Thread: Concentrate immigration laws on terrorists, not poor Mexican

http://www.whittierdailynews.com/Storie ... 45,00.html

Concentrate immigration laws on terrorists, not poor Mexicans

By Thomas D. Elias

FOR months, activists against illegal immigration have patrolled parts of the Mexican border, demonstrated against artwork they dislike or complained vocally against the tide of illegals who continue crossing into America with impunity.

These activists and their allies in Congress often suggest the porous southern border is an open invitation to terror. Yet, despite a steady increase in border apprehensions of illegals in the "other than Mexican' category, there is no evidence of even a single terrorist or terror suspect crossing into the United States from Mexico illegally.

That's because it's so easy for enemies of America to get into this country legally.

A prominent recent example was the Pakistani Muslim cleric Shabbir Ahmed, working in the Central Valley city of Lodi when arrested last month in connection with the federal arrests that authorities billed as the breakup of an al-Qaida- linked terror cell.

Ahmed admitted in court that he preached several mosque sermons in his native Pakistan after the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks urging thousands of congregants to support Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida and battle American troops in Afghanistan. "Whoever is against Islam, we will destroy him,' he thundered in November 2001, referring to American troops in Afghanistan.

Calling for the overthrow of Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, an American ally, he shouted, "If this is rebellion, we are not afraid blood is going to be spilled in Pakistan.'

How many Mexican illegals have ever engaged in that kind of rhetoric in their native country? How many would want to? None that anyone has ever documented.

Yet, the known rabble-rouser Ahmed did not have to sneak over the border, pay astronomical fees to often-brutal "coyote' smugglers or risk his life trying to evade the Border Patrol.

Instead, he arrived legally under a strange immigration rule allowing foreign priests and other religious workers easy, preferred entry to this country. The idea is that other immigrants need clergy who speak their own languages.

Over the last three years, more than 22,000 persons have been admitted under such "religious work' visas, more than 1,000 of them from predominantly Islamic countries. Most were sponsored by tax-exempt religious organizations operating in this country. Ahmed, now charged with overstaying his three-year visa, arrived early in 2002.

Another religious-work immigrant was Sheik Abdul Rahman, the Muslim cleric convicted of planning the 1994 World Trade Center bombing in New York City. Rahman actually had been subsidized by United States agencies while preaching in Pakistan during the 1980s-era Soviet occupation of Afghanistan.

In all, 173,664 legal immigrants came to America from Mexico during fiscal 2004, according to the federal Office of Immigration Statistics. Another 1,283 arrived legally from Saudi Arabia, 12,888 from Pakistan, 1,787 from Yemen, 6,590 from Egypt and 779 from Sudan.

The figures were similar in 1999, when most of the 9/11 attackers arrived legally in this country from Saudi Arabia.

One serious question: Should immigration authorities be expending more effort on keeping illegal immigrants from crossing over from Mexico or would their time be better spent making thorough background checks of legal immigrants like Rahman, Ahmed and the 9/11 hijackers?

The perfect answer, of course, would be to check out everyone and police the border well. But that ideal combination has never been achieved, and constraints on manpower, budget and poor record-keeping in the immigrants' native countries make it plain the ideal will not soon be reached.

Meanwhile, even though no one has charged Lodi's Ahmed with incendiary anti-American preaching while here, others legally here certainly have done that or worse.

In Cleveland, Imam Fawaz Damra, from Egypt, praised the murder of Jews. In Los Angeles, Imam Wagdy Ghoneim, from Saudi Arabia, preached support for suicide bombings against Americans and Israelis. In Florida, two professors allegedly raised money for terror organizations.

The bottom line: If it's terror we're worried about, the most likely perpetrators and agitators are not poor immigrants from Mexico. Which means that if America tightens up immigration laws at all, the first emphasis should be on places that tend to produce terrorists, not those sending forth strawberry pickers and nannies.

(For more immigration statistics, see the Web site of the Office of Immigration Statistics: http://uscis.gov/graphics/shared/statistics/ index.htm ).

Thomas Elias is an author and freelance writer. E-mail him at tdelias@aol.com .

The bottom line: If it's terror we're worried about, the most likely perpetrators and agitators are not poor immigrants from Mexico. Which means that if America tightens up immigration laws at all, the first emphasis should be on places that tend to produce terrorists, not those sending forth strawberry pickers and nannies.

Immigrants from Mexico wouldn't be poor if they would take back their country from the elitists are robbing it's wealth. 2 million barrels of oil a day, every day, 7days a week @ $51.00 a barrel. Thats $102 Million dollars a day. With the average wages being $.75 cents an hour that should be enough to make Mexico the envy of ALL western countries....right? Where is all the money going?

Oh so now we pick and choose who we apply the law to, rather than following the LAW? Wow--that's awesome thinking--in fact, that's how they do things in chaotic Third World countries!

The government doesn't publish the actual statistics of just how many are captured from "countries of interest." They don't want us to know.

I'm sure we'll all find out the hard way soon enough and then this guy will have to eat every last word of his stupid article.

Nannies and fruit pickers... gimme a break!

Someone should point this liberal bleeding heart misguided author to www.predatoryaliens.com and ask him if he doesn't think these acts perpetrated on little children are, in fact, criminal and TERRORISTIC!


www.predatoryaliens.com

There is no difference between an illegal alien and a terrorist.....until after an attack.

All illegal aliens are potential terrorists. To believe otherwise, is foolish.

Originally Posted by Judy

There is no difference between an illegal alien and a terrorist.....until after an attack.

All illegal aliens are potential terrorists. To believe otherwise, is foolish.

Tell that to the author. Here's an e-mail written to him yesterday:

I read your whine piece, as posted at www.alipac.us.

If you don't think Mexicans are terrorists, why not visit www.predatoryaliens.com ???

Do you sanction the terrorizing of little children?

Yea .. these "good folk" are just here for work. Yeah .. right!

Here's his reply - evidencing he just doesn't get it!

Of course, the predators should be screened out... why do you think I talked about finding out more about the immigrants and not wasting our time with the innocent workers?
And thanks for writing.
te

The reply to the above:

How do YOU know if the so-called (your word) innocent workers don't become predators.

Did you READ the occupations of the predatory aliens. They are construction workers, et al.

Finally, the "innocent" workers are NOT innocent. THEY BROKE THE LAW BY COMING INTO THIS COUNTRY ILLEGALLY!

What part of BREAKING THE LAW do YOU SUPPORT??????

My whole thing here is once you start ignoring the Rule of Law, then things will slowly start to crumble, as is already the case here in America. Identity theft, false documents, loan fraud, driving without insurance, on and on and on are all SYMPTOMS of the original disease of disrespecting our Laws. Why do liberal types never see the woods for the trees?

No one knows in advance who or what an illegal alien is or plans to do or will do. Therefore, all illegal aliens are potential terrorists.....and become a terrorist after an attack.

Terrorism....has many faces and many forms.