10 Illegal Aliens arrested at San Diego nuclear submarine base

Roger Hedgecock Show (San Diego) ^ | January 28, 2002

[John Jorsett]

KOGO AM 600 talk show host Roger Hedgecock has just broken the story that the INS has arrested ten illegal aliens (he gave the nationalities, but I can't recall any other than Honduras) at the Point Loma nuclear submarine base in San Diego. The aliens were employed by a contractor and were engaged in the sandblasting and painting of a nuclear submarine! 5 of the aliens had obtained base clearances, and 5 had not. Some aliens fled at the approach of the INS, causing the lockdown of the base. 2 were later apprehended when their hiding place was located. When the INS refused to comment, the KOGO news staff requested the name of the FBI agent in charge of Homeland Security for the San Diego area. They were told that there was none.

[Don Joe]

"You do realize that you just confessed to being a rump ranger, right?"

If you were representative of the majority of women, celibacy would be big, real big.

[cynicom]

I thought it was illegal to hire aliens without out greencards???

[Don Joe]

"The Constitution isn't a suicide pact."

Nor is a fully regimented security state a lifeline to the future.

[RightWhale]

Can't you tell just by talking with someone if they are native-born American or not, whatever their ethnicity? Of recent immigrants, only the very best Russian spies are able to speak flawless American. In many cases you can tell what part of the country natural born citizens grew up in. ID cards are weak in comparison. If someone has a speech impediment, of course, that changes things a little, but for most a simple conversation will ID them.

[meisterbrewer]

I spent more than a few nights in drydock on this base on the USS Chicago, a fast-attack sub now stationed in Hawaii. Here are a few facts that are not coming out on the radio:

When a sub is in drydock, the only way to gain entrance to the sub is through the drydock ship. You have to cross its quarterdeck, where an armed guard keeps watch. Then up 5 flights of stairs, halfway down the ship to the cross-over bridge to the top of then sub, where you have to get past the armed submarine quarterdeck watch (we called him the "topside" watch), and then down the hatch.

Many, many individuals work on the outside of the submarine from the basin below and never even see the top of the sub. Even if these guys were close to the sub, they were not anywhere close to anything sensitive, and could not have gotten access to it in any event.

[John Jorsett]

I thought it was illegal to hire aliens without out greencards???

It is. But people forge them, use someone else's, get real or phony U.S. ID that makes them appear to be U.S. citizens, etc. The system for verifying legal status is worthless.

[John Jorsett]

Many, many individuals work on the outside of the submarine from the basin below and never even see the top of the sub. Even if these guys were close to the sub, they were not anywhere close to anything sensitive, and could not have gotten access to it in any event.

Even proximity is dangerous these days, as the bombing of the Cole shows. Plus, these were ten people. If they'd been terrorists, an armed assault wouldn't have been out of the question.

[John Jorsett]

Can't you tell just by talking with someone if they are native-born American or not, whatever their ethnicity? Of recent immigrants, only the very best Russian spies are able to speak flawless American. In many cases you can tell what part of the country natural born citizens grew up in. ID cards are weak in comparison. If someone has a speech impediment, of course, that changes things a little, but for most a simple conversation will ID them.

Any attempt to use an accent or speech patterns (or appearance or race) to screen people would get you a lawsuit. There are a set of allowed forms of ID, and they're the only permissible way to verify eligibility to work in the U.S. Anything else is verboten.

[meisterbrewer]

Granted, but highly unlikely to be successful.

The hull of a sub is made out of HY80 steel, and would not be penetrated by any conventional weapon that could be carried by 10 people, let alone one.

And if they tried a frontal assault, the first armed guard or any number of his backups would set off an alarm, and in a very short period of time all hell would come down on them.

And, in the extremely unlikely event they were able to kill all 100 people on the drydock and 150 people on the sub and gain control, they couldn't do anything with it, anyway.

Of course, I am not trying to excuse what happened here. I am as troubled by it as anyone, but in this particular case, there was very little danger.

[MeekOneGOP]

Thanks. :o)

[jeremiah]

They use air-fed hoods, with full body suits and gloves. The danger is to those in the vicinity without protection. We need a national ID, we need to boot out all illegals, we need to pull our heads out, and do it now.

Peoples objecting to an ID have come a little late to the fight, the only ones that don't have one is the illegals, and they fake them anyway. An ID that is very hard to counterfeit, and is indisputably proof of identification, would fix a lot of ills. For the religious people waiting for the "number" so they can oppose it, you better backtrack, you already have one.

[meisterbrewer]

One additional note on sub security in drydock. At the first sign of trouble, the topside watch would simply push off the cross-over bridge, effectively sealing of the sub. Then, just to be sure, all hatches on the sub would be closed, which would mean that no one, not even a battalion of terrorists, would get in.

[jeremiah]

How could you know who the millions of illegals are if you don't attempt to IDentify everyone you check? You cannot deport them until you know who they are now can you.

[RightWhale]

Well, then, what is a cop supposed to do?

[jeremiah]

Your argument is comparing apples and bananas. The illegals are humans, they are not easily seperated out from the "chickens" without a way to IDentify them.

[Jethro Tull]

Who cares?

Buchanan has been writing about this problem for years and neither party does anything.

Hell, many of the FR are the first to lable someone a racist for posting such a story as this.

BTW, what did Hedgecock do about the illegal problem when he was mayor of SD?

[NoControllingLegalAuthority]

If you put up an adequate fence, you keep out ALL intruders. It doesn't matter if they walk on two or four legs. Next time you drive by a factory or major business, note the surrounding fence. The concept is also used quite effectively for humans in prisons. (I realize prisons keep people IN rather than OUT but the principle still applies).

[John Jorsett]

Having worked as an engineer installing equipment aboard attack subs, I wasn't very impressed with the topside watch folks. They were mostly in their late teens or very early twenties and pretty sloppy about their jobs. I even observed completely unguarded subs a few times.

[NoControllingLegalAuthority]

How could you know who the millions of illegals are if you don't attempt to IDentify everyone you check? You cannot deport them until you know who they are now can you.

Actually, you start with people who speak no English.

[Doe Eyes]

Someone needs to take Tommy Ridge out behind the woodshed.

Its not Ridges' fault. Its all of those Clinton holdovers that are the problem.