The United States has outsourced the manufacturing of its electronic passports to overseas companies — including one in Thailand that was victimized by Chinese espionage — raising concerns that cost savings are being put ahead of national security, an investigation by The Washington Times has found.Needless to say, the GPO, the DHS, and the State Department are following the usual protocol by claiming there were no risks. They also say they had no choice because the foreign chips were the only ones that met their standards. However:
The Government Printing Office's decision to export the work has proved lucrative, allowing the agency to book more than $100 million in recent profits by charging the State Department more money for blank passports than it actually costs to make them, according to interviews with federal officials and documents obtained by The Times.
...GPO Inspector General J. Anthony Ogden, the agency's internal watchdog, doesn't share that confidence. He warned in an internal Oct. 12 report that there are "significant deficiencies with the manufacturing of blank passports, security of components, and the internal controls for the process."Note also that unsecured FedEx shipments were used for some of the "secure" passports (link).
Thousands of foreign student pilots have been able to enroll and obtain pilot licenses from U.S. flight schools, despite tough laws passed in the wake of the 9/ll attacks, according to internal government documents obtained by ABC News.Presumably, almost all would appear to have at least arrived legally, although if they had then violated the terms of their visas they would have presumably become illegal aliens, the same situation as some of the 9/11 hijackers were involved in.
"Some of the very same conditions that allowed the 9-11 tragedy to happen in the first place are still very much in existence today," wrote one regional security official to his boss at the TSA, the Transportation Security Administration.
"Thousands of aliens, some of whom may very well pose a threat to this country, are taking flight lessons, being granted FAA certifications and are flying planes," wrote the TSA official, Richard A. Horn, in 2005, complaining that the students did not have the proper visas.
Under the new laws, American flight schools are only supposed to provide pilot training to foreign students who have been given a background check by the TSA and have a specific type of visa...
From this:
Two men on the "national terrorist watch list" have been turned over to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) following a routine traffic stop... [Patagonia, Arizona Police Chief Ed Dobbertin said] that the men were of Middle Eastern descent and had been residing in Sierra Vista. ..."They were on the list because apparently they were non-U.S. citizens going to Nogales to basically bond out an individual - their associate - who was also a non-U.S. citizen that had been stopped the night before by Customs and Border Protection agents for entering the United States illegally," said Dobbertin.
From this:
Three Afghanis were arrested Wednesday at an international airport in India's Kerala state for flying with forged Mexican passports. They had just arrived there from Kuwait, where officials examined the passports identifying them as "Antonio Lopez Juan," "Javier Sanchez Alberto," and "Atonio Lopez Ernesto," and found that they didn't understand any Spanish. Maybe they were also suspicious of these inept attempts to ape Spanish names...
More at the link and here. They were supposedly trying to get to France, and despite the fact that they're obviously quite inept that doesn't mean that others won't do a better job and perhaps with the goal of making it to the U.S.
In a major policy shift aimed at reducing a ballooning immigration backlog, the Homeland Security Department is preparing to grant permanent residency to tens of thousands of applicants before the FBI completes a required background check.As discussed here, this isn't a good omen for "comprehensive immigration reform".
Those eligible are immigrants whose fingerprints have cleared the FBI database of criminal convictions and arrests, but whose names have not yet cleared the FBI's criminal or intelligence files after six months of waiting.
The immigrants who are granted permanent status, more commonly known as getting their green cards, will be expected eventually to clear the FBI's name check. If they don't, their legal status will be revoked and they'll be deported...
..."[Background checking is] a very complicated process," said Bill Carter, a FBI spokesman. "It involves dozens of agencies and databases and often foreign governments."
...Although the FBI clears about 70 percent of the name checks within 72 hours, the bureau struggles to keep up with more than 74,000 requests per week, roughly half arising from immigration applications.
A video made during an investigation by the U.S. Government Accountability Office shows a stream of Mexicans strolling through the border into the U.S. as federal Custom and Border Patrol agents sit staring at "information on computer screens."The GAO director of homeland security and justice issues, Richard Stana, testified before Congress last week and said those weren't just isolated incidents. And, while funding is part of the reason, Stana says it goes deeper:
On another of the videos recorded at eight entry points across the country, an agent was reportedly waving aliens through the lane without "looking at them, making verbal contact or inspecting travel documents."
"Emphasis is not being placed on all missions, and there is a failure by some of its officers to recognize the threat associated with dangerous people and goods entering the country."
Based on the response to Rep. Tom Tancredo's ad about terrorism, one thing is clear: the nutroots/netroots (like Crooks and Liars, Raw Story, etc.), supposed mainstream bloggers/pundits (like Matt Yglesias), and the MSM just don't take border security that seriously. Some Democratic politicians might not go that far, and some might truly support border security, but most of them - including the top-tier Democratic candidates - simply talk a good game.
Hopefully Frank Luntz or similar is working on rhetoric that would expose this abject failure to protect the U.S. and that could be used by various candidates when it applies. In the meantime, here's my first attempt:
The Democrats just don't see terrorist infiltration of the U.S. as an important issue and would prefer to concentrate on more important things.
It needs a bit of clean-up; I use "important" twice.
Some largely unimportant lefties are up in arms (link) about the following ad from Tom Tancredo that depicts a 24-like scenario with a backpack bomb being left in a shopping mall. After a quick walk, I believe I've stumbled upon the reason why: the loud bang at the end shocks them into a sudden realization of the consequences of the loose border policies that they've supported and/or enabled.
UPDATE: Youtube has flagged the video (youtube.com/watch?v=LZBjXr5CWUI) as "inappropriate for some users" and requires you to sign in and verify that you're 18 or over before viewing it (related: see "We're all going to regret giving Youtube so many links"). Please contact them and let them know what you think: google.com/support/youtube/bin/request.py
I've switched the video to chbn.com.
As for the "interesting" comments, this post is about those on the left/Democratic side of things who've gotten the vapors over this ad. When those on the right/Republican side weigh in it will be updated. This site is well aware of the negligence of both Bush and the Democrats, and has been discussing that for several years.
UPDATE 2: Youtube has locked away one version of the ad; the version from TeamTancredo itself is still available for anyone: youtube.com/watch?v=rBK7bWh1m04
The report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office said the State Department's inspector general warned in 2003 that the Diversity Visa Program posed a significant risk to national security and recommended it be closed to people from countries on the U.S. list of state terrorism sponsors.They haven't found any evidence that terrorists have used the program but, obviously, that doesn't mean that they couldn't have snuck under the radar.
But four years later, the program remains open to people from those nations and little is known about what becomes of them once they enter the United States, the GAO said.
From 2000 to 2006, the program allowed 3,703 people from Sudan, 3,164 from Iran, 2,763 from Cuba and 162 from Syria to enter the United States and apply for permanent legal resident status, the report said. That totals 9,792 new immigrants...
...this program run by the State Department increases immigration from the seven countries that the State Department has declared "state sponsors of international terrorism:" Iran (768 visas this year), Iraq (71), Syria (62), Libya (61), Cuba (529), North Korea (four) and Sudan (1,297).
It also awards permanent residency to the natives of two countries that are the prime sources of al Qaida -- the network of suspected terrorists: Saudi Arabia (38) and Egypt (1,551). Other participating countries with active Islamist terrorist elements include Algeria (834), Lebanon (62) and Yemen (45)...
FBI Director Robert Mueller said this week that his agency busted a smuggling ring organized by the terrorist group Hezbollah that had operatives cross the Mexican border to carry out possible terrorist attacks inside the U.S...This may or may not be the same group as that mentioned here.
...Mueller admitted that Hezbollah had succeeded in smuggling some of its operatives across the border, telling the House committee: "That was an organization that we dismantled and identified those persons who had been smuggled in. And they have been addressed as well."
[Texas Homeland Security Director Steve McCraw] said Wednesday that terrorists with ties to Hezbollah, Hamas and al-Qaida have been arrested crossing the Texas border with Mexico in recent years.
...Leticia Zamarripa, a spokeswoman for Immigration and Customs Enforcement in El Paso, said Wednesday she was unaware of any border arrests of people with terrorist ties. An ICE spokeswoman in San Antonio did not return phone messages left by The Associated Press. U.S. Border Patrol spokesman Lloyd M. Easterling was unable to comment.
