On yesterday’s Your World, former INS agent Michael Cutler argued that immigration reform would cost Americans jobs. Stuart Varney started by briefly arguing the other side: “They say 11 million illegals in this country are doing jobs that Americans do not want to take. So if you pass immigration reform, it doesn’t cost Americans jobs. What do you say?” That allowed Cutler to open the floodgates of fear mongering.

Cutler said:

Well, first of all I think it’s a lot more than 11 million, I think it’s about 30 or 40 million. And, you know, we saw it in 1986. I was an agent for 30 years. I had a front row seat to the ‘86 amnesty. If you give lawful status to a bunch of illegal aliens who are being exploited, guess what? They will no longer be willing to be exploited. They will demand to be paid on the books. They will have the right to expect that they will be treated equally as Americans, but more importantly, they will have an equal standing in a labor pool that’s already unable to find work. An alien who is naturalized or given employment authorization legally cannot be discriminated against, so they can get the same jobs that Americans desperately need to avoid losing their homes to foreclosure. It makes absolutely no sense.

…This is an American issue Stuart. I mean, look: you came here legally, and I’m sure you cherish the fact you’re here. My mother may she rest in peace came legally. This isn’t about keeping people out of the United States. It’s about first of all not having a negative impact on Americans who are out of work or underemployed.

…The immigration laws were designed for two purposes, protect our lives and protect the jobs of American workers. Comprehensive immigration reform would fly in the face of both of those goals. We would wind up providing competition for Americans who can ill afford it, and we would also compromise national security. …It makes about as much sense to provide millions of illegal aliens with lawful status and employment authorization when Americans can’t find work as it would to drill extra holes in the bottom of your boat if you found your boat already had a hole in it.”