Illegal Immigration: Why It Should Keep President Bush Awake at Night
I hope the content of
An illegal immigrant from Lebanon was sentenced Tuesday to 4 1/2 years in prison for conspiring to raise money for the Islamic militant group Hezbollah, which the United States has designated a terrorist group.I can't say it any better than Hugh did:
Mahmoud Youssef Kourani, 34, pleaded guilty in March to conspiring to support a terrorist organization. Kourani was accused of hosting fundraising meetings at his home in suburban Detroit in 2002 at which a Hezbollah representative spoke. . . .
The government said Kourani paid a Mexican consular official in Beirut $3,000 for a visa to enter Mexico, then sneaked across the U.S.-Mexican border in 2001 and settled in Dearborn, the center of Michigan's Arab American community of about 300,000.
Yes, please. Illegal immigration is a major economic and cultural problem, but let's not forget it could become a massively lethal problem too. The terrorists read the newspapers, and they surely know how easy it is to get their people into the USA. Does anyone doubt that they have already done so, on a fairly large scale?How is it that Mexico is employing consular officials willing to take bribes in Lebanon? Has that official landed in a jail for the next couple of decades?
And does anyone in D.C. think about the consequences if the next purchased-visa, Mexican border-jumping Hezbollah supporter is coming with more than fund-raising on his mind? The toll could be high in lives lost, and the blame will be on the Adminsitration because of the pervasive impression that more could be done on the border that has not been done. The blame for 9/11 could not be fixed on the Bush Administration because no reasonable voter could judge the attacks to be foreseeable.
A terrorist crossing the border is foreseeable. If their financiers can get here, then a terrorist crossing that border is foreseeable. Much more needs to be done. Now.
posted by Lowell Brown at 7:27 AM
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6 Comments:
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Don't you think removing the post is a bit harsh? There was only one word that could be considered profane, and then only if one is extremely hypersensitive. In fact, I read a post on a message board today that included a word that I find to be similarly offensive. No one deleted that post--perhaps it was something else.
Posted by Anonymous
Dear Anonymous, you clever fellow: No, I don't think it was harsh. What can I say? This is a family site. And your earlier comment was, well, pretty much like vulgar graffiti. As for the message board, I suspect you are referring to a post in which I quoted another poster's comment for the express purpose of tweaking him for what looked liked hypocritical vulgarity. I hope I did not offend you; something tells me I did not.
Posted by The Hedgehog
I'm not sure if I think this "terrorist as mojado" argument is very robust. Tired and overused, yes. Relevant and realistic? Not sure.
At what point will terrorists who require such a, well, low-tech entry into this country really constitute a threat?
That is, if they can't access a legitimate and institutional entry, like all the 9/11 hijackers did, then how can we expect them to posses any other legitimately threatenting infrastructure (like the ability to construct a bomb, get flight training, get an airline ticket etc.)?
In short, what idiot could not gain entry to this country w/out using extra-legal means like traipsing across the Sonora Desert?
Answer: your average dishwasher. I would think an individual, no, an organization, capable of doing us real harm would not be deterred as easily as your average dishwasher.
But that is just me.
Posted by GringoinElPaso
Actually, I overstated my case.
I personally have acquainted myself w/ dishwashers and cooks whose means of access to this country did not involve coyotes, wading the Rio Grande, or walking the Sonoran desert.
Really the only folks using the "analog" means of gaining illegal entry are probably fruit pickers or the previously unemployed.
Your average nanny and busboy are already beyond this tactic, so denying this avenue of illegal entry to potential terrorists seems pointless.
Posted by GringoinElPaso
In addition to the regular 9/11 Commission report, a staff report was produced. That's where all the scary stuff is. In particular, Chapter 3 of the 9/11 Commission Staff Report says, "Thus, abuse of the immigration system and a lack of interior immigration enforcement were unwittingly working together to support terrorist activity."
Past terrorists have been quite familiar with our imm. system and have worked it to their advantage. If they can't get in legally, they'll choose the illegal option. Both need to be prevented.
In addition to Islamic terrorists, we also need to be worried about civil unrest agitated by Communists, separatists, etc. See the Baldwin Park and Garden Grove incidents if you think that's hyperbole.
Posted by The Lonewacko Blog
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