Nine years after the attacks on the World Trade Center, The Pentagon and the heroic efforts of those aboard Flight 93, the government of this country refuses to ensure the safety of its citizens. On the contrary, they work against any efforts to deter terrorists and unknowns from freely entering and leaving the country unobstructed. There has been little to no effort to truly secure our wide open border. There have been more pushes for "quick background checks" of those who wish to come here in order to "clear the backlog". Does this make us secure?

I ask you how does this ensure us that those who enter our country intend to do us no harm?

We allow people into our country on temporary visitor and work visas and then do not track whether they do indeed leave. If they are caught by some circumstance, they are brought before a court - or tried in absentia - and ordered to leave the country. Then they are released back into the community. Those who have remained illegally and managed to get pregnant are given a free pass. We're told it would be heartless to send a fugitive illegal alien back to their home country with their child - or children.

Fraud is rampant in our immigration system and the government seems not to care. The protection of both our southern and northern borders has been done piecemeal and prevented at every step. Our government is controlled by politicians who are looking for nothing more than votes, power or money from blocs of voters they perceive as united as one. They are pampered by business lobbies and interests to do their bidding. They do not care about the safety and security of the American citizen as their actions prove.

Meanwhile, the American people continue to cry out for our laws to be enforced. They continue to be portrayed as hateful villains or non-inclusive xenophobes and are ignored as "fringe" despite polling that shows they are the majority. States that want to stand up and ensure the public is being protected are being sued by the federal government.

The terrorists who came to this country to try and destroy our way of life used fraud, illegally entry and overstayed visas. They came in with full knowledge of their hateful intentions and our government failed at every level to prevent them.

What has changed since 9/11/2001? Nothing. We are still just as vulnerable and our government has learned nothing from the terrorist attack in 1993 on the World Trade Center to the attacks of September 11 to the present day.

We dishonor those who have died by allowing their families and children to remain vulnerable to just such another attack. We also dishonor the American people who will yet become victims due to this lack of action. We dishonor the daily victims who are robbed, raped, murdered and killed by those here who should have been caught; their actions of destruction to people's lives should have been prevented.

Every year, on this date, I sit back and think if our government has truly made our country any safer. Every year I am disappointed at realizing that they have not done so. When you realize the reasoning behind why they have not done so, it should outrage you as it does me.

All those taxes, all that talk, all the false promises, none of which they ever intended to keep. All for self-interest, greed and power at the expense of our safety and security and our efforts by each citizen to remain the most amazing and incredible country on Earth.

Remember the victims of 9/11 and their families - and please vow that you will prevent future victims by speaking out. Doing so after the fact is just so tragic.