by
Jim Kouri, CPP
When veteran newsman Bob Schieffer questioned President George W. Bush and
Senator John F. Kerry about immigration and border security during the
third presidential debate last year, he was responding to an overwhelming
number of e-mail from citizens demanding answers to this most pressing
issue. In fact, according to Schieffer, he received more e-mail on this
subject than anyother issue. Yet Americans got few answers during the
heated debate. What many heard were abstractions about tightening border
security with no mention of how either candidate would achieve it.
As Americans remember the horror of the terrorist attacks in New York and
Washington almost four years ago, the US borders are practically as porous
as ever.
According to testimony given to the US House of Representatives Armed
Services Committee by General Peter Pace, the Vice Chairman of the US
Joint Chiefs of Staff, Hamas has joined Hezbullah and Al-Qaida in the
Triple Frontier Zone in Latin America where the borders of Argentina,
Brazil and Paraguay converge. There the Islamic terror groups train
recruits, gather intelligence on targets, launder money and sell drugs.
There is evidence that these terrorists and narco-terrorists will soon
migrate north into the United States. He cited terrorism reports
indicating terrorist groups are active in Canada and Central-South
America.
ATTACKS ON US SOVEREIGNTY
Border Patrol agents began to voice what many believed were legitimate
concerns about "armed incursions" into the United States from Mexico-based
assailants. They reported that heavily armed Mexican army units and
federal police, called federales, had infiltrated US territory and
fired upon them, in some cases because – federal agents would later
discover – Mexican drug lords had put prices on the heads of American
law-enforcement agents strung out along the border. Where was the outrage
by our political leaders and the mainstream media over this blatant
violation of our national sovereignty?
Many of our political leaders and most in the news media ignore these
violent attacks on our national sovereignty while more and more Americans
are saying, "This has got to stop!"
Some security experts had high hopes that President Bush would bring up
the border security problem during his meeting with Mexican President
Vincente Fox. It never happened. Quite the opposite occurred. The two
leaders discussed ways of relaxing immigration restrictions including a
de facto amnesty program.
Putting aside terrorism, the lack of border security contributes to crime.
In Los Angeles, a look at outstanding arrest warrants for homicide reveals
that over 90% are for illegal aliens. Examination of all LA felony arrest
warrants (murder, rape, armed robbery, etc.) shows that 65% are for
illegal aliens. The Manhattan Institute estimates that 350 killers managed
to escape back into Mexico and the Mexican government refuses to extradite
to the US to stand trial. In another study, a sample group of 55,000
criminal aliens committed 700,000 criminal acts.
And our northern border with Canada has many law-enforcement leaders even
more concerned. Canadian security experts concede that there are several
radical Islamist group active in their country. In fact, Hezbullah's
largest headquarters is located not in the Middle East but in Toronto. One
Canadian intelligence officer claims that his country's immigration policy
is more lax than US policy and their politicos more liberal when it comes
to refusing to restrict illegal aliens from entering Canada.
If these killers aren't afraid to target or kill cops, then who in America
is really safe from terrorists, murderers, rapists and other offenders;
and anyone wishing to address the problem is labeled a racist or
xenophobe. Americans can probably count on one hand the number of
congressional leaders who will even debate the issues of illegal
immigration or border security. What sense does it make to inspect
shipping containers in New York seaports while ignoring the
vulnerabilities existing on our borders?
Jim Kouri, CPP is currently fifth vice-president of the National
Association of Chiefs of Police. He's former chief at a New York City
housing project in Washington Heights nicknamed "Crack City" by reporters
covering the drug war in the 1980s. He's also served on the National
Drug Task Force and trained police and security officers throughout the
country. He writes for many police and crime magazines including Chief of
Police, Police Times, The Narc Officer, Campus Law Enforcement Journal,
and others. He's appeared as on-air commentator for over 100 TV and radio
news and talk shows including Oprah, McLaughlin Report, CNN Headline News,
MTV, Fox News, etc. His book Assume The Position is available at
Amazon.Com, Booksamillion.com, and can be ordered at local bookstores.
