US Welcomes Millions of Aliens ‘Sight Unseen’

Michael Cutler / FrontPageMag

On May 6, 2015 Fox News reported, “Purported ISIS warning claims terror cells in place in 15 states.”

Here is how that ominous report began:

A grim online warning from a self-described American jihadist said Sunday’s terror attack in Texas was the work of ISIS and that the terrorist group has scores of “trained soldiers” positioned in 15 states, awaiting orders to carry out more operations.

The warning, which was posted on a file-sharing site, could not be verified, but was signed by Abu Ibrahim Al Ameriki. That name matches the moniker of a shadowy American known to have joined a terrorist group in Pakistan several years ago and who has appeared in propaganda videos before. The chilling threat named five of the states where it is claimed that ISIS has terror cells in place.

News coverage about this threat included statements by the administration that it was prepared to pay millions of dollars to anyone who could provide information to enable them to locate leaders of terror organizations. Monetary payments for information is a good strategy. However, although it is not generally known, immigration benefits or visas for aliens illegally present in the United States and their families can provide a far greater incentive to get aliens to provide vital information. I base this assessment on my personal experience.

I spent roughly half of my career involved in conducting investigations into large-scale narcotics trafficking organizations. I had a desk at the DEA, FBI and ATF. One of my key responsibilities was to use my authority as an INS agent to identify and cultivate informants and cooperators.

The administration’s outrageous immigration policies have largely undermined this important and highly successful incentive. Consider that the administration is willing to provide just about any illegal alien with the ability to remain in the United States and even be granted employment authorization.

I addressed the nexus between immigration enforcement and the cultivation of intelligence in my November 10, 2014 article for Californians for Population Stabilization (CAPS), “Lack of Intelligence in Failures to Enforce Immigration Laws.”

In its continuing coverage of this threat, Fox News interviewed Congressman Peter King on the day that the above article was posted on the Fox News website. King had been the chairman of the Homeland Security Committee and currently is a member of the Homeland Security Committee and Chairman of the Sub-Committee on Counterterrorism and Intelligence. He also serves on the Financial Services Committee and Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.

The interview included a discussion about the dangers associated with the Visa Waiver Program and the threat posed by terror “sleeper cells.” My article, “Sleeper Cells: The Immigration Component of the Threat,” was published by FrontPage Magazine on January 23, 2015 and addressed this serious vulnerability.

The visa process requires aliens who seeks to enter the United States to complete an application that contains approximately 40 questions and is interviewed, in person, by a consular official. Aliens who are eligible to enter the U.S. under the Visa Waiver Program do not fill out that application and face no in-person interview at the U.S. consulate or embassy.

On 9/11 the Visa Waiver Program permitted aliens from 26 countries to enter the United States without first applying for a visa. Today that list has been expanded to cover 38 countries.

Given the severity of the threats posed by international terrorists, the Visa Waiver Program should have been terminated and not expanded. However, a new threat to national security has been created within the past two years. That threat is a program known as Automated Passport Control (APC). Under this program, aliens who are eligible to enter the United States under the Visa Waiver Program may now enter the United States by interacting with a kiosk that looks similar to an ATM and is not to be confused with “Robo-Cop.”

Installing these kiosks began in March 2013 at international airports around the United States and the list of airports using these devices has been expanding ever since.

It is worth noting that the program references “controlling passports” but ignores the term “immigration.” Do we need to control passports or aliens who enter the United States?

This is yet another example of Orwellian Newspeak. The term “alien” has all but been expunged from the conversation except, of course, when we talk about “DREAMers” (Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors). Now the term immigration is about to be eradicated as well. In point of fact, ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) had moved most of their special agents to a new subdivision known as HSI (Homeland Security Investigations) to expunge that apparently offensive term (immigration) from the vernacular.

The 9/11 Commission Report addressed the importance of the immigration inspections process conducted at ports of entry noting:

Inspectors at the ports of entry were not asked to focus on terrorists. Inspectors told us they were not even aware that when they checked the names of incoming passengers against the automated watchlist, they were checking in part for terrorists. In general, border inspectors also did not have the information they needed to make fact-based determinations of admissibility.The INS initiated but failed to bring to completion two efforts that would have provided inspectors with information relevant to counterterrorism—a proposed system to track foreign student visa compliance and a program to establish a way of tracking travelers’ entry to and exit from the United States.

On November 20, 2013 ABC News reported, “Exclusive: US May Have Let ‘Dozens’ of Terrorists Into Country As Refugees.” This was not a new problem. On July 13, 2011 the Washington Times published a truly disturbing article, “Visas reviewed to find those who overstayed — Aim is to find any would-be terrorists.”

I began my career with the INS in 1971 as an Immigration Inspector assigned to John F. Kennedy International Airport. After a four-year stint in that position I became an INS Special Agent.

My colleagues and I were expected to complete an inspection of an arriving alien in one minute or less.  This process was called into question by the 9/11 Commission.

Now, bowing to obvious pressure from the same greed-motivated executives of the United States Chamber of Commerce and the CEO’s of companies in the hotel, hospitality and travel industries, who have joined that extremely cash-heavy lobbying outfit in an unholy alliance known as the “Discover America Partnership” that pushed for the expansion of the dangerous Visa Waiver Program, we now have millions of aliens entering the United States each year with the electronic nod of a machine.

The executives of these industries know nothing about national security. They are the “leaders” who are supposed to arrange for room service and clean linen in hotel rooms. Nevertheless, their demands — that ill-conceived programs be implemented to hopefully increase their profits — are being met by the administration and politicians who have put their campaign contributions over national security and public safety.

The Visa Waiver Program is supposed to attract more tourists and likely more illegal foreign workers who ignore the terms of their admission into the United States, and the insane APC is designed to speed the flow of passengers into the United States and create a business opportunity for some companies. This may be good in the short-term for business but potentially catastrophic for national security.

Unbelievably, the vital inspections process conducted as ports of entry is now obviously viewed as a nuisance to be dispensed with as quickly as possible and not as an important layer of security for our nation and our citizens in a very dangerous era.

The face-to-face interaction between an inspector and an alien seeking admission is invaluable in finding aliens whose documentation may have been in order, but whose intentions were anything but honorable. That brief interview provides the inspector with an irreplaceable opportunity to review entry and exit stamps in the passport of the alien seeking entry into the United States. This is especially important in light of concerns about finding aliens who may have traveled to the Middle East to be trained in terror tactics. How will a machine carry out this important segment of the inspections process?

You must remember that for the CBP (Customs and Border Protection) Inspector, just as was the case for the old INS Inspectors, the intentions of the people entering the United States are critical. A police officer seeks the suspect of a crime that has been already committed. The inspectors at ports of entry seek evidence of an individual intending to violate laws. This is a critical job, is difficult and represents America’s first line of defense and last line of defense against international terrorists and transnational criminals.

How on earth can a machine determine the intentions of a human being when this is a difficult task for our enforcement personnel who often have to work for years to acquire real proficiency in this mission that is as much an art as a science?

Let us now consider some background information.

Read more at FrontPageMag:

http://www.frontpagemag.com/2015/michael-cutler/u-s-welcomes-millions-of-aliens-sight-unseen/

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