How Did the "Fort Dix Six" Enter and Stay in the U.S.?

By Michael Cutler

Six men have been arrested for terrorism-related charges emanating out of an alleged plot to enter a military base in New Jersey, Fort Dix, and kill as many of our soldiers as possible. I will provide my thoughts with the limited amount of information that is being made available (download and read the official complaint).

First of all, it is essential to realize that all men were born overseas and that one man was described as a naturalized citizen. I do not know how long he has been a naturalized citizen. He may have entered the United States as a young child with his family or he may have recently acquired United States citizenship. I would certainly be interested in knowing if the U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services office at DHS dropped the ball, or if they had no way of knowing. Similarly, two of the men have been described as being resident aliens. I am similarly concerned as to how and when they were given resident alien status. Finally, we know that 3 men are described as being illegal aliens. The obvious question is how did they enter the United States?

It is also important to realize that all six men were described as being roofers. They were apparently working in the United States. One of them also had a job as a pizza delivery man, and he understood that this job would provide him with unfettered access to the military base and other venues where he could do surveillance, hiding in plain sight. This goes back to the issue I have been adamant about, when the President says that illegal aliens do the work Americans won't do, so we need to allow aliens who want to work to do so, I have asked, what does a terrorist do days before an attack? The answer is, he goes to his job, in this case as roofers or a pizza delivery man!

A final thought: the President wants to make it far easier for refugees from Iraq to be admitted to the United States. While I am certainly sympathetic to the plight of refugees, I do not think we should be shortcutting the screening process by which we admit such people to make certain that we do not turn this humanitarian effort into one that will endanger our security! Once again, we have been given graphic evidence that we are at risk by not creating secure borders and a secure immigration system.

I will have more as the story evolves and we have more information.

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