However, McCraw's remarks are similar to those made recently by National Intelligence Director Mike McConnell, who last month told the El Paso Times that a small number of people with known links to terrorist organizations have been caught crossing the border.
McCraw identified the most notable figure captured as Farida Goolam Mahomed Ahmed, who was arrested in July 2004 at the McAllen airport...
[U.S. Customs and Border Protection first said she was a terrorism suspect, then retracted that claim]
...Michael Shelby, then the U.S. attorney in Houston, said in January 2005 that any suggestion Ahmed was involved in terrorism "is in error."
[her case was later sealed and she was deported]
...But on Wednesday, McCraw described Ahmed as having ties to an insurgent group in Pakistan and whose specialty was smuggling Afghanis and other foreign nationals across the border.
...McCraw also said that since March 2006, 347 people from what he called "terrorism-related countries" have been arrested crossing the border in Texas. The number of Iraqis captured at the border has tripled since last year, he said...
Islamic extremists embedded in the United States - posing as Hispanic nationals - are partnering with violent Mexican drug gangs to finance terror networks in the Middle East, according to a [2005] Drug Enforcement Administration report.
...These terrorist groups, or sleeper cells, include people who speak Arabic, Spanish and Hebrew and, for the most part, arouse no suspicion in their communities.
"It is very likely that any future 'September 11th' type of terrorist event in the United States may be facilitated, wittingly or unwittingly, by drug traffickers operating on both sides of the United States-Mexico border," the DEA report says.
..."Hearings I held in Laredo [Texas] last year and this DEA report show that our southern border is a terrorist risk," [Rep. Ed Royce of California] said. "Law enforcement has warned that people from Arab countries have crossed the border and adopted Hispanic surnames. The drug cartels have highly sophisticated smuggling and money-laundering networks, which terrorists could access..."
Brian Ross of ABC News says that an "FBI intelligence report distributed by the Washington, D.C. Joint Terrorism Task Force" says that a group based in Chaparral, New Mexico is smuggling Iraqis and other Middle Easterners across the border. Few other details are provided, and things like this aren't exactly news to those who've been watching the posts in this category. The Ross article also fails to note that some of the Iraqis illegal aliens caught crossing the border are Christians, and the article also contains a last paragraph saying that until recently, "the United States has kept its doors all but shut to the estimated two million refugees fleeing the violence in Iraq".
An "admitted illegal alien from Mexico" was arrested Wednesday for producing a half-dozen fake identification, Social Security and permanent residency cards and selling them to undercover police officers, the Butler County [Ohio] Sheriff's Office said Thursday.
Abel Gaston Gudino-Arenas, 33, of Middletown, was charged with six counts of forgery — a fifth-degree felony — and no operator's license — a misdemeanor — for manufacturing fake documents, according to a news release from the sheriff's office. Deputies said the man admitted to manufacturing the cards for more than three months.
Gudino-Arenas was arrested after he allegedly delivered a fake ID to undercover officers for Khalid Sheikh Mohammed of Pakistan, the self-proclaimed mastermind behind the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. According to the news release, officers asked Gudino-Arenas to produce the ID for Mohammed "in an attempt to see how far (he) was willing to go."
Suspect Dritan Duka has past arrests on charges of disorderly conduct and possession of drugs and drug paraphernalia. He also has six separate speeding and driving with a suspended license infractions, records show.In related news, professional ethno-booster Linda Chavez plays cards:
Shain Duka has past arrests on charges of obstruction of justice, hindering apprehension and making physical threats. He also has five separate traffic infractions. Eljvir Duka has past drug counts and at least two motor vehicle infractions.
The three brothers are accused of helping lead the plot to shoot soldiers at Fort Dix. They are being held without bail. The fact that at least three of the suspects had past run-ins with the law and are in the United States illegally was brought up on Capitol Hill Thursday.
California congressman Elton Gallegly pointed out Mohammed Atta, one of the Sept. 11 hijackers, was stopped by police for a traffic violation weeks before the attacks. Atta was also in the United States illegally, having overstayed his visa. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales told the panel that many local law enforcement agencies do not check the immigration status of a driver during traffic stops.
If the police had thrown the men in jail and checked their legal status, perhaps this whole plot could have been averted. I wonder whether the police would have been more diligent if the men had hailed from, say, Mexico or Guatemala, rather than Macedonia.
The three brothers being charged as part of the alleged Fort Dix terror plot may have been smuggled across the border, FOX News has learned.
Dritan "Anthony" or "Tony" Duka, 28; Shain Duka, 26; and Eljvir "Elvis" Duka, 23, were in the United States illegally. Federal investigators were exploring whether they were smuggled into the country or entered as stowaways.
Because the three men entered the United States without inspection, there is no legal record of their entry...
Illegal immigrants say they were working on a military housing project outside Buckley Air Force Base within days after a major immigration raid there last year.Bear in mind, of course, that the latter may or may not have happened, and there doesn't appear to be proof that any of those who had been deported were back working at the base. Of course, whether the DHS is looking for that proof is an open question.
Immigration officials said at the time that they were protecting national security and sending a message to employers with the Sept. 20 raid, which nabbed more than 120 workers.
Most of the workers were from Mexico and were quickly deported. Others came from Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador. Three had outstanding criminal warrants and were turned over to Aurora police.
Julio Cesar Rodriguez, an illegal immigrant from Mexico, told the Rocky Mountain News he was back on the job a few days after the raid.
So was Martin Torrez, who said he saw about a dozen workers who returned to Buckley after they were deported...
The housing site is near the giant golf ball-like satellite monitoring systems on the base, which assist in global surveillance, missile warnings and homeland defense operations...
[Juan Guzman, a legal permanent resident who befriended some of the deported workers] said one worker told him he called a foreman while he was still in Mexico to see if he could get his job back.
"He was told, 'Just come back under a new identity, and we'll hire you back,' " Guzman said...
Posted at 01:27 PM | Comments (1)
According to the statements, the armed group [of eight people] wore bulletproof vests and carried automatic weapons as they approached an entrance-identification site manned by the four National Guardsmen.The account has been confirmed by the Border Patrol and the NG, and they point out that the Guardsmen were armed (but don't say whether they had bullets). They left the area and called in the BP, who tracked the group as they returned to Mexico.
As they approached, the armed men "split into two groups to surround the site," said the statement from the National Guard government liaison.
Then, as the Guardsmen were putting their gear into the vehicle to leave, one of the armed men approached to within 40 feet, the National Guard report said.
The report goes on to say: "Both groups kept their weapons 'ready low' and never pointed them at each other. No shots were fired."
Posted at 11:51 AM | Comments (1)
Last night, a group of armed border crossers stormed a National Guard encampment between Nogales and Lukeville in Arizona. Apparently no one was hurt and the four Guardsmen retreated and called for backup rather than firing on those who'd stormed them. They don't know what the goal was, and the attackers fled back to Mexico. Video at the link.
In the past, large numbers of people have tried to cross the border at one time as a diversionary tactic, allowing smugglers to bring drugs across elsewhere. This could have been a similar situation, or it could have been an attempt to see how the NG would react, or it could have been a threat of some kind.
In any case, the response of almost all Dem leaders and most Republican leaders will be weak to non-existent.
Posted at 10:41 PM | Comments (2)
...Evidence of "special-interest aliens" using the Mexican border to gain entry to the United States has been kept secret from the American public, according to federal law enforcement agents, terrorism experts and critics of U.S. foreign policy with Mexico.And, FWIW, the DEA says that Asian crime groups could work with Mexican groups to import drugs into the U.S.:
In 2005, the Border Patrol apprehended approximately 1.2 million people in the U.S. illegally. Of those, 165,000 were from countries other than Mexico, and roughly 650 were, like Kamal, from special-interest countries, according to the Border Patrol.
Those interviewed by the Daily Bulletin say agencies including the FBI and CIA are not using information from Border Patrol and Drug Enforcement Administration agents to make connections between the drug trade, illegal immigration and terrorist organizations.
"For us to believe that Mexican smugglers will not assist, knowingly or unknowingly, foreign terrorists trying to enter the United States is incomprehensible," said Rep. Ted Poe, R-Texas, who, along with other congressional representatives, has pushed for stricter border security policies.
