Counterterrorism Blog

You cannot control illegal immigration purely at our borders, but must also create an inhospitable environment for illegal aliens who succeed in entering and making their way to the interior of the United States. The immigration laws of our nation are clear that anyone who induces aliens to enter our country illegally or reside in our country in violation of law or conspire to do so are violating our laws. Section 1324 of the Immigration and Nationality Act is quite clear on this issue:

Section 1324. Bringing in and harboring certain aliens

(a) Criminal penalties
(1)(A) Any person who...
(iv) encourages or induces an alien to come to, enter, or
reside in the United States, knowing or in reckless disregard of
the fact that such coming to, entry, or residence is or will be
in violation of law; or
(v)(I) engages in any conspiracy to commit any of the preceding
acts, or
(II) aids or abets the commission of any of the preceding acts,
shall be punished as provided in subparagraph (B).

The governor of New York State has made it known that he intends to provide drivers licenses to illegal aliens. I find it incredible that the Governor, who had been the Attorney General, would not understand that the promise of providing driver's licenses to illegal aliens provides clear incentives for terrorists to illegally enter our country and to illegally reside in the United States and secure illegal employment. I find it especially disturbing that the Governor of the State that suffered the most casualties and destruction from the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 would so blithely ignore the lessons of those attacks, as articulated in the 9/11 Commission Report on the Terrorist Attacks and in the 9/11 Commission Staff Report on Terrorist Travel.

These reports make it clear that the 19 terrorists used some 364 aliases including variations and alterations of various names and dates of birth. They used a variety of identity documents in order to embed themselves in our country and hide in plain sight among us.

As I have recently noted on previous occasions, the CBP (Customs and Border Protection) inspector is not to be confused with a toll collector at a bridge or toll road. When an alien enters the United States without being inspected, he prevents those federal law enforcement officers from having the opportunity to record his entry into the United States. The government, through those inspectors, is therefore unable to screen the alien entrant who might be excludible for a number of reasons established by our nation's immigration laws. As you may know, I began my career with the former INS as an immigration inspector assigned to John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City.

The inspectors are the officials who are charged with the responsibility to make certain that aliens who are inadmissible are prevented from entering our country. The grounds for denying an alien entry into our country are intended to safeguard our nation and our people. This process has never been more important than it is today as our nation wages a war against terrorists, violent gangs and drug trafficking organizations.

When criminals and especially terrorists are able to secure identity documents in false names as the terrorists did, rather than getting security, we wind up with the false illusion of security! The only thing worse than no security is false security!

If you read about suspects arrested in conjunction with terrorism investigations, you will notice that all of the suspects are identified as holding down some sort of job. Among the jobs that terrorists have been identified as doing are, ice cream truck driver, school bus driver, cab driver, used car lot employee, pizza deliveryman, and medical doctor!

Do you know what a terrorist is likely to do a couple of days before he participates in a terrorist attack? He is likely to go to his job where he has been hiding in plain sight!

A final thought. As an old-timer told me when I first began my career with the INS, "When a cop is chasing a bad guy, the cop is running for his paycheck; the bad guy may well be running for his life!" Illegal aliens, especially terrorists, pay attention to where they are more likely to embed themselves in communities and hide in plain sight. When a community creates a so-called "Sanctuary" for illegal aliens, those communities and cities become magnets for illegal aliens, possibly including terrorists. They know that they are far less likely to be identified as being illegally present in those communities. When a state makes it clear that illegal aliens are welcome to set up shop in that state and be able to easily obtain a driver's license, then that state similarly becomes a magnet for illegal aliens, criminal aliens, and especially aliens involved in terrorist activities.

We already have some pretty solid evidence that New York attracts terrorists! There have been several terrorist attacks committed in New York during the past couple of decades, including the killing of Rabbi Meir David Kahane in Midtown Manhattan; the fatal shooting incident involving a van transporting yeshiva students on the Brooklyn Bridge; the first bombing attack on the World Trade Center on February 26, 1993; and other terrorist attacks, including a plan to blow up a subway station in New York, and a plan that was also thwarted to blow up the fuel lines at John F. Kennedy International Airport.

Why would the Governor want to make it that much easier for illegal aliens and potentially criminals and terrorists to obtain identity documents that would be of tremendous assistance to such human vermin who have already provided ample evidence that New York is clearly in their sights?

To quote from the Washington Times article on the Governor's actions: "Obviously one 9/11 isn't enough for Spitzer," said Peter Gadiel, whose son died in the attack and who is president of the 9/11 Families for a Secure America. "People are going to die."