Michael Cutler on Washington Times article: More Special Agents Needed to Stop Terrorists' Entry

By Andrew Cochran

Michael Cutler asked me to post his comments about a "Washington Times" article today. First, an excerpt from the story: "The Homeland Security Department's inspector general is investigating an incident involving 14 Syrian passengers aboard a flight from Detroit to Los Angeles last summer described by many federal air marshals and passengers as a dry run for a terrorist attack."

Michael's comments: "I noticed a reference to the fact that a couple of the individuals who were acting suspiciously on the flight may have overstayed their authorized periods of admission but that this issue was overloooked by the law enforcement officers who questioned them. It is entirely possible that others of the suspicious passengers were also in violation of their immigration status. This is why it is critical that we dedicate for more resources to the critical mission of the enforcement of the immigration laws from within the interior of the United States. This is the sort of thing that immigration special agents would not have ignored and might have given them the leverage that could have been extremely helpful in launching an investigation and to also detain these guys should it have been seen as being in our best interests from a security perspective. It shows the need for having enough agents who truly understand how proper enforcement of the INA can help contribute to waging a successful war on terrorism. Yet the administration only wanted to hire 143 new special agents this year for immigration law enforcement as compared with the 800 agents authorized by Congress."

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