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Posted on 09/27/2001 5:58:36 PM PDT by supercat
The first 'trash this' thread was getting rather long...
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Illegal immigration becomes focus of terrorism fight
By Andrew Bounds
As the US seeks to construct a Fortress America to guard against future terrorist attacks, attention is turning to its weak spot: Latin America.
Hundreds of thousands of illegal migrants try to enter the US through Mexico and Central America every year and their need for false papers and passports has fuelled a booming illicit industry that could have helped some of the terrorists involved in the September 11 attacks to penetrate the US.
"Now, individually and collectively, we must take concrete steps to tighten border controls, enhance air and seaport security, improve financial controls, and increase the effectiveness of our counter-terrorism forces," Colin Powell, US secretary of state, told Latin American and Caribbean countries last week.
Nicaragua newspapers this week reported that the FBI had asked the government to investigate cases of Arabs who had gained Nicaraguan nationality and lift secrecy on 21 bank accounts. The cases included that of Mohamed Atta, one of the alleged hijackers, a naturalised Nicaraguan, the papers said. The FBI would not comment.
In El Salvador the police last week raided an operation that was providing Ecuadoreans with false documents and assistance in entering the US.
A US official said long-standing assistance for the region's governments from Washington would now include anti-terrorism operations. "Before, they were thinking about Ecuadoreans and coyotes [people who facilitate illegal border crossings]. Now, after these attacks, there is a recognition it may be a different kind of person," she said.
The six countries of Central America - Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Nicaragua and Panama - have become a jumping-off point to the US for illegal migrants from around the world.
In June the US Immigration and Naturalisation Service conducted the world's biggest operation against people-smuggling with 13 other countries. Over 16 days 7,898 people were held from 40 countries including Sudan, Iran and Egypt.
A month after Operation Crossroads International, as it was called, Mexico began a crackdown on its border with Guatemala, where lax controls have brought constant complaints from Washington. Mexico denied that the crackdown was linked to its own hopes of reaching a deal with the US over illegal Mexican immigrants, but the signal was clear.
"This is a great initiative. It is a sign by Mexico to the region that it wants to be a partner in the struggle against migrant trafficking," said Hipólito Acosta, district director of immigration at the US embassy in Mexico City. "There was an acceptance in Mexico that 'This is not our problem - they are heading out of the country'. Now they are taking responsibility."
Central America has also promised its support. Its police chiefs have agreed to swap information on the movements of suspected terrorists but their forces are under-resourced, badly paid, susceptible to corruption and already grappling with an unprecedented crime wave.
But that is expected to change with the war on terror. "A few years ago these countries considered drug trafficking solely a problem for the US. Now they realise that it affects them too, through corruption, crime and violence. People trafficking will be the same," said a US diplomat.
The extent of corruption was illustrated just days after Operation Crossroads when Luis Mendizabal, Guatemala's chief immigration officer, was dismissed because of anomalies in the sale of visas to 700 Koreans who had entered illegally.
In January this year the US withdrew the visa of Ernesto Peréz Balladares, president of Panama from 1994 to 1999, on the grounds that he had helped Chinese immigrants enter the US by giving them Panamanian passports. He denies the charges and a legal case against him in the US was dropped last year.
Even when countries have the will to combat terrorism, they may be unable to do so without outside help. In November Luis Posada Carriles, a Cuban exile on the run from a conviction for bombing a Cuban airliner in 1976, was arrested in Panama with three accomplices - all with false papers. They and some buried explosives were caught only thanks to a tip-off from the Cuban secret service, which had uncovered an alleged plot to blow up President Fidel Castro during a summit there.
To build Fortress America, the US may have to be open to using some very diverse contractors.
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