...But federal agents say getting bureaucrats to understand the growing danger is difficult when most lawmakers won't even acknowledge many of the problems already happening along the U.S. border.Much more at the link.
..."We had video and photographs [of a border incursion by the Mexican Army or groups dressed as same]," [Sheriff Arvin West of Hudspeth County] said. "We went to Congress and testified before them with the evidence in hand. And we were told by Congressman (Silvestre) Reyes (D-El Paso) that we were either lying or mistaken."
Reyes, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, and U.S. and Mexican government officials tried to play down the documents and the incident in Hudspeth County. They stated publicly that the cartels were dressing like Mexican military to damage relations between the U.S. and Mexico.
Reyes, who recently was appointed chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, did not return phone calls seeking comment...
Posted at 10:33 PM | Comments (1)
One of two Houston men accused of training to fight with the Taliban pleaded guilty this afternoon in federal court.
Kobie Diallo Williams, 33, a U.S. citizen who was a student at the University of Houston Downtown, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to assist a terrorist group. His help included withdrawing cash from an ATM to send to the Middle East.
Another man, Adnan Babar Mirza, 29, a Pakistani national who was in the country on an expired student visa, faces similar conspiracy charges as well as three federal weapons violations. Mirza appeared today before a U.S. magistrate judge.
Mirza became illegal when his visa expired. Someone holding a student visa or in the country illegally is not allowed to have firearms...
Posted at 11:38 PM | Comments (1)
Mexican and U.S. agents are investigating a group in Mexico that they believe is funding Lebanese Hezbollah guerrillas, two newspapers reported on Thursday.
Mexico started the investigation three months ago on a request from the United States, which is helping in the probe, the daily El Universal said.
The alleged cell is suspected of financing Hezbollah rather than planning attacks itself, according to the Milenio newspaper.
Milenio said the attorney general's office in Mexico has compiled a list of people and companies it believes have provided funds to support Hezbollah, but no names were given.
Lebanon's ambassador was critical.
"This is part of a fear campaign from those who believe they are fighting against terrorism," Nouhad Mahmoud told Reuters. He said he knew nothing about an investigation of a Hezbollah cell in Mexico: "We have no idea, we only saw this in the newspapers."
Posted at 12:46 PM | Comments (1)
An estimated 75 percent of applicants for immigrant benefits - green cards, work visas, and a host of other documents - at a major federal processing center were not screened through the U.S. terrorism watch list over the past four years, the Daily Bulletin has learned.Now, read Chapter 3 of the 9/11 Commission Staff Report.
The error - on nearly 3 million applications dating to 2002 - was confirmed by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) officers at the National Benefits Center in Lee's Summit, Mo., near Kansas City. The center is one of several facilities across the country that process foreign applications for immigrant benefits.
Numerous Department of Homeland Security e-mails - sent the day after British authorities uncovered major terror plot - noted that supervisors and adjudicators at the Missouri center were not aware that a simple touch of a computer key would have allowed them to check the names of applicants against the highest-priority terrorist list. According to the e-mails and the adjudicators themselves, up to 2.8 million applications at the center dating to 2002 did not get such checks.
Robert Cowan, director of the National Benefits Center, denied that benefits were processed incorrectly and said any failed background checks were given to supervisors for final review. Cowan added that the 75 percent figure was attributable to employees not properly marking enforcement documents, misspelling names, or leaving out names altogether...
Posted at 12:49 PM | Comments (1)
Almost half of the illegal aliens arriving in the U.S. from terrorist-sponsoring or "special interest" nations in the past few years have been released into the American population following their apprehension. This key finding is published in an internal audit of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) obtained by Cybercast News Service.
The so-called "catch and release" policies have allowed more than 45,000 illegal aliens from countries that are well known for their anti-American views or considered "hotbeds of Islamic fundamentalism" to be freed.
U.S. Rep. Ted Poe (R-Texas), in conversations with sheriffs operating along the Texas-Mexico border, learned that illegal aliens of Middle Eastern descent have been able to blend into the culture south of the U.S. border and pass themselves off as Mexicans.
"They learn Spanish and assimilate into the population," Poe said. "Coming across the Canadian border they would be more conspicuous..."
Posted at 04:03 PM | Comments (1)
From this:
In a seven minute Full Disclosure Network Video News Blog United States Attorney Debra Yang and retired L. A. County Sheriff Sergeant Richard Valdemar discuss the problems of gang members and illegal foreign nationals working as airport baggage handlers and in high security areas of airports and who have access to the tarmacs and commercial airliners...
Posted at 10:58 PM | Comments (1)
A leading terrorism expert says Canada's liberal open-door immigration policy is a "death wish" for an attack on home soil.
David Harris, a former top CSIS official who's now a senior fellow with the Canadian Coalition for Democracies, believes a bloated influx of immigrants and refugees poses a serious threat to national security. He said the entry system has spun "out of control," with the country now taking in far more people than it can properly screen and integrate into society.
"That's a death wish," he said. "It's inconceivable the way that we've managed ourselves in that regard, and it's a terrible shame for the immigrant communities who have come in to make a constructive, peaceful life to find that they're frequently under siege by radicals in their midst."
Harris said the growing problem of homegrown terrorists also stems from flawed immigration policies, since Canada is building "colonies of isolation" with the extensive penetration of certain ethnic groups. That has a ghettoizing effect, fuelling isolation and imagined racial or religious supremacy, he said.
"If people come in absorbable, smaller numbers, then presumably there's a better chance they can interact and integrate charter values," Harris said...
Posted at 11:25 AM | Comments (5)
There's no word on any terrorism connection, but a man from the Republic of Georgia is being held in the Westmoreland County Prison under orders of ICE after admitting to being an illegal alien. He and a compatriot (who wasn't held) had in their possession: $4200 in cash, 15 pre-paid cellular phones, a laptop, and GPS software. Obviously, there are both innocent and more sinister explanations for those possessions.
Posted at 08:30 PM | Comments (0)
1. Of GOP '08 serious prospects, only George Allen looks as if he understands the immigration issue. (Unless you think Newt Gingrich is a serious prospect.)#2: The LAPL might still have 50s-era a book I saw there once called something like, "Spanish for the Texas Housewife". I should scan that in to go with that comment.
2. Quote on GWB: "He loves his servants. He's a guy with a ranch and lots of Mexican help. Vicente Fox is a guy with a ranch and lots of Mexican help. Of course they got on well."
3. Quote *from* GWB (reportedly): "I spent a lot of time with my baseball team. I understand immigration." (Sounds authentic GWB to me.)
4. Quote from a guy who's been toiling in the immigration-enforcement vineyard for a decade or so: "This administration will never do anything to stop illegal immigration, except grudgingly and half-heartedly. They just don't believe in it. If you squeeze 'em real hard, they'll make a gesture. That's it. They just don't believe in it. Their real effort, their real concentration, is always on finding ways to do nothing about immigration."
5. Grass roots immigration-enforcement groups: They are babes in the wood. The La Raza types run rings round them. They easily fall into factional squabbling. They attract kooky fringe types, and don't know how to get rid of them. The enemy has all the heavy artillery: AILA, Republican elites, pretty much the entire Democratic Party (though there were some kind words for James Webb), all the media, the universities, etc.
6. The Mexican drug cartels have staked out lookout posts on high ground up to 200 miles into U.S. territory. There are armed foreign nationals on U.S. soil, protecting their drug shipment routes. Presented with photographic evidence of this Karl Rove pooh-poohed it.
Posted at 09:22 AM | Comments (3)
Twenty five illegal aliens were arrested working at Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana. They were working in construction and landscaping, and this report from China's People's Daily Online has no word on what country they were from.
The Communist China newspaper also reports:
The Barksdale Air Force Base, home for the Air Force's 2nd Bomb Wing, also provides global combat capability and trains all B-52 combat crews.
Always remember: George Bush is keeping the U.S. homeland safe, and our enemies are not paying attention to any weaknesses we might have.
