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Michelle Malkin Exposes INS Bungling of Sniper Suspect
MewsMax.com ^ | October 30th, 2002

Posted on 10/29/2002 4:35:26 PM PST by Sabertooth

Michelle Malkin Exposes INS Bungling of Sniper Suspect

NewsMax.com Wires
Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2002
WASHINGTON – The journalist who helped Americans make sense of the arrests of the Beltway sniper suspects last week was not a hard news reporter but a syndicated columnist whose first book is subtitled "How America Still Welcomes Terrorists, Criminals, and Other Foreign Menaces to Our Shores."

Michelle Malkin was out front with the information that John Lee Malvo, 17 – arrested Thursday morning with John Muhammad, 41, on suspicion of engaging in a three-week shooting spree that killed 10 people and wounded three – is an illegal alien from Jamaica who jumped ship in Miami and ended up in Washington state.

In her Oct. 25 column titled "Who Let Lee Malvo Loose?" Malkin, citing law enforcement sources, reported that the Border Patrol arrested Malvo in Bellingham, Wash., on Dec. 19, 2001. Malvo's mother, Uma Sceon James, admitted that six months earlier she and her son had stowed away on a cargo ship with other illegals. The arresting officer noted that the pair would be detained in Seattle pending deportation charges.

But about a month later, in accordance with what Malkin (borrowing a phrase from sport fishing) calls a catch-and-release-policy, the Immigration and Naturalization Service set mother and son free. Malkin speculates that the motivation of the INS was to avoid the costs associated with detention and deportation.

In an interview, Malkin said a number of questions need to be answered. One is "disentangling" who made the decision to set the bond that resulted in the release of James and Malvo.

Her understanding is that bond can be set for illegal aliens in two ways: either through a deportation officer in an INS district office, or through the immigration court system. She doesn't know which method was used or the rationale for ignoring the explicit concern of the Border Patrol that James and Malvo would be "likely to abscond."

A federal law enforcement official confirmed the arrest but told United Press International that federal officials, as they investigate, have sealed all records relating to why James and Malvo were released. An INS spokesman refused to comment.

Malkin was asked about the possibility that in the post-Sept. 11, atmosphere, the INS was not too worried about Jamaicans.

"This apprehension occurred near the U.S.-Canadian border," she replied. "Many Muslim extremist groups in Canada have a lot of Caribbeans in them - for example, Black Muslims - and they've engaged in a lot of criminal activity. So it really doesn't make sense to say that we're going to concentrate on the [Middle Eastern] terrorists.

'We Have No Idea Who We're Letting Loose'

"The second thing I would say is, we have no idea who we're letting loose with this catch-and-release policy, which essentially is what our deportation system has come down to. If you don't know the criminal background of illegal aliens in their native countries, they could be terrorists, they could be 'harmless,' but the fact that we don't know is reason enough to listen to a Border Patrol agent when he warns that somebody might be a flight risk.

"And, of course, the level of scrutiny ought to be already raised when they're talking about people whose first act on our soil is to break the law, and to do it in as surreptitious a way as Lee Malvo and his mother did: sneaking onto a ship, walking off and somehow finding themselves across the country without any known address, without any identification, without any means of support."

Malkin said the INS was having a "legal semantic quibble" about the stowaway status that the Border Patrol assigned to James and Malvo. "The INS said, technically, they're not stowaways, even though these two told the Border Patrol agent they were.

"If you are a stowaway, of course, you're not supposed to be subject to a bond hearing, for one thing. You're supposed to be detained until your deportation process comes up. But the INS is saying that they were reclassified by someone in the Seattle District because the Border Patrol agent had made a mistake."

And what made her decide to write the book "Invasion"?

9/11 'the Galvanizing Event'

"Sept. 11, 2001 was the galvanizing event for me," she said. "But I've been writing about immigration policy for more than a decade. I started my newspaper journalism career in Los Angeles, where you simply cannot avoid the overwhelming and massively negative consequences of unrestricted, uncontrolled immigration.

"There's a personal aspect of it as well," Malkin added. "My parents came here as legal immigrants from the Philippines, and we appreciate the blessings that this country has afforded us. I want to make sure that everything is done to protect that legacy, which is one of welcoming people who are coming here to live the American dream and not to destroy it."

Critics of immigration policy are often told that the situation is not that different from when their own ancestors came to the United States. How would Malkin answer those who say: Now that you've made it, you want to pull up the ladder?

"Nonsense," she replied. "It's a total mischaracterization of my position, for one thing, to say that I want to pull up the ladder and shut the doors completely. I'm saying we need better guarded doors to make sure we're not granting hundreds of thousands of visas to people who are tied to al-Qaeda.

"And, of course, we did not have al-Qaeda a couple of generations ago. We need to deal with 21st-century realities and a post-Sept. 11 environment, when we're at war with terror. And you cannot have open borders and win a war on terror at the same time.

"The second thing I would say is, I think that kind of argument just totally misses the point. We have a huge problem with massive amounts of illegal immigration. People are coming here who are not interested in embracing our principles and institutions and who are undermining the common culture. We can't tolerate that.

"We can't simply give away the store and give up on the very noble goal of assimilation, for one thing, and protecting national security and national sovereignty on the other."

Malkin was asked what she would say to Canadians who reject the "melting pot" as an archaic and discredited American ideal. "We have a beautiful 'mosaic,'" some Canadians say. "Melting pot assimilation is atavistic thinking."

The columnist was unimpressed with this line of reasoning.

