Posted on 07/30/2004 5:05:46 PM PDT by Happy2BMe
Concerns about border security were highlighted on July 19, when officials at McAllen-Miller International Airport in southern Texas arrested a woman suspected of having ties to al Qaeda.
Farida Goolam Mohamed, who had an airplane ticket to New York, was stopped when a Border Patrol agent noticed several pages of her South African passport had been removed. Officials also said her clothing was dirty and muddy, suggesting she might have recently crossed the nearby Rio Grande, the river separating Mexico and Texas.
The arrest is one reason why U.S. officials are increasingly concerned al Qaeda may try to smuggle terrorists into the United States from Mexico.
"Al Qaeda has recognized that one of our vulnerabilities is our [in]ability to completely seal and control access through Mexico," said ABC News consultant Jerry Hauer, former director of New York City's Office of Emergency Management.
Border Crossings Are Vulnerable, Experts Say
The 2,000-mile-long border with Mexico is virtually impossible to defend, officials said. And sources tell ABC News there is new intelligence that al Qaeda wants to smuggle terrorists across it.
It's well known that many Central Americans have been illegally coming across the U.S.-Mexican border. Now the U.S. government estimates that a quarter-million illegal aliens not only from Central America, but also Africa and the Middle East have been coming across the southern border each year.
Last month, customs officers at Miami's airport arrested an Egyptian national on charges of smuggling people from the Middle East through Central America into Mexico, and then into the United States.
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'could try to enter' ????
Many of them are already here and more are coming because the borders still are not secured.
It real hard not to get p*ssed by stories like this.
Well, the obvious answer is to propose an amnesty for illegals, thus causing a "rush" into the US, where it will be harder to detect the terrorists, because so many people are flooding in.
Good thing Bush allows Mexico to dictate our border policies.
(/snicker)
ping
Too bad it's racist, intolerant and xenophobic to be against illegal immigration and for border control.
______________________________________
What ever gave them the idea the Mexican border might be a problem - Onward Muslim Soldier - ping!
This is sooooooo October 2001.
Uh, ya think??
Is this a joke? Are "officials" this behind the eigh-ball?
Is this true?
It's time to treat the US-Mexican border as a military security zone, the same way we've walled off Falujah in Iraq. We'll need to mobilize the California, Nevada, New Mexico, Arizona, and Texas National Guard.
I have just one thing to say to these officials. LIARS!
It too three fricken years for them to come to this conclusion?
Let's talk about Farida Goolam Mohamed, for a moment. An article two days ago stated that officials think she may have been in our country upwards of 250 times in the last few years.
If they knew this, then they should have nabbed her long before this.
How stupid do these idiots think we are? They know this woman has been in and out of the country 250 times, but they didn't pick her up. And they want us to think they're serious about our borders? LMAO
These guys are a laugh a minute, until the stiff hits the fan. Then Bush, their departments and our fellow citizens are toast.
Did you post this to illustrate just how far behind and out of touch the Big Three network news organizations are? That's almost as scary as the story itself.
Hard to tell.
It could be that the way the Press reports about officials is this far behind the eight ball...
The US taxpayer will see to their every other need between the time they get here & when they blow us up.
They probably read my posts from three years ago and woke up when the facts sunk in.
I'm wondering where all the fanatics are that were criticizing me way back when.
Maybe you missed the sarcasm in my post. ;-)
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