FBI examining Conch `passport' link

Miami Herald ^ | Wednesday, October 3, 2001 | BY JENNIFER BABSON

[piasa]

piasa's note: oops, forgot the tail end of the article:

GERMANY TRIP

When the INS stamped Anderson's novelty passport in 1998 at MIA instead of his real one, however, he says he was returning from Germany.

Anderson said he couldn't recall whether immigration officials also ran his U.S. passport through their computers upon reentering the country.

``They might have glanced at it, but they didn't stamp it,'' he said. ``It was, `Welcome home, Mr. Secretary.' I'm in the computer. They know me.''

INS spokesman Rodney Germain declined to comment in depth about the situation.

``We are working closely with the FBI in their investigations of these attacks. There's really no specific details that I can go into.''

Germain did say that INS does not recognize the Conch Republic passport: ``That is not an official U.S. document. What we can say is that we are not going to accept that as an entry document.''

Herald staff writer Manny Garcia contributed to this report.

[piasa]

I think this is the web site they are talking about that makes the 'passports'

[Hodar]

How can this not be a Felony? How can a person with a fake passport not be a felon? Using a counterfiet goverment document to gain access, or identify oneself is illegal. If I used a fake FBI badget to gain access to a crime scene, I would certainly go to jail. So, how is this allowed to go on?

[Hugh Akston]

How bizarre.

[E=MC²]

Don't know about their passports, but I sure like their fritters and chowder.

[piasa]

LOL .... mmmmmmm conch fritters...

[piasa]

I'm not worried about HIM - Anderson- getting in and out of the country with false papers. He reported the unusual interest in the things. What I am interested in is that a person in Customs haven't been doing their jobs, and someone ELSE may have been exploiting that. How well educated are Customs and Immigration workes, anyway? Stupidity and boredom can cause major mistakes.

[piasa]

.

[mrsmith]

"terrorist shunned women..."
"Had Key West 'passport'....."

Did they find a large collection of show tunes in his belongings?

[kevkrom]

How can this not be a Felony? How can a person with a fake passport not be a felon? Using a counterfiet goverment document to gain access, or identify oneself is illegal.

It's neither fake nor counterfeit -- that would require the passport trying to pass itself off as a passport from a recognized nation-state. I could legally create a "Republic of kevkrom" passport if I wanted -- the difficulty is getting someone to accept it.

The real "crime" here is that immigration/customs isn't checking passports to ensure that the issuer is legitimate -- while I'm generally in favor of open borders, a passport should at least be issued by a nation-state recognized by the State Department for immigration/customs purposes.

[karpach]

It's not a felony because you are not faking a passport. There is no Conch Republic, hence having a document that looks like a passport with the emblem of the Conch Republic is merely a novelty item. Not a fake document. Now having a fake passport with the U.S. emblem would be illegal.

[mc5cents]

Don't know about their passports, but I sure like their fritters and chowder.

How about the bollos (pronounced boy-ya). Those greasy balls made out of black-eyed peas, garlic and who-knows-what are great.

[Rebelbase]

mmmmm, Yall are killing me just mentioning fritters. As as kid in Miami I worked across the street from a small fish market that made their own fritters and chowder. I ate em' breakfast, lunch and dinner.

[Ditto]

Did they find a large collection of show tunes in his belongings?

I had no idea Judy Garland was popular in the Mideast.

[Labyrinthos]

Did they find a large collection of show tunes in his belongings?

Nah, just a string of plastic beads from Fantasy Fest 2000, a coaster from Captin Tony's, and a matchbook from Atlantic Shores with the words "call Rhahin for a good time" written on the back.

[SoDak]

I generally hate seafood, but conch fritters are just plain good. I ate a bunch of them while in Key West in August.

[OldFriend]

Can Ms. Reno explain why she spent millions of dollars and countless hours of human resources on getting a little six year old boy out of Florida and back to Cuba, but never emphasized getting terrorists out of Florida.