Posted at 11:40 PM | Comments (2)
Les Kinsolving asked Tony Snow about border security:
"The president has made his views on border security well-known... and my question: Would the president make border security a higher priority if he were convinced it was being used as an entry point by terrorists like those who are part of Hezbollah and al-Qaida?"
Snow responded:
"Think of it this way. The president committed as much money to the borders already as the House of Representatives was planning on doing in five years. So, he was serious before – he's perfectly cognizant of the possibility there may be terrorists crossing over. We have intelligence assets deployed in the area, and so he's not going to be anymore concerned because he's already very concerned about it."
Now, let's look at the facts. Karl Rove admits that 6 million illegal aliens have entered on Bush's watch. And, not only has the Bush administration almost completely refused to enforce immigration laws in the workplace, they admit it. And, Bush has almost come right out and blackmailed the U.S., saying that he'll only enforce the borders after he gets a guest worker plan.
I guess there are different levels of being concerned. If he were really concerned, he would do what's necessary to reduce the risk. The fact is, he has not. He has clearly made the decision that keeping the cheap labor flowing is more important than the security of the U.S.
Posted at 09:25 AM | Comments (5)
Federal agents conducting a sweep aimed at illegal immigrants detained 58 civilian workers Tuesday as they tried to enter Fort Bragg with suspected false or fraudulently obtained identification, officials said.Which leads to the obvious question: which countries were the others from? Needless to say, the article doesn't provide an answer.
Almost all of them were construction workers, officials said...
Some of the people detained were from Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras, ICE spokesman Marc Raimondi said...
Posted at 04:31 AM | Comments (2)
One important lesson our country learned on Sept. 11, 2001, is that state and local police can make the difference between an unsuccessful terrorist plot and an attack that kills nearly 3,000 people. But some in Washington, D.C., still have not absorbed this lesson.Related:
The immigration bill (S. 2611) approved by the Senate last month strips local police officers of arrest authority that could have been used to stop the 9/11 attacks.
In the aftermath of 9/11, we learned that five of the 19 hijackers had violated federal immigration laws while they were in the United States. In other words, they were illegal aliens. Amazingly, in the months before the attack, four of those five terrorists were stopped by local police for speeding. All four could have been arrested—if the police officers had realized that they were illegal aliens...
Posted at 05:33 AM | Comments (2)
The U.S. immigration system is so broken that it can't be fixed, a former top security official at the Department of Homeland Security's Citizenship and Immigration Services (CIS) told NewsMax in an exclusive interview.The USCIS would be in charge of administering the Bush/Fox/Senate amnesty scheme.
"Internal corruption at CIS is so pervasive that hostile foreign governments have penetrated the agency," said Michael J. Maxwell, who was forced to resign as chief of the CIS Office of Security and Investigation earlier this year...
..."Even if the adjudicators get a terrorist hit, the regulations say they must refer the case to the FBI," Maxwell said. "It doesn't say, deny them an immigration benefit. It just says, refer. That's very dangerous, because once they get the immigration benefit it becomes very hard to investigate them."
If the FBI fails for whatever reason to send over the case file on the individual who has been flagged, "then statutorily, the case officer must grant the benefit, even if there's a warning the person is a terrorist," Maxwell told NewsMax.
That means that individuals from Iran, Iraq, Syria, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Yemen, whose identities could not be verified and who could be working for terrorist groups, have been granted green cards or even citizenship, Maxwell added...
...More than 7 million immigration-related "benefit" claims are adjudicated every year, which Maxwell and other critics say have led immigration officers to "rubber-stamp" green card and citizenship applications. Many CIS service centers have policies that reward immigration officers who adjudicate the highest number of cases per day, giving them additional paid leave and other benefits...
...USCIS has documented an immigration route through the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico that could be exploited by foreign intelligence services and terrorists, with the complicity of U.S. immigration officers.
"The smugglers know that only one flight per day is inspected," Maxwell said, "so they put these folks on other flights," Maxwell said. An internal CIS investigation into the operations of the San Juan immigration district, obtained by NewsMax, describes the Virgin Islands-Puerto Rico immigration pipeline in great detail...
...In sworn testimony before House International Relations subcommittee on International Terrorism and Nonproliferation on April 6, 2006, Maxwell said that his office had received complaints of "USCIS employees providing material support to known terrorists or being influenced by foreign intelligence services."
One USCIS employee, "co-opted by a foreign intelligence entity," had "the ability to grant the immigration of their choosing to the person or persons of their choosing," Maxwell said in his sworn testimony.
In an unclassified meeting with senior USCIS leadership in February 2006, which he attended, Maxwell says that agency Director Emilio Gonzales "mentioned two foreign intelligence operatives who work on behalf of USCIS at an interest section abroad and who are assisting aliens into the United States as we speak..."
Posted at 12:27 AM | Comments (1)
[A DHS] report [dhs.gov/interweb/assetlibrary/OIG_06-33_Apr06.pdf] reveals that 45,008 aliens from countries on the U.S. list of state-sponsors of terror (SST) or from countries that protected terrorist organizations and their members (SIC) were released into the general public between 2001 and 2005, even though immigration officers couldn't confirm their identity.
Even worse, "it is not known exactly how many of these SIC and SST aliens were ultimately issued final orders of removal and actually removed, since such data is not tracked" by the Detention and Removal Office of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the report said.
The report estimated that 85% of those released aliens "will abscond," even if deportation orders are issued.
Do the math. That means that more than 38,000 individuals from Iran, Iraq, Syria, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Yemen, whose identities could not be verified and who could be working for terrorist groups, are today roaming the streets of America.
And if they're smart – and undoubtedly, they are – they have already acquired new identities and have melted into American society.
"The release of these OTMs [Other Than Mexicans] poses particular risks," the Inspector General report said. The report cited a recent U.S. intelligence assessment indicating that "terrorist organizations… believe illegal entry into the U.S. is more advantageous than legal entry for operations reasons."
Posted at 11:38 AM | Comments (3)
Doing a little bit of journalism, KNBC's Kelly Mack spoke to an unidentified whistleblower who works for Customs and Border Protection. Here's the full interview with video, and here are some of the quotes from the agent:
A lot of [illegal aliens] we encounter down at the fishing docks... management has given a directive to officers to stay away from those areas ... there are illegal aliens in the port driving trucks ... management turns a blind eye to this as well... We've approached management to bring those people in because they're in violation of the immigration law. Management declines. ...There's a lot of suggestions officers have made to management to do joint operations with Los Angeles Port police, to do a little more with the Coast Guard. Our management declines... They say that we don't have the resources and manpower... Their primary concern is cargo, cargo, cargo... Terrorists could come in at any time.
Posted at 10:14 PM | Comments (1)
The Hudspeth County Sheriff's Office intercepts 54 illegal immigrants just 90 miles east of El Paso, and among the group are two former Mexican soldiers.
The arrests were part of Operation Linebacker. Hudspeth County Sheriff Arvin West said it shows how local law enforcement can be another line of defense along the border.
The immigrants were caught on Highway 62/180, near the Guadalupe Mountains. That's where Hudspeth County deputies set up a checkpoint and within a matter of hours intercepted three trucks and one van loaded with illegal immigrants, totaling 54 people, including two children and six women.
The most alarming part, West said, was that two men were carrying Mexican military IDs.
"Two of the aliens that were mixed in with the crowd were either ex- or former military. One of them had been deported just two weeks ago," West said...
Posted at 02:19 AM | Comments (0)
There are several reports listed here, including this recent one:
Watch this video of an ongoing investigation done by the news team from KGRV TV serving Harlingen-Weslaco-McAllen -Brownsville, Texas. (Video will open in your media player - it's a news segment.) It is part of an ongoing series highlighting the culmination of months of investigative research into the flow of terrorists over our borders. Fred Burton, a counter-terrorism expert of Stratfor, was interviewed on camera. He stated that now is the perfect time for terrorists to sneak across the border. Escalating violence and an unprecedented flood of illegals is distracting law enforcement and stretching it thin. Zapata County sheriff, Frederigo Gonzales Jr. says that as for WMDs, it is not a matter of "if", but "when".
There are a few quibbles with some of the points in the rest of the post; for instance, not all Arabs are Muslims and not all Muslims are Arabs. And, some of the, for instance, Iraqis caught at the border turn out to be Christians.
