Visa Waiver Program Allows Terrorists To Enter US

I was alerted to the news report Border Investigation Gets Worldwide Response by Brad Stone, a producer of an Atlanta-based television news program that airs on WSB-TV.

Brad is the producer of the news reports on the threat posed to our nation by aliens who run our nation's southern border who are referred to as "OTM's" (Other Than Mexican).

In fact, he interviewed me for one of those reports several months ago. The link above is the report which aired on May 26th of this year.

The news report I am focusing on today, was issued by ABC News and is of obvious great concern. The report notes that a credible threat now exists for countries in Europe as well as for the United States.

'Credible But Not Specific' Threat of New Terrorist Attack

The ABC news report provides disconcerting information and makes a point I have made on innumerable occasions including when I have testified before Congressional hearings- the Visa Waiver Program creates a major national security vulnerability for our nation. Consider these excerpts from the article:

The captured German reportedly said several teams of attackers, all with European passports, had been trained and dispatched from training camps in Waziristan and Pakistan. Officials say the German claimed the attack plan had been approved by Osama Bin Laden.

"The advantage, of course, is the passport, because with the German passport it's a lot easier to travel," said Steinberg.

Travelers with German passports do not require a visa to enter the United States. Meanwhile, even while the administration has recently disclosed its intentions of making it easier to wiretap internet devices such as Blackberrys and computers, the Visa Waiver continues on with more countries being added continually. The most recent addition to the list of countries whose citizens do not require visas to enter the United States is the 36th such country, Greece, a country that is in an economic state of free-fall.

The United States government has no reliable way of determining the true number of illegal aliens in our country that entered our country with visas or under the auspices of the Visa Waiver Program and then either overstayed their authorized period of admission and hence became illegally present, or otherwise violated the terms of their admission by accepting unauthorized employment, failing to show up for a job they were admitted to do or failed to attend a college or other school they were admitted to attend.

US-VISIT was supposed to track the arrival and departure of nonimmigrant aliens (aliens who were admitted for a limited period of time). Well over one billion dollars has been spent on this program- a program that was strongly recommended by the 9/11 Commission, yet it has yet to be completely implemented.

Recently, the administration said it would seek to no longer link biometrics to this system even though this would be the only real means of making certain that this program has real integrity.

It is important to remember that each of the 19 terrorists that attacked our nation on 9/11 had entered our country with visas and then embedded themselves in our country as they worked towards their outrageous goals that culminated in the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

Estimates as the number of aliens in our country who violated the terms of their admission range from 4 million to well over 5 million.

In any event, a recent report indicated that the DHS (Department of Homeland Surrender) has assigned all of 272 special agents of ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) to track down and arrest these millions of illegal aliens! In this game of "Hide & Seek" the aliens are hiding and our government is barely seeking!

On May 11, 2006 I testified before the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations of the House or Representatives' Committee on International Relations on the topic: "Visa Overstays:* *Can We Bar The Terrorist Door?"

Here is the transcript of that hearing in its entirety

You can review the State Department's website for information about this wrong headed and, indeed, treacherous Visa Waiver Program.

There are definite benefits that the visa requirement can provide to enhance national security if that program is properly implemented. Here is a list of the most significant of those benefits:

1. By requiring visas of aliens who seek to enter the United States, this process helps to screen potential passengers on airliners that are destined to the United States. Richard Reid, the so-called "Shoe Bomber" was able to board an airliner to come to the United States although he had no intentions of entering the United States, his apparent goal was to blow up the airliner and its many passengers somewhere over the depths of the Atlantic Ocean by detonating explosives he had concealed in his shoes. Because he is a subject of Great Britain, a country that participates in the Visa Waiver Program, Reid did not obtain a visa before he boarded that airliner.

2. The CBP inspectors are supposed to make a decision in one minute or less as to the admissibility of an alien seeking to enter the United States. The visa requirement helps them to do a more effective job. Their's is a tough job I can certainly relate to, I began my career at the former INS as an immigration inspector at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York and worked there for 4 years before I became a special agent.

3. The application for a nonimmigrant visa contains roughly 40 questions that could provide invaluable information to law enforcement officials should that alien become the target of a criminal or terrorist investigation. The information could provide intelligence as well as investigative leads. You can check out the application for a nonimmigrant (tourist) visa.

4. If an alien applicant lies on the application for a visa that lie is called "visa fraud." The maximum penalty for visa fraud starts out at 10 years in jail for those who commit this crime simply in order to come to the United States, ostensibly to seek unlawful employment or other such purpose. The penalty increases to 15 years in jail for those aliens who obtain a visa to commit a felony. For aliens who engage in visa fraud to traffic in narcotics or commit another narcotics-related crime, the maximum jail sentence that can be imposes rises to 20 years. Finally, when an alien can be proven to have engaged in visa fraud in furtherance of terrorism, the maximum penalty climbs to 25 years in prison. It is important to note that while it may be difficult to prove that an individual is a terrorist, it is usually relatively simple to prove that the alien has committed visa fraud when there is fraud involved in the visa application. Indeed, terror suspects are often charged with visa fraud.

