Securing The Border
by Marc Rotterman

Securing our borders and enforcing our nation's immigration laws should be the federal government's number one national security priority.

Currently there are an estimated 8 to 10 million illegal aliens already present in the United States. Approximately 1 million people a year receive permanent residency and the Census Bureau estimates a net increase of 500,000 illegal immigrants annually. Since 1970, more than 30 million legal and illegal immigrants have settled in the U.S., representing more than one third of all the people ever to come to America's shores.

The present level of immigration today is significantly higher than the historical average. Many attribute this unprecedented wave of immigration to the extraordinary broadening of U.S. immigration policy since 1965. (Statistics from the Center for Immigration Study's web site.)

Make no mistake about it -- a majority of Americans oppose amnesty for illegals. They want illegal immigration halted, and would prefer that illegals be sent home. They support a moratorium on immigration, and if necessary using U.S. troops to protect our borders.

President Bush has proposed giving illegals special working permits for three years and then expects that these "temporary" workers will eventually go back to their native countries. But stop and ask yourself -- What would be their incentive? Why would they leave voluntarily once they've received the blessings of America?

In fact, the Mexican Foreign Ministry has published a colorful new comic book that many immigration control advocates believe encourages further illegal border crossings. The 32 page book, Guide for the Mexican Migrant, offers safety information for border crossings, a primer on their legal rights, and advice on living unobtrusively in the U.S. Dramatic drawings show illegals wading into the water, running from the U.S. Border Patrol, and crossing near a hole in a border fence. It's not a far fetched to think this "comic book" encourages illegal immigration and also shows the contempt that the some in the Mexican government have regarding our laws.

Post 9/11, numerous lawmakers in Washington D.C. have come to the conclusion that for national security reasons alone our nation can no longer afford an "open borders" policy. Consider the written testimony to the Senate Intelligence Committee on February the 16th by Deputy Homeland Security Secretary James Loy.

"Recent information from ongoing investigations, detentions, and emerging threat streams strongly suggests that al Qaeda has considered using the Southwest Border to infiltrate the United States," Loy stated. "Several al Qaeda leaders believe operatives can pay their way into the country through Mexico and also believe illegal entry is more advantageous than legal entry for operational security reasons."

Loy also related the danger of infiltration through the extensive Canadian border, and concluded, "Al Qaeda and affiliated elements currently have the capability to produce small amounts of crude biological weapons, and may have acquired small amounts of radioactive materials."

FBI Director Robert Mueller also appeared before the Intelligence Committee. "Because of al Qaeda's directed efforts this year to infiltrate covert operatives into the U.S., I am also very concerned with the growing body of sensitive reporting that continues to show al Qaeda's clear intention to obtain and ultimately use some form of chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear or high-energy explosives material in attacks against America."

According to Human Events, a respected national conservative publication, House Judiciary Chairman James Sensenbrenner said it was "incomprehensible" that the Bush Administration is not calling for sufficient resources to secure the border in light of new information that al Qaeda has considered infiltrating the United States through Mexico.

House Armed Services Chairman Duncan Hunter also was quoted in Human Events as saying the following, "al Qaeda's interest in penetrating the U.S. from Mexico ‘demonstrates that national security is unavoidably linked to border security,' and that funding border security must be a priority for this Congress."

The 9/11 Commission's final report of July 22nd, 2004 pointed out immigration related failures or problems that likely contributed to the attacks. As examples of missed opportunities the report notes that collectively the 9/11 hijackers:

• included known al Qaeda operatives who could have been watchlisted
• presented fraudulent passports
• presented passports with suspicious indicators of extremism
• made detectable false statements on visa applications
• made false statements to border officials to gain entry into the United States
• and violated immigration laws while in the United States.

The report contends that because border security was not considered to be a national security matter prior to 9/11, neither the State Department's consular officers nor the Immigration and Naturalization Service's inspectors or agents were considered to be "full partners" in the national counterterrorism efforts.

To correct these weaknesses the Commission made several recommendations including integrating the U.S. border security system into a larger network of screening points that includes the transportation system and also recommended that we set standards for the issuance of birth certificates and sources of identification, such as driver's licenses. The Commission would also like to see a complete biometric screening system that also speeds qualified travelers. Finally, the report stated that it is elemental to border security to know who is coming into the country. The report stresses that we must be able to monitor and respond to entrances through our ports of entry, working with Canada and Mexico as much as possible.

September 11th was a wake-up call for this country. Business as usual is not an option. It is time to secure our borders.

Marc Rotterman is Treasurer of The American Conservative Union and a Senior Fellow at The John Locke Foundation.

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