Posted at 01:05 AM | Comments (2)
From this unverified entry:
In connection with a lawsuit brought by the Associated Press, the Pentagon released thousands of pages of documents transcribed during tribunal hearings for the hundreds of terror suspects held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. There is a lot of interesting information in those documents, including the allegations against one detainee who was caught while trying to sneak across the Mexican border.
Posted at 09:18 AM | Comments (7)
Federal agents arrested three Guatemalan nationals and one Colombian national who were all working illegally for AID Maintenance, a Rhode Island-based company that provides contract cleaning services to both the the Naval Undersea Warfare Center and the Naval Station in Newport R.I.
In Monday's operation, Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents apprehended the individuals as they reported for work at the base. The workers, who had access badges authorizing them to enter the Naval Station, were identified after agents audited the hiring records of more than 250 AID Maintenance workers. The audit found deficiencies in more than 50% of the records of the employees on the company's payroll...
Posted at 03:41 AM | Comments (2)
One of the cherished talking points of supporters of illegal immigration is that illegal aliens who come here for economic reasons don't post a terror-related threat to the U.S. That's usually applied to Hispanic illegal aliens.
And, as the latest example shows, it's frequently used by racial advocates: someone named Marisa Trevino offers "Border control aims at wrong bad guys".
Unfortunately, that's completely wrong. While some reasons why are listed in "Exempt Spanish-speaking from Border Security, Immigration Laws?", there are - believe it or not - a few more.
All those illegal aliens help build up a smuggling infrastructure that could be used - and might already have been used - by terrorists. If there were fewer illegal aliens coming over, those who tried to do so would stick out like sore thumbs rather than being able to disappear in the crowd.
And, it's extraordinarily dangerous and foolish for a country to allow millions of people who have no allegiance to that country to settle within its borders. As pointed out before, if we're (almost) unable to completely expel those who've come here illegally, then we have in effect been invaded and settled.
It gives foreign powers political power inside our country, and one never knows if some of those illegal aliens would decide to rebel or cause similar problems. There have been immigrant riots in the U.S. and other countries. See France for an example. Could some variant of that happen here? Perhaps. What if we tried to expel millions of illegal aliens. Would they resist? Are we avoiding expeling them out of fear of what they would do? If so, then once again: we've been invaded and settled.
On a side note, the writer of the USA Today screed is identified only as a "freelance writer". However, there's someone who has the same name and looks remarkably like her working as the editor of "Ideas", the magazine of the "International Newspaper Marketing Association".
Posted at 07:00 AM | Comments (17)
The Dugway Proving Ground in Utah is a top-secret base where the U.S. Army does research into biological and chemical weapon defense. Nine illegal aliens were caught working there recently.
"Just by saying you're working for a subcontractor, you can access one of the most highly top secret installations in the country, dealing with weapons of mass destruction," [U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Special Agent Adam Parks] said. "Once inside the perimeter, they had their identification and would go to work, not monitored. They didn't have an escort or anything like that."
The workers - no doubt good-hearted - were employed by Spacecon West and aren't suspected of having links to terrorists. However, in 2004 Congressman John Culberson (R-TX) reported that Al Qaeda-related terrorists - disguised as Mexicans - are crossing illegally into the U.S. FBI Director Robert Mueller has also discussed this matter. Many more possible infiltrations discussed here.
On the rare occasions when the Dems discuss our "homeland security" president failing to keep the homeland secure, they inevitably mention port security, but they intentionally avoid discussing border security. Obviously, they should change their mind and discuss this. They probably won't, since they're just as corrupt as the GOP leadership.
Posted at 06:24 AM | Comments (3)
A deputy sheriff warned federal lawmakers Friday that drug traffickers are helping suspected terrorists cross from Mexico into Texas.Rep. John Culberson reiterates his concerns discussed in "Congressman: Terrorists are infiltrating the U.S. via Mexico" and Senator John Cornyn also had something to say. Regarding the latter, see also Sen. John Cornyn linked to Jack Abramoff and Ralph Reed?
Val Verde County chief deputy Terry Simons offered little evidence publicly of his claims before congressmen at a meeting in Houston.
The FBI couldn't immediately confirm the lawman's account.
Simons says Texas authorities have learned of newly established camps in Mexico, where so-called "narco-terrorists" are getting trained...
Posted at 04:49 AM | Comments (2)
Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., expressed concern Thursday that the southern border has become a "major gateway” for Middle Eastern terrorists in a hearing with National Intelligence Director John Negroponte and other top intelligence officials.A DHS official with the stock "we're getting better every day!" follows.
Feinstein noted that law enforcement officials captured 155,000 non-Mexican illegal aliens in 2005, more than three times as many as the 49,545 that were apprehended in 2003.
Negroponte told Feinstein that the intelligence community was "sensitive to” the issue she raised, but said that the Canadian border posed "a bit greater concern.”
Posted at 11:47 PM | Comments (3)
MEXICO CITY - Mexican federal agents have arrested four Iraqis trying to sneak into the United States without proper documents, the government said Monday.The AP says their last names indicate they're Christians, by which they presumably mean Chaldeans.
Wasim Francis Schamoun and Ivan Yalda, both 23, and Refon Chlil Oraha and Thaer Salem Yelda, both 27, were found on a bus in the northern city of Navajoa after police received an anonymous tip, the attorney general's office said in a statement.
The Iraqis were in Mexico illegally, the statement said...
Posted at 11:06 PM | Comments (0)
Mexican soldiers and civilian smugglers had an armed standoff with nearly 30 U.S. law enforcement officials on the Rio Grande in Texas on Monday afternoon, according to Texas police and the FBI.Previously: "Mexican military incursions: Chertoff downplays, excuses"
Mexican military Humvees were towing what appeared to be thousands of pounds of marijuana across the border into the United States, said Chief Deputy Mike Doyal, of the Hudspeth County Sheriff's Department.
Mexican Army troops had several mounted machine guns on the ground more than 200 yards inside the U.S. border -- near Neely's Crossing, about 50 miles east of El Paso -- when Border Patrol agents called for backup. Hudspeth County deputies and Texas Highway patrol officers arrived shortly afterward, Doyal said.
...An FBI spokeswoman confirmed the incident happened at 2:15 p.m. Pacific Time...
Posted at 10:50 PM | Comments (1)
Court documents in a Brownsville, Texas drug-smuggling case cite a wiretapped telephone conversation by one of the smugglers who said that "Osama's people" are ready to be transported across the Mexican border into the U.S.See also this roundup of recent infiltration reports:
The Brownsville Herald reported earlier this week ["Infiltration from the south feared"]:
"[Paperwork in the case] contains details of a December 2004 incident in which [one smuggler] tried to secure transportation for 20 Middle Eastern 'terrorists' waiting to enter the United States from Monterrey, Chiapas and Puebla in Mexico.
"Recorded telephone conversations authorized under the U.S. Patriot Act and a court order captured the [suspect] referring to the 20 men as 'gente de Osama.'" ["Osama's people"]
..."During a Jan. 5, 2005, telephone conversation, [the smuggling suspect] described the men as 'Iraqis,' ages 25 to 33, who were willing to pay $8,000 for transportation past Border Patrol checkpoints in South Texas and into the U.S. interior.
"[The suspect] mentioned that eight of the men were coming to Progreso, northwest of Brownsville. He said they were 'dangerous' and 'really bad people.' They carried guns and made the smuggler that was helping them 'afraid.'"
FBI officials declined to comment further on the case. But one federal law enforcement official who spoke on condition of anonymity told the paper that the men labeled "terrorists” turned out to be illegal aliens from a "nation of concern.”
The FBI declined to say whether "Osama's people" made it across the border or if authorities had apprehended them.
In a December 4 incident that received scant media attention, a Bangladeshi Muslim man named Fakhrul Islam was among a group of 13 illegal aliens arrested near Brownsville, Texas, just across the border from Mexico. Border Patrol agents have said that one of the men detained along with Islam was a member of Mara Salvatrucha, a violent Salvadoran criminal gang with more than 300,000 members across Central and North America, including powerful enterprises in several major U.S. cities.That report apparently appeared in a newspaper called La Jornada.
