August 11, 2006
The
matter of homeland security has been top of mind since 9/11. The
recent foiled terror plot in England brings the problem into sharp focus as
we approach the fifth anniversary of the worst attacks on American civilians
in our country's history. But here's the problem. We
apparently haven't learned our lesson.
Here's a little known tidbit of information that should scare every American. A
Department of Homeland Security audit revealed that between Fiscal Year 2001
and Fiscal Year 2005 over 91,000 people from countries on the State Department's
watch list were apprehended in this country. That includes countries
they label SSTs (State Sponsors of Terrorism) and SICs or Special Interest
Countries. That's over 91,000 who made their way into this country
from countries we deem a threat and we caught them. No telling
how many are here that we haven't caught.
But that's not the outrageous part. Of those 91,000-plus individuals,
over 45,000 of them were released! According to Congressman Ted
Poe of Texas , many of these dangerous people are melting into the Mexican
culture and coming up with the rest of the unchecked throngs from Mexico . "They
learn Spanish and assimilate into the population," Poe said in a recent
CNSNews.com report. "Coming across the Canadian border they would be
more conspicuous."
Poe believes anyone coming here from Mexico , Canada or the Caribbean Islands
should be required to show a passport before entering this country. As
it stands now, customs officials accept one of about 8,000 different documents. Now,
there's some homeland security for you. The 9/11 Commission recommended
requiring passports from these countries citing the security risk of doing
otherwise but the Bush administration has ignored the warning. Both
Mexico and Canada have protested saying it would make it harder for their
citizens to travel here. I'm sorry but I'm not nearly as concerned
about their citizens being inconvenienced as I am concerned about us getting
blown up.
Congressman Poe also says requiring passports will help officials ferret out
unscrupulous employers who hire illegal aliens. That's a side benefit
but not the primary reason for requiring them. Safety is the principal
reason. Travelers from these countries should be required to produce
a passport simply because we can no longer trust these countries' immigration
infrastructures to ensure dangerous people aren't using them as conduits to
enter our country and do us harm. Would that mean we would have
to obtain passports to enter Mexico or Canada ? Probably, but what
a small price to pay.
We must stop being so insanely naive about our borders, concentrating instead
on airports. Not that airport security isn't important, but while
TSA was wanding Mennonite women and 2-year-olds in strollers, over 91,000
people, that we know of, walked into our country across our porous borders
from countries believed to be hostile to the United States . And
we let 45,000 of them go!
Even the most vigilant security apparatus cannot contain the madness that
is our border policy. Why the Bush administration can't see that
is beyond me. Hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of illegal
aliens stream across our borders every years. To think that not
one of them is going to be a terrorist is foolhardy. Yet, we snatch
toothpaste from travelers at the airport. It's like turning the
air conditioning on and leaving the back door open and wondering why it's
not getting cool.
This schizophrenic policy will be our undoing. Terrorists are quickly
learning how to use our freedom against us. If we allow political
correctness to stand in the way of common sense we will cease to exist.