Posted on 12/16/2004 9:23:29 AM PST by FBD
Good evening.
In August, The Investigators on Eyewitness News 4 first reported the possible threat of terrorists using the Arizona/Mexico border to cross into the U.S.
While local government officials and immigration advocates questioned the validity of such a threat, our report, "Terrorist Alley," gained national attention.
Just a few weeks ago, high-level sources told a Washington newspaper that Chechen terrorists have entered the U.S. through our state.
Now, we've uncovered even more evidence that the threat along our border is real.
"The story you did was 100% accurate. It showed what's happening on the border on a daily basis. It was completely accurate," says a Border Patrol agent.
This Southern Arizona Border Patrol agent came forward to talk with The Investigators about his concerns regarding homeland security along the Arizona/Mexico border. He does not want to be identified, but we've verified his employment through pay stubs and high-level sources.
As our cameras had captured this day, hundreds of illegal entrants sneak into Arizona from Mexico.
Items left behind, like a Muslim prayer rug and a diary written in Arabic have led some to believe not all crossers are from Central and South America.
In our original story.sources. including a former Border Patrol supervisor, say people from terrorist-related countries are crossing the border at will.
This agent says it's certainly happened, describing one incident with a detainee near Naco, Arizona.
"So they took him back to the Naco station for further investigating there, and when they entered his fingerprints into the AFIS database, which is maintained by the FBI, several minutes later they received a phone call from someone on the other end -- I'm not sure who it was."
"and they stated, whoever is working on this particular terminal, they need to separate that gentleman right away. He was later determined to be from Pakistan. And he had affiliations with a terrorist group. It wasn't al-Qaida, but it was another terrorist group and this gentleman was wanted out of France for trafficking in heroin."
And he details another incident.just a few months ago.
"We received intel that seven males of Middle-Eastern descent had entered the United States illegally, and they were here to carry out a terrorist attack on this country. I'd never seen the agency go to the level that we did as far as treating it with such urgency."
"and when we got that information we immediately sent agents to patrol the highways. We had never done anything like that before. And like I said before, within a week, there I am, watching the nightly news, and the terror threat was raised, and they actually showed pictures of these seven men who had reportedly entered the country. And that's when it kinda really hit me for the first time that it's really happening."
"We were told specifically that these people had terrorist pasts and they were coming here specifically to carry out a terrorist attack."
As far as we know, no arrests were ever made in that case, but this Border Patrol agent says he's been told that other terrorists are, perhaps, lying in wait south of the border.
"We know it's happening. We've seen it. We've actually received hard intelligence that they're there in Mexico. It's just a matter of trying to keep them from coming north."
This agent says, if terrorists want to cross, it's become too easy for them because of a severe lack of manpower in the Border Patrol.
"And there's just complete areas of fence that are missing, roads that lead north, well-traveled. I mean, you can tell the tire sign. A vehicle was there within the last day or two. Where they're going, who knows. And the worst part is what are they carrying. I would like to think it's just marijuana, because we can deal with that, but what if it's not?"
And he says other resources are desperately lacking and keeping agents from adequately protecting our border with Mexico.
"Over 50% of our vehicles at that station are out of service, or deferred for maintenance. If our cameras worked, which I would say well over 50% of them do not work at night, the infrared lenses are not functioning."
Even before new agents are deployed, he says, they're not prepared to fight illegal entry into this country.
"Some of our training, it lacks in that department. At the Academy we do three hours of training to determine if somebody is carrying fraudulent documents. And I can tell you from working the checkpoint, there are times people have given me documentation that I have absolutely no clue, as sad as it is to say that, what I'm looking at."
This agent says there's enormous pressure to rush people through checkpoints, and he says agents can't take adequate time to check out suspicious individuals because there are too many of them and too few agents.
He says the Border Patrol is at the mercy of bureaucrats in Washington who either don't realize the extent of the terrorist threat or who choose to deny it.
"Before September 11, I tell people 'yeah, you can make arguments for anything you wanted 'cause we were relatively safe, or we thought we were. After September 11, everything changed, and to continue to do business as if September 11 never happened, which is what we do in our agency, I don't think that's acceptable and I think people in Arizona need to know what's really happening
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As you might imagine, the Border Patrol has plenty to say about this agent's claims, and we'll talk with Arizona Senator Jon Kyl about what you just saw and heard tomorrow night at 10.
agreed.
Start building the walls now..
1) the terrorists will probably come down across the Canadian border into sovereign Native American tribal land in N.Y. and proceed from there
2) The Mexicans kill Guatamalans, Costa Ricans, etc....regularly on their southern border. The Columbians are aware of this and fly in.
There is an area known as "OTM" (Other than Mexican) on our southern border where the Mexicans will be killed on their side of the border by other foreigners such as the Chicomm triad members, Middle Easterners, etc...The OTM is strictly for non-Mexican crossing. The Mexican "police" look the other way since they are well paid.
Tancredo tried to, but get bitch-slapped by W and Rove. Until Bush takes the initiative, no GOPers are going to touch it.
How do you respond to this?
interesting, do you have that achived anywhere?
thanks for those links
No, I missed the post.
I live in the midwest, but am a Texan. This is an issue for ALL Americans!
Your welcome. If you have a ping list...please put me on it.
Check this out:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1302401/posts
You're right, it's an issue for all Americans. They just don't realize it...yet.
That's part of what we want to accomplish next Spring.
The Dane/bayourod type folks won't touch a thread like this one and if they did, they would just claim it's all made up to hurt Bush.
"Port of entry":
...papers in hand?
http://www.desertvisions.us/entry.html
I'm aware of the past. But I believe a grass roots uproar is what is needed to get all of govt's attention.
I've been concerned for a long time that terrorists have been coming across our borders. I've been frustrated that Bush and the Congress, other than Tancredo, have appeared to ignore this.
We, the average Joe's and Jane's have got to stand up now, and put an end to this idiocy by deluging our govt officials about this issue. I'm thinking a march on Washington would be a nice starter.
"...a march on Washington would be a nice starter."
Count me in.
instead, they are providing water stations to make the trip easier, including for the drug smugglers
http://www.immigrationshumancost.org/text/crimevictims.html
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