Posted at 04:24 AM | Comments (2)
Congressman Tom Tancredo (R-CO) today revealed figures which show that since October, 2004, 51 persons who have crossed into the U.S. illegally were arrested on suspicion of terrorism. The figures, part of a Department of Homeland Security response to a inquiry by the Congressman, document the national security risk our porous borders pose on the eve of Congress' first attempt to rewrite immigration law in nearly a decade."Entered without inspection" means crossing the border illegally, or otherwise sneaking in not at a port of entry.
Federal law enforcement coordinates its terrorism efforts through "Joint Terrorism Task Forces" (JTTFs), which include officials from the Justice and Homeland Security Departments. Since October, 2004, JTTFs have kept track of arrested terrorist suspects who are in the U.S. illegally. The JTTF document shows 51 persons were arrested who had "entered without inspection" into the U.S. from countries such as Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Egypt, Syria and Pakistan...
The suspects were investigated by federal terrorism officials because they came from "countries of interest," such as Iran, Iraq, Lebanon and Syria, the FBI said.
"I'm unaware of any instances at this time of individuals that have been charged with terrorism-related offenses (among) individuals who have been smuggled across the border," said FBI spokesman Bill Carter.
However, neither he nor a spokesman from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement could rule out any ongoing terrorism investigations involving any of the 51...
..."I'm somewhat disappointed that Homeland Security is somewhat afraid of talking about it straight out," [Tancredo] said when told of the agency's statements.
Asked about his press release saying that the suspects had been arrested on terrorism-related charges, Tancredo said, "We shouldn't have been probably so definitive in that, and I'm sorry we did that. I take responsibility for that."
Nevertheless, Tancredo said, the data are the first evidence that people in the country illegally are being investigated for possible terrorism connections...
Posted at 05:35 AM | Comments (0)
An al-Qaida operative who was on the FBI's terrorist watch list was recently captured near the Mexican border, housed in a Texas jail and turned over to federal agents, Rep. John Culberson, R-Texas, said on Friday.
"A confirmed al-Qaida terrorist, an Iraqi national, was held in the Brewster County jail," Rep. Culberson told ABC Radio host Sean Hannity. "He was captured in Mexico. This was within the last six weeks. He was turned over to the FBI."
The Texas Republican said he obtained the stunning information about the terrorist's capture "from the sheriffs who were directly involved.
"In fact, one was the sheriff who incarcerated him in the Brewster County jail [and who] confirmed this as well," he explained. The same sheriff also confirmed "that this guy is on the FBI's al-Qaida list," he added...
Posted at 06:43 AM | Comments (6)
Maybe Rep. Sue Myrick was partly right: "Lawmaker: Terror war spilling across border".
Posted at 08:52 AM | Comments (1)
Trouble is, Myrick's claim -- that three al-Qaida members were recently arrested near the Mexican border -- isn't true.It's things like this that just give ammo to those on the other side.
"An honest mistake," Myrick spokesman Andy Polk said later.
And the accuracy of what [Rep. Patrick McHenry] said -- that some of the 9-11 terrorists had N.C. driver's licenses -- is questionable. There's no proof that any of the hijackers did; the man who masterminded the attacks might have -- 20 years ago...
Posted at 03:51 AM | Comments (1)
The Charlotte Observer recently published the following quote from U.S. Rep. Sue Myrick (R-NC) concerning a bill to prevent illegal aliens from getting driver's licenses in her state:
"This isn't aimed at any one race," said Sue Myrick, who is being mentioned as a potential candidate for governor of the state. "Our main concern is: Who's in our state? This is a critical issue today. They just arrested, down on the border, a couple of weeks ago, three al-Qaida members who came across from Mexico into the United States."
Needless to say, the race-baiting was the more important issue to the local reporters: none of them had a follow-up on the much more important bombshell she dropped in the second part of her quote.
WND was unable to get more information, but eventually someone will find out whether Myrick was mistaken or whether she let slip something that hasn't yet been announced and probably wouldn't have been announced otherwise lest those five people who still think Bush cares about homeland security changed their minds.
Posted at 07:00 AM | Comments (3)
From this:
[Legal immigrant Sam] Malkandi has said that he was approached at Northgate Mall [in Seattle] by an Arabic-speaking stranger named Ahmed Bawarth soon after arriving in Western Washington. The two became friends, Malkandi said, and about a year after they met, Bawarth asked Malkandi to assist him in helping a friend from Yemen into the country. The friend, according to the government, was [Tawfiq] bin Attash, planner of the bombing of the Navy ship USS Cole in Yemen in 2000 and the bombings of the American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998.
They want to deport him for those reasons and he's admitted to lying to obtain his green card. But, he claims he's not an AQ operative. Darrick Smalley, U.S. Immigration and Customs enforcement senior special agent, disagrees:
"Somebody picked Sam Malkandi out of all the millions of people in the country to entrust with the safety of one of the highest-ranking al-Qaida operatives? They don't operate that way."
Posted at 09:26 PM | Comments (3)
A couple years ago, I visited the White Sands Missile Range museum, right outside the gate of that military base. Obviously, it would be foolish for almost anyone who doesn't belong there to try to sneak onto that secure military facility.
"Almost anyone", because dozens of illegal aliens (i.e., citizens of other countries who have no allegiance to this country) have been caught working at secure military facilities. This is one of the few areas in which the Bush administration does workplace enforcement. But, if they did such enforcement elsewhere, that would reduce the number of illegal aliens available to work at such facilities, and there's also the worry that there are dozens more out there still illegally working at these areas, and some of them might not be such "kind-hearted folks". For recent cases, see the entries in this category or the recent article "US Missile Base Invaded by Illegal Immigrants".
Posted at 02:20 PM | Comments (2)
Scores of illegal aliens working as cooks, laborers, janitors, even foreign-language instructors have been seized at military bases around the country in the past year, raising concerns in some quarters about security and troop safety.I don't know exactly how to parse the "some quarters" bit. Shouldn't everyone be concerned about this?
The aliens did not work directly for the military but for private contractors, as part of a large-scale effort by the Pentagon to outsource many routine rear-echelon jobs and free up the troops to concentrate on waging war.I don't know if this started under Clinton, but I'd imagine it's accelerated under Bush. "Some quarters" still think of the latter as our Homeland Security President.
Some worry that this fast-growing practice could make U.S. military installations more vulnerable to security breaches...
Posted at 07:57 AM | Comments (1)
See "Violent gang with Central American roots expands deep into U.S." for the scoop. See "Can you trust the Las Vegas Sun?" for more on that paper.
Posted at 10:30 AM | Comments (0)
...Authorities are not tying the killing of Miguel A. Ramos-Amaya, 37, who ran Mickey's Construction, to the federal investigation at this time, said Chris Amos, police spokesman.
But he added, "They're not closing any doors in terms of possible suspects or motives."
Ramos-Amaya was found at his home in the 1100 block of Templar Boulevard about 2 p.m. Monday. Three people in hooded sweatshirts were seen leaving the house, Amos said...
Ramos-Amaya's lawyer, Jon M. Babineau, said Ramos-Amaya had told somebody he had to stop by his house. Babineau theorized that he stumbled upon thieves there.
...In 2004, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement authorities alleged in an affidavit for a search warrant that Ramos-Amaya was using undocumented aliens – including gang members – as cheap labor for his construction business, which did some work on the naval base.
...Ramos-Amaya fought the seizure and worked out a compromise.
He got back half his money, the computers and other assorted items. The government kept the other half of the money, as well as two handguns, court records show.
Ramos-Amaya was not charged in the case and Babineau said the government lacked evidence to show he committed crimes.
Posted at 04:56 AM | Comments (0)
Two Indonesians and a Senegalese who worked as foreign language instructors for elite U.S. special operations troops at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, have been arrested on immigration charges, authorities said on Wednesday.Now, read this from the AP:
The Army said the three worked at the John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School at Fort Bragg. Sgt. Joseph Healy, a spokesman for Army Special Operations Command, said the three had a purely academic role and "were not exposed to any Army special operations tactics techniques or procedures."
Those arrested were Senegalese Ousmane Moreau, 38 and Indonesians Nurkis Qadariah, 34, and Sayf Rimal, 37. They worked for BIB Consultants Inc., "a Florida-based company that provides language instructors to U.S. Special Forces and other military personnel at Fort Bragg."
