Immigration Inaction
Six months later, and little has been done.
By Mark Krikorian
March 11, 2002
Six months ago today, 19 foreign citizens living among us launched the biggest attack yet in radical Islam's war on the United States, giving a whole new meaning to the term "home front." But little progress has been made in fixing the colossal problems with our immigration policy highlighted by the attacks, and there are even signs that border controls will be further eroded over the next few weeks.
Taking its cue from the groups pushing for increased immigration, the administration has gone to great lengths to decouple immigration from terrorism. For example, INS Commissioner James Ziglar, vying for the Norman Mineta Award for Inappropriate Response to Terrorism, said "We're not talking about immigration, we're talking about evil." Perhaps the terrorists were summoned from a magic lamp rather than given visas and admitted through our border-control infrastructure.
Another talking point of the "evil, not immigration" crowd was that the terrorists were not really immigrants at all, but just temporary visitors. Leaving aside the fact that 40 percent of illegal aliens start out as such "temporary" visitors, this objection ignores the previous decade of Islamic terrorism on our soil. Since 1993, we know of dozens of foreign-born terrorists associated with al Qaeda who have been active in the United States, and they represent the whole gamut of immigration possibilities.
It's true that many of them were on valid temporary visas at the time of their attacks or arrests — as tourists, students, or business travelers. But others were legal immigrants or naturalized citizens, including Egyptian-born Ali Mohammed, who wrote al Qaeda's terrorist handbook, and Mahmoud "The Red" Abouhalima, an illegal-alien cabbie in New York who fraudulently received amnesty as an agricultural worker. And who can forget Sheikh Omar Abdul Rahman, who was issued an employment-based green card in the "minister of religion" category. Yet other terrorists were illegal aliens, several of whom were attempting to forestall deportation by applying for asylum.
So despite the denials and wishful thinking, it's clear that Islamic terrorists have penetrated every aspect of our immigration system. Has anything been done since Sept. 11 to remedy this?
Many of the measures widely discussed since Sept. 11 — such as a foreign-student tracking system, computerized entry/exit tracking for visitors, and federal standards for state driver's licenses — were actually passed by Congress more than five years ago, but were repealed or watered down in the interim. Not one lawmaker has been called to task for his actions in weakening our defenses against terrorism, though this may change as the November elections draw near.
Since Sept. 11, the various agencies responsible for border control have taken some relatively minor administrative measures. The State Department, for instance, has instituted more thorough checks for young male visa applicants. The INS, meanwhile, has finally decided to hand over to the FBI the names of people who absconded to avoid deportation.