: https://www.thedailybeast.com/socialist-twitch-streamer-hasan-piker-get-grief-from-twitter-for-buying-dollar3-million-los-angeles-home/

SIDE BY SIDE: THE THREE A’S

Accountability. Do they own their choices, or blame others?
Al-Kadhim: Tortured at 17, he chose to fight back instead of hiding. Now he’s building his own business.
Piker: Blames his own country for “tremendous terror,” and calls the Treasury questions an “intimidation operation.”

Assimilation. Do they become American, or demand America change?
Al-Kadhim: Came here, became a citizen, put on the uniform, learned a trade.
Piker: Born here. He lives the American dream and tells his audience it’s the problem.

Allegiance. This country, or another flag?
Al-Kadhim: Stood with the country al-Qaeda punished his family for helping.
Piker: Said America is worse than al-Qaeda, pound for pound, then went to Havana to stand with Cuba against U.S. sanctions.

GRATEFUL OR UNGRATEFUL?

Cast your verdict in the comments, then send it to someone who needs to see this.

LIVE GRATEFUL 🇺🇸

Gratitude starts in the spine, not on the knees.

— A Grateful Immigrant

Presiona Dos..

The Invisible Reconquest

They’re not hiding it. Mexican leaders say it openly—then play coy when confronted. But the words are on record, and the plan’s in motion.

Peter Schweizer, investigative journalist and author of The Invisible Coup (2026), exposes it all.

hoover.org

Peter Schweizer | Hoover Institution

Claudia Sheinbaum’s top aide (late 2024): “We already know that the Mexican population in the United States reaches thirty-nine point nine million. We Mexicans are reclaiming our territory.”

mexiconewsdaily.com

Sheinbaum unveils official presidential portrait

Morena senator on National Defense: “We Mexicans are in our territory—California, Nevada, Texas, Utah, New Mexico, Arizona, Kansas, Oklahoma, Colorado, and Wyoming. We’re going to take back the territory that was stolen from us.”

Ex-president Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO): “We Mexicans are reconquering our lands again…”

latimes.com

Mexico’s AMLO gives his last news conference as president – Los …

Who gets used? The darkest, poorest, most discarded Mexicans, the ones Victor Davis Hanson calls the “brown underclass” in Mexifornia.

Victor Davis Hanson, classicist, military historian, farmer: His book Mexifornia: A State of Becoming nails it—Mexico’s elite export their marginalized (due to deep internal racism) as a safety valve, while using them here for demographic leverage. Remittances help, but the goal is cultural/political shift. Once “reconquered,” those same people? Discarded again.

Summer Board of Overseers Meeting. Photo by Eric Draper

Victor Davis Hanson | Hoover Institution

That is why you’ve seen these riots with these illegals wrapping themselves with the Mexican flag.

It’s not secret. It’s brazen. When called out, they deflect—”just consular work”—but the quotes don’t lie.

Wake up: Your country slips away without a shot fired—county by county, school by school, vote by vote. The money’s secondary. The loss of nation? That’s the real hit.

Don’t wait for the headlines to catch up. They’re already here.

– The Grateful Immigrant St. Paul, Minnesota

February 5, 2026

LIVE GRATEFUL 🇺🇸