All employees of the company must go through background checks, and checks on the three men "came back clear," Daniel Guillan, director of government and contracting for the company, told WTVD-TV in Durham.And, we get a reminder:
"What's important to remember is they did not teach any classified materials, and they were not exposed to any classified materials," JSOC spokeswoman Tina Beller said.As with other past cases, subcontractors - for one reason or another - end up employing illegal aliens, and the feds take their word that those people are here legally. Robin Hayes (R-NC) wrote to Donald Rumsfeld trying to find out how this could happen.
Posted at 12:23 PM | Comments (0)
Three illegal aliens were arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents this week when they reported for work as outside contractors at a secure area of a Nebraska nuclear power station.
ICE spokesman Dean Boyd yesterday said the men, all Mexican nationals, had been hired by an independent contractor to perform maintenance work at the Omaha Public Power District's Fort Calhoun Nuclear Station.
As they attempted to enter a secure area of the plant, Mr. Boyd said, the men presented identification documents that raised the suspicions of Omaha Public Power District employees. They, in turn, contacted ICE agents for assistance. The men were arrested after agents determined they were in the United States illegally...
Posted at 02:42 PM | Comments (0)
When FBI agents walked [his] spartan apartment [on Sep 9]... they found a desk, chair, computer and a Koran.He's currently in jail awaiting trial on non-terrorism charges. According to Asst. U.S. Atty. Steve Parker:
They also found an airline pilot's uniform, a chart of Memphis International Airport, and instructional DVDs, including one called "How an Airline Captain Should Look and Act."
...Between April and August, the penniless student ordered $3,000 in aviation materials, DVDs titled "Ups and Downs of Takeoffs and Landings," "Airplane Talk," "Mental Math for Pilots" and "Mastering GPS Flying," FBI agent Thad Gulczynski testified.
He also ordered a pilot's coat and hat, and a chart of the Memphis airport terminal area from Spotty's USA in San Diego...
"we don't know either way" if Maawad is a terrorist or connected to any terror groups
Posted at 01:25 PM | Comments (0)
Members of Tablighi Jamaat, an Islamist missionary group that the United States accuses of links to Al-Qaeda, are in Argentina with the possible aim of recruiting local Muslims for terrorist activities, a newspaper has said.The original report is here.
Citing sources in the intelligence community and the foreign ministry, the La Nacion said the 26 Islamists arrived in Argentina in five groups over the past few months.
The militants, from Pakistan, Malaysia, South Africa, Qatar and Egypt, came into the country to possibly contact and recruit Argentine Muslims to train them abroad to conduct terrorism, the newspaper said on Friday.
The Argentine government, which will host the Summit of the Americas November 4-5 in Mar del Plata in the south, did not immediately comment on the report. US President George W Bush is to attend the summit.
La Nacion reported that Argentine intelligence received information from their Spanish and Italian counterparts. Spanish counter-terrorism experts gave the Argentine government details on Tablighi Jamaat, saying it was under investigation for the alleged role of some of its members in the March 11, 2004, bomb attacks in Madrid, the daily said.
Posted at 06:00 AM | Comments (0)
...According to [the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency], however, plenty of its scarce resources are now committed to rescue and law enforcement support in the multi-state areas devastated by Hurricane Katrina.While Katrina was obviously not an attack, perhaps this article might shed a tiny little bit of light on why this is a very bad idea.
Its fixed wing aircraft are used for transportation and for surveillance/reconnaissance efforts to identify anyone in peril. CBP helicopters are also used in transport and in search and rescue efforts.
The air support efforts are being coordinated through an airborne command center, which includes airborne radar and traffic management capabilities. Marine support is also providing transportation and rescue assistance. And CBP is sending over one hundred Border Patrol agents to provide law enforcement support to the impacted area. As CBP pointed out to NewsMax, its relief teams in the New Orleans area are not by any means gratuitous. The proliferation of ports of entry in the area means that the agency has a large number of CBP personnel regularly on the ground. Many of these CBP personnel were hit by the storm and are in need of relief...
Posted at 02:49 PM | Comments (1)
Suspected or convicted foreign-born terrorists have routinely exploited federal immigration laws over the last decade to enter or remain in the United States illegally...The AP follows that up with a statement from DHS asserting that they're working on it. And, in other news, shoelace production is up 42% in this quarter. Then:
"The attack of 9/11 was not an isolated instance of al-Qaida infiltration into the United States," the 46-page report found.
"In fact, dozens of operatives both before and after 9/11 - other than the 9/11 hijackers - have managed to enter and embed themselves in the United States, actively carrying out plans to commit terrorist acts against U.S. interests or support designated foreign terrorist organizations," the report concluded. "For each to do so, they needed the guise of legal immigration status to support them."
Overall, 59 of 94 foreign-born nationals who were either convicted or indicted on terror charges broke federal immigration laws to enter or remain in the country between 1993 and 2004, the report found...
The report identified many of the immigrants as affiliated with at least one terror organization, including 40 with al-Qaida, 16 with Hamas, 16 with the Palestinian or Egyptian Islamic Jihad, and six with Hezbollah...
A spokesman for the National Immigration Forum, an immigration advocacy group, did not immediately return telephone calls seeking comment Monday evening...I previously provided excerpts of the 9/11 Commission's Staff Report. I don't know what overlap exists between that and this study.
Posted at 08:02 AM | Comments (0)
In fiscal year 2004, 1483 Chinese (as in Red China) nationals were detained by the Border Patrol... just in the Rio Grande Valley sector. The report doesn't mention the numbers for other sectors in Texas, only saying that it's small. And, it doesn't mention the figures for other states. But, only 49 were detained last fiscal year in that same area. And:
Federal figures show that the American government has consistently granted asylum to between 600 and 900 Chinese nationals each year for the past five years.
And, from this:
FAIR Comment: The article notes that the U.S. government has consistently granted asylum to between 600 and 900 Chinese nationals each year for the past five years, but does not report that number will rise dramatically as a result of the ceiling for such claims being removed by Congress earlier this year.
Posted at 05:42 AM | Comments (0)
County governments in Texas, overwhelmed by a flood of illegal aliens and rapidly increasing border violence, want the federal government to come up with $10 million to help them pay for manpower increases, rising fuel bills and much-needed vehicles and equipment.
Zapata County Sheriff Sigifredo Gonzalez, a member of the Texas Border Sheriffs' Coalition, said the federal government's failure to control illegal immigration and to curtail the growing violence along the 1,200-mile Texas-Mexico border had forced county law-enforcement authorities into a "financial nightmare."
"We have tried everything we know to make the federal government aware of the problems at the border and how they have [affected] us," Sheriff Gonzalez told The Washington Times. "And while they say they are aware of the problems, they just leave it alone."
...Sheriff Gonzalez said he did not know what response to expect for the funding request. He noted that in July, when it invited President Bush, a former Texas governor, the state's two U.S. senators, six members of Congress who represent Texas' border areas, the U.S. ambassador to Mexico and other elected officials to a coalition meeting, only Rep. Henry Cuellar, Texas Democrat, attended.
A major concern to the coalition, Sheriff Gonzalez said, is the possibility that terrorists could be paying Mexican drug and immigrant smugglers for help in crossing the border. In the meantime, Sheriff Gonzalez said Texas border residents are terrorized by rising violence...
Posted at 07:34 PM | Comments (2)
Virginia gubernatorial candidate Jerry W. Kilgore yesterday said law-enforcement officers would be foolish to assume that there is no link between the al Qaeda terrorist network and the Salvadoran gang Mara Salvatrucha.Immediately after that comes the extremely un-funny punchline:
"MS-13 is the most violent street gang around, and Homeland Security has said it makes sense to see these gangs as being targeted by al Qaeda," Mr. Kilgore, a former state attorney general, told The Washington Times. "We'd be crazy to put our heads in the sand and just say there could never be a link."
