Posted on 07/16/2004 5:51:28 PM PDT by John Jorsett
Congressman John Culberson (R - TX), speaking on the John and Ken show in Los Angeles, tells the hosts that he's now authorized, for the first time anywhere, to disclose that Middle Eastern men with Al Qaeda links have been mixing with the stream of illegal aliens coming in via the Southern US border. Having changed their names from Islamic to Hispanic ones, and having obtained authentic Mexican Matricula Consular ID cards using faked Mexican birth certificates, the men are paying up to $30,000 to obtain entry into the US among the flow of Hispanic illegal aliens crossing. They're choosing this path because the screening process the US is using on incoming airline passengers is becoming increasingly effective. Once in the US, these men are burrowing into small towns, posing as doctors, lawyers, CPAs, and other professional occupations which are scarce in these communities, making them more accepted and welcome. These "sleeper agents" then await activation for terrorist acts.
Culberson says he was informed of this by federal prosecutors in Texas (he gave the name of one of them, but I didn't write it down. I'm recording the show and will get the name when I play it back), and will have a letter with these facts in his hands on Tuesday. Culberson adds that he's also been told that an Al Qaeda attack before the November election is "100% certain."
Wouldn't the locals, many of whom speak native Spanish, be able to make the distinction quite easily? If Middle Eastern infiltrators spoke Spanish, it would certainly be with a heavy accent.
I'm not in a position to know the veracity of this stuff, but I'll be talking to some Border Patrol people on Sunday and plan to ask them what they've heard about this. They've dropped some inferences in the past that makes me think that this is what they were worrying about. Plus, I've thought of how I myself would gain admission to the US if I were Al Qaeda, and joining the hordes flooding in is one major path I investigate. Culberson used the example of the 17-year cicadas, where the strategy is to overwhelm the predators with numbers, saying that terrorists could employ the same strategy at the border.
Oh, I don't believe that. That could never happen. (sarcasm off)
Yep. If I were trying this, I'd make sure I settled some place like Michigan, where the native Spanish speakers would be fewer. Even so, I'm not sure even accented Spanish would arouse suspicion; we seem to have gone back to sleep as far as 9/11 goes.
The actions of our politicians in these border/immigration matters has been despicable.
The article didn't seem to clarify, but I'm guessing that once they're here they drop the cloak of pretending to be Mexican.
If true, and this info just recently was cleared for broadcast, why is there one lone congressman telling the story?
Wouldn't posing as Doctors, lawyers and CPAs give them a high profile? Isn't that what they would want to avoid?
Unless they were Morrocans who speak Spanish fluently. But what might trip them up is that they don't speak Anglo-Spanish, a mix common in the Southwest.
When it comes to illegals, the Democrats are in the camp of the enemy, and the Republicans hide under their desks. This is why John and Ken are ginning up a political lynch mob to go after a prominent Republican and prevent his/her reelection. The theory being that if you toss one of them over this issue, the others will come around and realize that silence will cost them.
President Bush, build this wall! (along our southern border)
how do they pose as lawyers or doctors? this is a stretch. we already have a thread on this by the way.
Bush needs to send a squad of U.S. Army troops to the border immediately, while training more Border Patrol agents and working on a real border security plan in the long-term.
Your implication is quite sensible--that being a professional in the US is a time-consuming and expensive cover to use.
However, if you read about the backgrounds of the terrorists we have caught and know about, they are frequently educated in Western institutions, and are the upper rings of middle-class society. One very highly-placed terrorist was a physician.
Despite the logic of your comment, I think that Middle-eastern professionals ought to be scrutinized as carefully as anyone else.
KFI also reported it at the top of the hour news.
The Moroccan accent is totaly different from the Mexican accent. Here again, locals should be alert for the differences.
Culberson aims amendment at illegal immigrants
7/15/04
Bank accounts, Social Security would be affected By EDWARD HEGSTROM
Congressman John Culberson, R-Houston, introduced an amendment Thursday designed to prevent millions of illegal immigrants from opening bank accounts and accessing Social Security payments.
Culberson's amendment to an appropriations bill was approved Thursday by the House Appropriations subcommittee. It now goes before the full committee.
The bill would make it more difficult for immigrants to use foreign documents, such as the matricula consular issued by the Mexican government, to open bank accounts. Hundreds of banks across the country currently accept the matricula as the primary document to open checking accounts, allowing illegal immigrants access to banks.
"I'm plugging a dangerous hole in our nation's security," Culberson said Thursday evening. Culberson said federal prosecutors have told him that "special interest aliens from Middle Eastern or Muslim countries" have crossed illegally into Texas using false Hispanic names. He predicted that a matricula consular might be used in the next terrorist attack.
Culberson also cited Social Security as a crucial component. The United States and Mexico recently signed an agreement that Culberson says could allow illegal immigrants access to Social Security payments. He said his amendment would prevent that.
"We cannot permit illegal aliens into the Social Security system," he said.
Representatives of the Mexican consulate in Houston would not comment Thursday. But immigrant-rights activists criticized the amendment.
"The banking industry welcomes the use of the matricula because they recognize that immigrants are contributing to the economy," said Ben Monterroso, a Los Angeles-based representative of the Service Employees International Union. "What (Culberson) wants to do is keep immigrants in the shadows."
The Treasury Department last year affirmed a previous policy allowing banks to accept the matricula as identification. Culberson's bill would prevent federal funding for policies that support the use of foreign documents like the matricula.
The congressman admitted that he was not sure if the bill would have any immediate impact on banks that already accept the matricula. But he said he hopes to pressure the treasury department to rescind its existing policy.
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