Protect the U.S. From British "Homegrown" Terrorists by Ending Visa Waiver Program

By Michael Cutler

The war on terror is continuing and many of the countries that are America's staunchest allies are becoming increasingly aware of the threat that terrorists pose within their own borders. This article released yesterday states that there are more than 1,600 "home grown" al-Qaeda terrorists in Great Britain planning to launch attacks against England. Anyone who would launch a terrorist against attack England would have to see the United States as a potential target as well.

No one can doubt the close relationship that the United States and Great Britain have. Great Britain has assumed a major role in assisting the United States in prosecuting the war in Iraq and Afghanistan. England is among the 27 countries whose citizens are not required to obtain visas before seeking entry into our country. However, the disturbing fact is that there are terrorists who live in Great Britain that hate England and the United States. Examples of the hatred abound. Richard Reid, the so-called "Shoe Bomber" was a British national who hid explosives in his shoes, intent on downing an airliner. British citizens participated in the bombing of the famed British subway system called the "Underground" in England. Other terrorist plots have been disrupted when British authorities discovered them before they could be set into motion including a plot to bring seemingly harmless fluids onto airliners, meet up with confederates who carried other fluids that when mixed together would create potent explosives to be used to destroy number of airliners over the Atlantic Ocean as these airliners were en route to the United States. These attempts at concealing explosives in shoes and seemingly innocuous fluids has resulted in a ratcheting up of security measures in the United States. When we travel by plane, these days, we know that we will have to remove our shoes and that we will be severely restricted in the quantity of fluids that we may bring on board the airliner with us. This is our country's response to the threat that explosives may be concealed by terrorists who would use them to blow up airliners in flight and kill hundreds of innocent travelers. Most travelers in the United States just shrug off these impositions and say that it is just a "sign of the times." Indeed, I believe that it is probably prudent to take these measures.

However, why is our nation unwilling to end the Visa Waiver Program (VWP) in this day and age when Americans have gotten used to all sorts of inconveniences and indignities in the name of security? The visa requirement provides 4 major enhancements that would aid our efforts to protect our nation.

Simply stated the requirements are:

1. The visa process is a screening process that may well keep terrorists off of airliners in the first place.

2. The visa process helps to screen aliens seeking entry into the United States helping our beleaguered CBP inspectors at ports of entry do a better job of assessing the alien seeking admission into our country.

3. The application for a visa contains approximately 40 questions that can provide useful intelligence and investigative leads should that alien at some point become the target of a criminal or terrorist investigation.

4. While it may be difficult to prove an individual is a terrorist, it is usually not difficult to prove that an alien lied about a material fact on an application for a visa. Such a lie constitutes the crime of 'Visa Fraud.' If such fraud is committed to simply enable an alien to enter our country to work or for some other such seemingly "mundane" purpose, the penalty is a maximum of 5 years in a federal jail and a fine. If the fraud is perpetrated in furtherance of drug trafficking and related offenses, the penalty jumps to a maximum of 20 years in jail. Visa fraud committed in furtherance of terrorism carries a maximum jail sentence of 25 years.

Aliens who enter the United States under the auspices of the Visa Waiver Program neatly sidestep all of these issues. The terrorists discussed in the article are apparently British citizens, making them eligible to get a passport from the government of Great Britain, head for the airport and take a flight to the United States. While some of their names may show up on the terrorist watch lists others might not. While the visa process is not a "magic bullet" it is possible that the visa requirement would keeps at least some of the terrorists from getting on board those airliners and seeking entry into the United States in the first place. It is believed that several additional terrorists who intended to participate in the attacks of September 11, 2001 in the United States were unable to obtain visas and subsequently were prevented from assisting in those attacks. There has been much speculation that the airliner that crashed in Pennsylvania on 9/11 was supposed to have one or more additional terrorists on board. Had that happened perhaps the Capitol or White House would have been destroyed.

The point is that anyone who understands security will tell you that effective security is best implemented in layers. If you want to secure a structure, you erect a strong fence around the outermost perimeter of the property you are attempting to secure. In effect, the visa requirement moves the border of the United States out to the American embassy or consulate where the alien seeking a visa must first go in order to apply for that visa. This is a commonsense approach to the perilous situation in which we find ourselves today.

I have held many discussions with those with whom I have had the privilege of working with on Capitol Hill for a number of years about the insane Visa Waiver Program. Regardless of party affiliation, most of these people agree with my concerns and arguments but tell me - off the record, of course - that the hospitality and travel industries oppose the visa requirement. As one of these guys told me, the folks who own the hotels want illegal aliens to change the sheets for the lowest wages possible and they want the wealthy foreign tourists to come to the United States and sleep on those sheets! It is the approach to business that maximizes profit. But at what expense? If there is another attack, how many of those sheets will remain unslept on? It would appear that these corporate executives are so short-sighted in their desire for immediate profits that they are ignoring the obvious. If they can ignore the potential for horrific loss of life (it would seem that they can), If there is another terrorist attack, their industries would be among the first to suffer the greatest economic damage! Their greed has apparently blinded them to the reality of the continuing threat of terrorism.

The usual excuse given by the lobbyists employed by these businesses is that it is an inconvenience to require visas. Nonsense! A nonimmigrant tourist visa can be issued that is valid for a ten-year period. That would mean that a traveler with such a visa would simply need to renew it once every ten years regardless of how many times he/she came to the United States. Motorists generally have to visit the dreaded DMV more often than that, yet we all comply with that requirement. Because of ever increasing security at airports we now head to the airport at least 2 hours before flight time instead of the 30 minutes that used to be required before the terrorist attacks. If you travel several times a year, you can expect to lose the equivalent of a day or two of lost work days and so we drag our laptop computers with us to airports to maximize productivity. Admittedly the stepped up security at airports is an inconvenience, but I would rather lose a day or two of productivity than lose my life!

I could not imagine our military leaders or our political leaders during the Second World War asking permission from corporate leaders for permission to carry out military operations or require certain measures be taken to secure our nation from the potential of an enemy attack. I could not imagine General Eisenhower asking corporations for permission to initiate "Operation Overlord" the code name for the invasion of Normandy on "D Day!" Why then is this administration bowing to corporate pressure where our borders are concerned? Why is the United States permitting national security decisions to be made by corporation? Only President Bush can answer that question.

TrackBack