Thread: Migratory Terrorists

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Migratory Terrorists

INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY

Posted 12/28/2006

Homeland Security: At first blush, a U.S. lawmaker's anti-Muslim immigration remarks sound bigoted. But a new study linking terror and immigration shows that his fears are real.

Rep. Virgil Goode, R-Va., got into hot water for calling for cuts in the number of Mideast immigrants the U.S. lets in under its diversity visa program. A third of illegal immigrants overstay their visas, as did some of the 9/11 hijackers.

"I fear that in the next century we will have many more Muslims in the United States if we do not adopt the strict immigration policies necessary to preserve the values and beliefs traditional to the United States of America," Goode warned.

Muslim groups roundly condemned him as "Islamophobic" and demanded an apology. But according to a recent Nixon Center study, we should all worry about easy Muslim immigration.

Authors Robert S. Keiken and Steven Brooke did a quantitative analysis of terrorism and immigration and found a close link. Nearly nine in 10 terrorists are immigrants. The authors' database includes the bios of 373 terrorists prosecuted over the past dozen years.

"Our matrix reveals a close link between immigration and terrorism," the report said. "Eighty-seven percent of our terrorists are immigrants. Though most immigrants are not terrorists, most terrorists are immigrants."

And though most Muslims are not terrorists, nearly all terrorists are Muslim. They don't just come from Muslim nations either.

Surprisingly, the study found the Canadian border poses a far greater risk as a point of entry for terrorists than the Mexican border. Canada was host to 26 terrorists in the matrix, three of whom — including Millennium bomber Ahmed Ressam — entered or tried to enter the U.S. By contrast, no terrorist entered from Mexico.

"Our data suggests that the Canadian border deserves top priority among U.S. points of entry," the report said. "This is not to gainsay the chaotic situation on the Mexican border regarding massive illegal immigration. But the Mexican border appears to constitute a less serious national security danger than the Canadian border."

Europe, which has a "massive terrorist presence," is also a problem. Under the visa waiver program, nationals of 27 mainly European nations can enter the U.S. without a visa or the accompanying interview by a U.S. consular official.

Al-Qaida terrorists Richard Reid, Zacarias Moussaoui and members of the Hamburg cell, which helped coordinate the 9/11 attacks, were treated by the State Department as visa waiver travelers.

The study found that countries with the most liberal immigration policies attracted the most immigrants from high-risk Muslim countries and in turn had the highest number of Muslim terrorists. France, for example, boasts 34% of the Muslims in Europe and consequently hosted 22% of the terror operatives in the database for Europe.

Most of France's terrorists are from Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia, the report said — countries that "are experiencing significant and growing immigration to Canada."

While the threat from homegrown terrorists is on the rise, the report showed the proven threat is from immigrant terrorists.

More to the point, the data compiled by the Nixon Center suggest the most urgent security challenge involves Muslim immigrants coming from not only the Mideast, but also from Europe and Canada. It's more reason to tighten visa policies as well as border security.

"Our data suggests that the Canadian border deserves top priority among U.S. points of entry," the report said. "This is not to gainsay the chaotic situation on the Mexican border regarding massive illegal immigration. But the Mexican border appears to constitute a less serious national security danger than the Canadian border."

Very true and under reported in all media. They fly in all the time.

Both borders need to be secured, as well as our coasts. And it can be done rather easily. But Washington doesn't have the political will to do it.