Two Northern Virginia prosecutors yesterday criticized the Republican candidate for similar statements he made last week. The prosecutors dismissed Mr. Kilgore's comments as "pandering" and an attempt to score political points.Ka-ching. The Democratic Party is quickly devolving into the "Crazy Dare Party", as in: "I dare you to defend an ultra-violent paramilitary machete-wielding Central American street gang." The WashTimes follows that with a discussion of their previous coverage of a possible link between the two organizations (no, not the Dems and the gang, between AQ and the gang), including comments from former Homeland Security Deputy Secretary James Loy.
"We certainly have not seen any evidence that there is any connection between any gang and al Qaeda," said Alexandria Commonwealth's Attorney Randy Sengel. "It just makes the problem worse for those of us who are trying to deal with it on the front lines."
Mr. Sengel and Arlington Commonwealth's Attorney Richard Trodden made their comments during a press conference call set up by a campaign arm of the Democratic Party of Virginia...
Posted at 06:56 PM | Comments (1)
An anonymous tip triggered an investigation of undocumented workers at Camp Lejeune, resulting in 40 people being detained and a federal investigation, a base spokesman said.Previously in this long line of stories about illegal aliens working at military installations: "Arresting illegal aliens at Air Force base puts New York Times in tizzy".
Camp Lejeune officials detained 27 people at base gates during security checks Wednesday and another 12 at various construction sites Monday...
Details on where the workers are from, how they got on base and what will happen to them now were not immediately made available...
...Immigration and Customs Enforcement is not commenting now because the investigation is ongoing. Carpenter declined to mention any contractors by name, saying only that investigators were "looking into the practices of several contractors right now..."
Posted at 04:36 PM | Comments (1)
The Border Patrol doesn't release a by-nation breakdown of those it arrests, and the agency is particularly tight-lipped about arrests of special interest aliens, known as SIAs. These are individuals from the list of about 35 countries the U.S. considers terror threats. But the Weekly has obtained SIA arrest figures from a federal law enforcement source who asked to remain anonymous.
From 2000 through 2003, plus the first nine months of fiscal 2004, agents in the Tucson sector, and the Arizona office of the Yuma sector, arrested 132 SIAs. The numbers include 10 from Afghanistan, seven from Iran, 12 from Yemen, 11 from Pakistan and three from Iraq.
Using the common estimate that the Border Patrol only catches one out of every three who cross, or as some believe, one of every five, we can calculate that upward of 660 individuals from terror-threat nations have crossed into our country through Arizona.
Those SIA arrest figures, by the way, include six individuals from Saudi Arabia, the country that produced 15 of the 19 Sept. 11 maniacs.
Homeland security?
Along the border south of Arivaca, you'd best stand back when you utter those words, because the subject tends to make folks spitting mad. Even Robinson, a silver-haired, soft-spoken gentleman, gets a fire in his eyes when he talks about it.
"It's a joke," says the 67-year-old, semi-retired veterinarian. "Homeland security doesn't exist."
Posted at 02:42 PM | Comments (2)
Like Los Angeles, New York, (reportedly) Denver, and several other major cities (and terrorist targets) Houston has a sanctuary policy that prevents their cops from asking about someone's immigration status.
HPD Captain Bruce Williams explains how this works:
"If the citizen can come to us and know that we're going to take the information that they give us without looking into their status as an immigrant, then they're more free to come to us and talk about crime issues."
Councilman Mark Ellis is trying to change the policy:
"I am in favor of supporting what the Bush administration has asked local government entities to do, and that is to assist in enforcing the criminal illegal immigration laws."
However, Houston Police Chief Harold Hurtt says:
"That is our policy. At this time we do not have any intention of changing it."
Now, see "'Sanctuary' practice in Houston draws fire". Last year 9/11 Commission member John Lehman said:
"The terrorists know" which cities have such policies
Posted at 12:46 PM | Comments (1)
FBI and law enforcement officials told ABC News the five men — four illegal immigrants and one law enforcement fugitive — were arrested Sunday night following a tip to the Newark Police Department. In addition to the subway maps and video, the men had train schedules and $8,000 in $20 and $50 bills...No word on whether they snuck over the border or overstayed their visas.
FBI officials said the men have no known link to a terror network but noted that none of them could adequately explain the items they had in their possession, the large amount of money or their reasons for being in the United States. Mohamed Ibrahim Gaber has been a fugitive since he jumped ship from an Egyptian flagged freighter in September 2000.
The men, all of whom claimed to be unemployed civil or chemical engineers, are set to be deported by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Posted at 08:25 PM | Comments (0)
Knight-Ridder outlines a somewhat fantastic plot involving Los Zetas and a Mexico-based Arab people smuggler joining forces: "FBI bulletin outlines possible terrorist plot at Texas border". The Arab will get to smuggle explosives in trucks into the U.S.; the Zetas will get help freeing a cartel leader.
However, this information came from an informant, who may or may not be credible. KRT says this information is in a confidential but unclassified FBI intelligence bulletin, and apparently the FBI is opposed to its release.
On the larger issue, the article contains some interesting quotes:
Since the 2001 terrorist attacks, the Bush administration and members of Congress from both parties have viewed the southern border as a weak link in efforts to keep terrorists out of the United States, even though the Sept. 11 terrorists entered the country with visas, some legal, others forged.
They also used illegally-obtained driver's licenses from various states, but that aside the idea that Bush and congress are concerned about our southern border - other than as a source of cheap labor - is news to me.
"That's been the concern all along, that there would be a bargain struck between al-Qaida or some (other) terrorist organization and these organized crime networks that would allow terrorists to be smuggled into the country," U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, said in an interview. "I think that's a very real concern."
Read him shining on his constituents who are concerned about illegal immigration here.
At a hearing Tuesday of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, the chairman, Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., said: "Given the threat of international terrorism, there is great concern that our land borders could also serve as a channel for international terrorists and weapons of mass destruction. The threat of terrorist penetration is particularly acute along our southern border."
Lugar was present when Mexico's former foreign secretary threatened to allow terrorists to enter the U.S. As far as I know, he has neither condemned those remarks nor has he suggest that Castaneda be deported.
I wish I had one of those Edmund Scientific giant balloons, because there's so much free hot air available out there.
Posted at 04:17 AM | Comments (1)
Forty or so illegal aliens were recently arrested in a sting at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base in North Carolina. Previous coverage starts in "Why the left is untrustworthy and weak on national security, Part #43823294". Now, to drive that point home, comes the NYT with "Immigration Sting Puts 2 U.S. Agencies at Odds".
As with other "liberal" coverage of this story, it concentrates on the poor illegal immigrants who were working at a military base. And, it concentrates on BICE defending their sting rather than, oh I dunno, advocates for illegal immigration defending supporting illegal aliens working at an Air Force base.
According to the federal Dep't of Labor:
"This is not something we were involved in, and we do not condone the use of OSHA's name in this type of activity."
And, reaching into their race group rolodex, the NYT has this quote:
"We think it's an absolute outrage and danger for the immigration authorities to use this type of tactic," said Cecilia Munoz, vice president for policy at the National Council of La Raza, an advocacy group for Hispanics. "Our labor law system is completely complaint-driven, and our ability to keep the work force safe depends on workers being able to complain, and by masquerading as OSHA officials, immigration authorities will clearly discourage immigrant workers from coming forward. This won't affect just immigrant workers, it will affect the safety of all workers."
There's much more about the National Council of the Race at the link above.
If "liberals" would stop defending massive illegal immigration and giving cover to those corrupt businesses that employ that labor, this wouldn't be an issue.
Posted at 11:01 AM | Comments (2)
A former FBI official who currently specializes in international terrorism, counterintelligence, and foreign counterintelligence is warning that Canadian immigration laws are too lenient and make Canada a perfect destination for would-be terrorists.
Speaking at the 15th World Terrorist and Disaster Management Conference in Toronto this week, Ty Fairman said Muslim radicals are arriving in Canada and heading for Ontario because of that province's existing and extensive Muslim population. According to Fairman, Canada is home to approximately 750,000 Muslims. Sixty-one percent of that population lives in Ontario with 5% of that number living in Toronto. Fairman added that Toronto has the highest number of Muslims in any North American city.
Fairman went on to say that the al-Qaida terror network distributes intricate training manuals to all members which offer step-by-step instructions in how to effectively infiltrate nations in the western hemisphere adding, "One of their main missions, as far as expan