5. The charge of visa fraud can also be extremely helpful to law enforcement authorities who want to take a bad guy off the street without tipping their hand to the other members of a criminal conspiracy or terrorism conspiracy that the individual arrested was being arrested for his involvement in terrorism or a criminal organization. You can arrest the alien who commits visa fraud for that violation of law and not for other charges that might make it clear that the investigation underway is targeting a criminal or terrorist organization.

6. Even when an alien applies for a visa and his application is denied, the application he filed remains available for law enforcement and intelligence personnel to review to seek to glean intelligence from that application.

The travel and hospitality industries have created a program they call "Discover America." The goal of this program is to generate more tourism by whatever means possible. Incredibly this includes advocating for adding more countries to the Visa Waiver Program! Someone really needs to remind the executives of the travel and tourism industries that al-Qaeda has already discovered America!

This program actually flies in the face of the best interests of those industries- if God forbid, there is another terrorist attack, think about how much damage would be done to the travel and hospitality industries! Not only would lots of innocent people be likely to lose their lives but people would be far less likely to travel in the wake of a massive attack. What is truly disturbing is how our government is willing to take the ill-conceived advice of the fools who think that expanding the Visa Waiver Program is a great idea!

Today our government is making national security, diplomatic and economic decisions based on the massive pressures exerted by corporations and their greedy and largely inept executives!

Perhaps the time has come to refer to the House of Representatives as being the "House of Corporate Interests!"

A nation's security begins at its borders. Our nation's borders do not only exist along the northern and southern extremes of our nation. Our borders exist along the estiamted 95,000 miles of coastline and our border exist at every international airport. That is why I recently wrote a commentary in which I stated that "Every state is a border state!"

Securing the borders of a nation is not an act of bigotry but an act of commonsense - especially in this perilous era!

As I have often noted, a country without secure borders can no more stand than can a house without walls!

November 2nd cannot come fast enough!

We the People, throughout this nation must seek opportunities to make it clear to our political "representatives" that we understand their game plan and won't tolerate it!.

I believe our nation's is greatly benefited by the rich diversity of our people which is why I could never imagine living anywhere except New York City, arguably the most diverse city in our nation if not, in fact, the world. However, my idea of diversity most certainly does not include members of MS-13, the Mexican drug cartels and members of al-Qaeda!

If reading this makes it difficult for you to sleep now- perhaps you could do something worthwhile- perhaps you might spend a couple of your sleepless hours writing letters to your elected representatives this evening and remind them that Election Day is just months away!

We the People can add to the consternation of these politicians who are failing to live up to their oaths of office by contacting them and making it abundantly clear that election day is coming and they should think of election day as their personal "Day of Reckoning!"

Our government must live up to its obligation of protecting its own citizens and, indeed, all who are present in our country from the criminals and terrorists who would threaten our lives and the survival of our nation and our way of life. In the end, the government is actually those who are elected to act as our "leaders." Those who fail to truly lead and look out for those they are supposed to represent, need to be sent packing this coming Election Day!

If our country is to survive and if our children and their children are to get their share of the "American Dream" the citizens of this nation must take their citizenship seriously!

We the People must be the best citizens we can be, citizens who are worthy of the gallantry demonstrated by our valiant men and women in the military, law enforcement and firefighters, who routinely go in harm's way in defense of this nation and our citizens.

My goal in writing this and other commentaries is to point out our nations many failings *before* more victims pay the ultimate price for the incompetence and ineptitude of our government.

The first step in problem-solving is to first identify the problems and vulnerabilities and then devise strategies to overcome them.

Any politician who refuses to work to secure our borders and create an immigration system that has integrity is either corrupt or too dumb to keep his (her) job. Any politician, irrespective of party affiliation who favors Comprehensive Immigration Reform and the outrageous betrayal that this would represent given the national security implications that this program would have, should be shown the door at the next election!

If you find yourself to be in agreement with this commentary, I ask that you forward it to as many of your friends and family members as possible and encourage them to do the same. We need to create a "Bucket Brigade of Truth!"

In less than 5 weeks, each and every member of the House of Representatives is up for reelection and more than one third of the members of the United States Senate will have to face their constituents. They need to be reminded that they work for us, *We the People*!

However, the practice of good citizenship does not end in the voting booth, it only begins there.

The large scale apathy demonstrated by citizens of this nation has emboldened elected representatives to all but ignore the needs of the average American citizen in a quest for massive campaign funds and the promises of votes to be ostensibly delivered by special interest groups. There is much that we cannot do but there is one thing that *We the People* absolutely must do- we must stop sitting on the sidelines!

The collective failure of *We the People *to get involved in make our concerns known to our politicians have nearly made the concerns of the great majority of the citizens of this nation all but irrelevant to the politicians.I implore you to get involved!

If this situation concerns you or especially if it angers you, I ask you to call your Senators and Congressional "Representative. This is not only your right- it is your obligation!

All I ask is that you make it clear to our politicians that we are not as dumb as they hope we are!

We live in a perilous world and in a perilous era. The survival of our nation and the lives of our citizens hang in the balance.

This is neither a Conservative issue, nor is it a Liberal issue - simply stated, this is most certainly an AMERICAN issue!

You are either part of the solution or you are a part of the problem!

Democracy is not a spectator sport!

Lead, follow or get out of the way!

http://newsblaze.com/story/20100930053834mcut.nb/topstory.html