[sarcasm]

Has there been any increase in Iraqi illegals since September 11th?

[Marine Inspector]

I'm on my way to work in an hour, I'll look into it.

[Marine Inspector]

This is what I dug up at work today. Since 9/11, over 500 Iraqi's have arrived at the San Ysidro, California Port of Entry from Tijuana, Mexico and applied for asylum in the US.

I don’t have any Border Patrol numbers yet, and it looks like it may take a while, but I will get them.

The thing that scares me is that fact that many of these 500 Iraqi’s may be walking freely in the US. I know INS has limited detention space and must sometimes release these folks into the US until their case is finalized.

So, how many of these Iraqi’s are not actually looking for asylum and are now walking around the US?

I sure don’t know and I doubt the INS will tell anyone the truth.

[Marine Inspector]

Has there been any increase in Iraqi illegals since September 11th?

In FY 2001, the Border Patrol apprehended 12 Iraqi illegals.

In the first 8 months of FY 2002 that number has jumped to 18.

Looks like it's on the rise.