Amnesty and Terrorism Linked
Days after Senate Democrats unveiled a 26-page immigration reform proposal in response to Arizona's controversial new crackdown on illegal immigrants, the arrest of a naturalized U.S. citizen from Pakistan in the failed New York City attack appears certain to renew scrutiny on how the U.S. polices its borders. While the current debate has focused on the nation's 12 million undocumented residents, the 30-year-old Pakistani native apparently had all his papers in order. He admits that he tried to kill citizens of his newly adopted country, just a year after being made "an American".
"We don't know enough about this case yet to say whether he slipped through the cracks," said Kevin McLaughlin, a spokesman for Sen. John Cornyn, the senior Republican on the subcommittee dealing with immigration and border security. "There will have to be a top-to-bottom review to see how he got naturalized and whether there were any acts prior to obtaining citizenship."
Calls to Sen. Charles Schumer, the New York Democrat who chairs that panel and supports Amnesty for illegals, were not returned.
Shahzad reported on Oct. 20, 2008, that he had married Huma Asif Mian, a U.S. citizen. He became naturalized as a U.S. citizen six months later, taking an oath of allegiance in which he said he would "absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state or sovereignty of whom or which I have heretofore been a subject or citizen." Obviously, he lied.
The oath says nothing about nonstate actors such as al-Qaida or the militant group Jaish-e-Muhammad, which is linked to a mosque in a Karachi suburb where Pakistani authorities arrested a man in connection with the Times Square bombing.
Christopher Bentley, a spokesman for the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), would not comment on Shahzad's case but said generally that all immigrants seeking permanent residency and later citizenship undergo routine background screening. He said the FBI does a name check and looks for any criminal records.
"They run a very detailed look into a person's background for anything that would preclude them from getting citizenship," he said. "They also look at associates who may be connected with a criminal background. It's a very comprehensive look."
Once a person passes that initial screening, the pathway to citizenship includes being able to speak English and pass a test about U.S. government and history. How that rule will be bent for the 12 to 20 million Mexican illegals is not yet clear. (Millions of them are illiterate and cannot speak English.)
In 2000, before the terrorist attacks, the annual number of permanent resident aliens, or "green card" holders, admitted annually peaked at about 1.5 million, according James Nafziger, who teaches immigration law at Willamette University in Salem, Ore. Because of restrictions imposed after 9/11, that number dropped to fewer than 1 million each year. While the economy usually explains fluctuations in migration, anti-terrorist regulations deterred many from seeking visas to live here.
If suspicions began to ease, Saturday's failed attack -- the 11th in New York since 9/11 -- has already re-energized many Americans who complain the Obama administration isn't tough enough on immigration. In fact, they are currently pushing for Amnesty of the 12 to 20 million illegal Mexicans already here. House Republican Whip Eric Cantor on Tuesday accused the White House of complacency amid "warning signs" of the failed attacks on an airliner on Christmas Day and in Times Square. But attacks were foiled, not by police or Homeland Security, but by citizens who just happened to be brave and suspicious enough to prevent the disasters.
The attack "indicates that the screening process for admitting and naturalizing immigrants is grossly inadequate," said Ira Mehlman of the Federation for American Immigration Reform. "Even more importantly, it ought to stop any discussion of amnesty for millions of illegal aliens dead in its tracks. If USCIS cannot adequately screen applicants at its current workload, it renders the promise of background checks on amnesty applicants utterly absurd. There is simply no way they would be able to vet millions of people -- many of whom may be using false identities -- and pick out the run-of-the-mill illegal alien from the ones who are truly dangerous."
See Chick's SKYLIGHTER.
"We don't know enough about this case yet to say whether he slipped through the cracks," said Kevin McLaughlin, a spokesman for Sen. John Cornyn, the senior Republican on the subcommittee dealing with immigration and border security. "There will have to be a top-to-bottom review to see how he got naturalized and whether there were any acts prior to obtaining citizenship."
Calls to Sen. Charles Schumer, the New York Democrat who chairs that panel and supports Amnesty for illegals, were not returned.
Shahzad reported on Oct. 20, 2008, that he had married Huma Asif Mian, a U.S. citizen. He became naturalized as a U.S. citizen six months later, taking an oath of allegiance in which he said he would "absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state or sovereignty of whom or which I have heretofore been a subject or citizen." Obviously, he lied.
The oath says nothing about nonstate actors such as al-Qaida or the militant group Jaish-e-Muhammad, which is linked to a mosque in a Karachi suburb where Pakistani authorities arrested a man in connection with the Times Square bombing.
Christopher Bentley, a spokesman for the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), would not comment on Shahzad's case but said generally that all immigrants seeking permanent residency and later citizenship undergo routine background screening. He said the FBI does a name check and looks for any criminal records.
"They run a very detailed look into a person's background for anything that would preclude them from getting citizenship," he said. "They also look at associates who may be connected with a criminal background. It's a very comprehensive look."
Once a person passes that initial screening, the pathway to citizenship includes being able to speak English and pass a test about U.S. government and history. How that rule will be bent for the 12 to 20 million Mexican illegals is not yet clear. (Millions of them are illiterate and cannot speak English.)
In 2000, before the terrorist attacks, the annual number of permanent resident aliens, or "green card" holders, admitted annually peaked at about 1.5 million, according James Nafziger, who teaches immigration law at Willamette University in Salem, Ore. Because of restrictions imposed after 9/11, that number dropped to fewer than 1 million each year. While the economy usually explains fluctuations in migration, anti-terrorist regulations deterred many from seeking visas to live here.
If suspicions began to ease, Saturday's failed attack -- the 11th in New York since 9/11 -- has already re-energized many Americans who complain the Obama administration isn't tough enough on immigration. In fact, they are currently pushing for Amnesty of the 12 to 20 million illegal Mexicans already here. House Republican Whip Eric Cantor on Tuesday accused the White House of complacency amid "warning signs" of the failed attacks on an airliner on Christmas Day and in Times Square. But attacks were foiled, not by police or Homeland Security, but by citizens who just happened to be brave and suspicious enough to prevent the disasters.
The attack "indicates that the screening process for admitting and naturalizing immigrants is grossly inadequate," said Ira Mehlman of the Federation for American Immigration Reform. "Even more importantly, it ought to stop any discussion of amnesty for millions of illegal aliens dead in its tracks. If USCIS cannot adequately screen applicants at its current workload, it renders the promise of background checks on amnesty applicants utterly absurd. There is simply no way they would be able to vet millions of people -- many of whom may be using false identities -- and pick out the run-of-the-mill illegal alien from the ones who are truly dangerous."
See Chick's SKYLIGHTER.
posted by chickcomics | 8:12 PM
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