http://formerspook.blogspot.com/2007/05/another-reason-to-reject-immigration
.html

Another Reason to Reject the Immigration Bill

As they debate the so-called immigration reform bill in Washington, members
of Congress would be well-advised to read a timely--and
illuminating--investigative series in the San Antonio
<http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/metro/stories/MYSA052007.01A.SIA_Main_Part
One.359e190.html> Express-News. 

The four-part report (which concludes today) traces the flow of illegal
immigrants from high-risk countries and the potential security threat they
pose. Express-News reporter Todd Bensman spent six months working on the
series, traveling to Syria, Central America and the Mexican border,
following the trail of "special interest aliens." That's the term used by
federal officials to describe immigrants who come from 43 nations where
terrorist groups operate. The fear, of course, is that these same
organizations are sending operatives across our borders, to launch new
attacks in the United States. 

As Mr. Bensman notes, these "special interest aliens" constitute a
relatively small percentage of the millions who flood across the border
every year, but they are a cause for concern. In recent years, the Border
Patrol and other law enforcement agencies have intercepted several illegals
with apparent terrorist connections. They include:

Mahmoud Kourani, convicted in Detroit as a leader of the terrorist group
Hezbollah. Using a visa obtained by bribing a Mexican official in Beirut,
the Lebanese national sneaked over the Mexican border in 2001 in the trunk
of a car. 

Nabel Al-Marahb, a reputed al-Qaida operative who was No. 27 on the FBI's
most wanted terrorist list in the months after 9-11, crossed the Canadian
border in the sleeper cab of a long-haul truck. 


Farida Goolam Mahammed, a South African woman captured in 2004 as she
carried into the McAllen airport cash and clothes still wet from the Rio
Grande. Though the government characterized her merely as a border jumper,
U.S. sources now say she was a smuggler who ferried people with terrorist
connections. One report credits her arrest with spurring a major
international terror investigation that stopped an al-Qaida attack on New
York. 

One U.S.-bound Pakistani apparently captured in Mexico drew such suspicion
that he ended up in front of a military tribunal at Guantanamo Bay. 

"They are not all economic migrants," said attorney Janice Kephart, who
served as legal counsel for the 9-11 Commission and co-wrote its final staff
report. "I do get frustrated when people who live in Washington or Illinois
say we don't have any evidence that terrorists are coming across. But there
is evidence." 

How many special interest aliens are in the U.S.? Citing government
statistics, Mr. Bensman reports that the Border Patrol and Customs Service
have apprehended more than 5,700 immigrants in that category since 2001. But
that's just the tip of the proverbial iceberg. Over a four-year period
(2001-2005), other law enforcement agencies arrested more than 34,000
emigres from Syria, Iran, Sudan and Libya, after it was determined they were
in the country illegally. 

More disturbing is the fact that many are never caught. Based on
rule-of-thumb estimates used by homeland security agencies, somewhere
between 20-60,000 special interest aliens have slipped across our borders
since 2001, and the government (of course) has no real idea where they are,
or what their plans might be. And our enemies are well aware of our lax
border security; Bensman cites a recently-declassified intelligence report
which says Al Qaida views crossing the border illegally as a "secondary"
alternative for smuggling operatives into the United States. 

While some officials downplay the threat--a Hispanic state representative in
Texas says he isn't worried because the Middle Easterners arrive in "onesies
and twosies"--Mr. Bensman's series raises troubling questions. He follows
the efforts of a single Iraqi Christian to enter the U.S., noting that if he
could do it (at a cost of roughly $4,000), then why couldn't an
equally-determined, and presumably, better-financed terrorist? 

Why indeed? The infrastructure is already in place; smugglers and middlemen
in places like Damascus can provide legal or forged travel documents to get
the aliens to countries like Guatemala, which has become a way station on
the path to our southern border. In some cases, the documents are approved
by "honorary consular" officers that represent Latin American nations in
Middle East capitals. And while those officials claim that they interview
all applicants for travel visas and other documents, the Express-News
investigation suggests otherwise. 

The series also highlights some successes in keeping terrorists from
crossing the border illegally. The government of Mexico is providing
(surprisingly) strong support, realizing that any major terrorist attack on
U.S. soil with a "Mexican connection" would mean the end current
"relationship" between the two countries. Mexican authorities have arrested
scores of Middle Easterners passing through their country, and they allow
U.S. intelligence and law enforcement officials to question the detainees.
Anecdotal evidence suggests the recent crack-down has reduced the flow of
Middle Eastern aliens into the United States. 

But the system is far from perfect. Readers are left with the realization
that for every terrorist (or would-be terrorist) who is intercepted in
Mexico or along our southern border, others are getting through. And we can
only imagine what their intentions might be. 

Mr. Bensman's reporting is not unsympathetic to the Middle Easterners who
try to enter the U.S. The immigrant profiled in his series--a young man
names Boles--seems to be the prototypical Iraqi refugee that would receive
sanctuary under a recent White House proposal. But the Express-News series
also provides more evidence that the administration-backed reform plan is
fatally flawed. Any notion of "fixing" the current system should come after
our borders are secure, and we have a better handle on the "special interest
aliens" already living in this country. 

 



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