'Terrorist Welcome Mat in Canada'

"Of course, in the context of a war on terror, Canada's mosaic has been a disaster," she said. "If you talk to almost any law enforcement officer along the border, and people in the interior, you'll hear that because of its extremely lax, if not non-existent, policing of asylum policies, you've got essentially a terrorist welcome mat in Canada for terrorist cells from around the world.

"This is not just bin Laden's organization. And this is a huge peril to us because you're talking about thousands of miles of unguarded border. And we know that al-Qaeda operatives have attempted several times to penetrate our borders from the north."

In December 1999, a U.S. Customs agent intercepted Ahmed Ressam, an Algerian who had trained with al-Qaeda in Afghanistan. Ressam had taken a ferry from British Columbia to Port Angeles, Wash. The trunk of Ressam's car was filled with explosives. He was tried and convicted and admitted his plan to blow up Los Angeles International Airport as part of a millennium terrorist plot.

Malkin has focused on national security aspects of immigration because several "brilliant" and "authoritative" books have addressed larger questions. She cited Peter Brimelow, author of "Alien Nation"; Patrick J. Buchanan, author "The Death of the West"; and George Borjas, author of "Heaven's Door."

She said her chapter "The Deportation Abyss" could have been ignored if not for the sniper angle.

"People don't want to delve into this. Of the many failures of the immigration system, this is probably among the worst, because we have people who we know don't belong here, and yet we are utterly incapable of tracking them down, detaining them to protect the American people, and then kicking them out and keeping them out.

'Obstructionist Immigration Lawyers'

"We've got this crazy legal system filled with conflicting statutes, selective enforcement, and basically ruled by obstructionist immigration lawyers whose main goal is to protect criminal alien rights, not to protect our borders."

In that chapter, she wrote of illegal aliens who were "baby-killers, burglars, habitual drunk drivers, and accessories to child rape" as examples of the catch-and-release policy.

"Which is what this Malvo case is about," she told UPI. "People cycle through the system - we know they're illegal aliens - and because there's not enough detention space to keep them, we simply let them loose on the public.

"We trust them, first of all, to come back for their deportation proceedings, but also, misguidedly enough, entrusting them not to do things such as what Lee Malvo has been accused of doing."

Copyright 2002 by United Press International.

All rights reserved.



TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; Extended News; Foreign Affairs; Government; News/Current Events; US: District of Columbia; US: Maryland; US: Virginia
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1 posted on 10/29/2002 4:35:26 PM PST by Sabertooth
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To: Sabertooth
Somehow, when I pulled up this thread and was waiting for it to loaddddd(so slow)I was wondering if Sabertooth had seen it so that we could see Michelle's picture again.

I did not note that you are the distinguished and tallented poster of the thread. I should have known.

I will next time. Tom
2 posted on 10/29/2002 4:52:51 PM PST by tall_tex
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To: Sabertooth
Michelle is on with O'Riley on Fox cable now. Central Standard time.
3 posted on 10/29/2002 5:16:33 PM PST by tall_tex
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To: Victoria Delsoul; Pokey78; JohnHuang2; MeeknMing; rdb3; mhking; BOBTHENAILER; Marine Inspector; ...

    

Michelle
Malkin
Growl!




Post here to the thread if you'd like to be on the Michelle Malkin list.

4 posted on 10/29/2002 5:40:02 PM PST by Sabertooth
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To: Sabertooth
Love it.. But it looks like just you and I kid, the rest of FR is watching the Welstone campaign.. Tom
5 posted on 10/29/2002 5:47:00 PM PST by tall_tex
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To: tall_tex
Hey I am working and can only get my news from FREEPERs which isn't a real hardhip when you think about it.
6 posted on 10/29/2002 5:50:06 PM PST by dts32041
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To: dts32041
Heck, it's the best single news source going.

Restating what someone else already said, Michelle was on O'Reilly tonight, you can see her again on re-O'Reilly at 11PM EST. They were talking about the Haitian situation in south Florida.
7 posted on 10/29/2002 5:58:24 PM PST by FreedomPoster
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To: Sabertooth
Michelle was absolutely awesome on O"Reilly tonight. While my legal immigrant wife and myself won't necessarily even contemplate voting the dark side, it will be difficult for Republicans like oursaelves to support Bush without some acknowledgment from Rove's triangulation team of our very legitimate concerns. The tidal wave of illegal immigration threatens American culture as much as acts of terrorism by themselves.
8 posted on 10/29/2002 6:04:45 PM PST by gabby hayes
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To: dts32041
...isn't a real hardship..

I have found out in my lurkin time and my short membership time that FR is not a hardship.

I tend to have figured out that we are a cross section of our country. Although we tend to be much more knowledgable about what is really going on in our world.

Every day, I can walk out into my office and inform my staff and agents about breaking news, that tv has not a clue about.

FReepers do not try to convince our country how much more intelligent we are then the leftists are, or how much more we care than the leftists do.

We just prove it day after day, and do not shout to the world about what we are doing and accomplishing.

While we get some of the DU's posting here and attacking FReepers, it is being allowed, as I would not be allowed on DU.

FR will keep you on the cutting edge of what is going on in our world.

Jump in make a comment and take a stand.

I think that is what FR is all about. Tom
9 posted on 10/29/2002 6:06:32 PM PST by tall_tex
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To: gabby hayes
She looked awesome and sounded like she knew what she was talking about, unlike O'reilly at times.
10 posted on 10/29/2002 6:29:14 PM PST by Howie
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To: tall_tex
I cannot understand the complacency towards our domestic security. Illegal border crossings are ignored as being irrelevant. The siper episode and all the breaches of security with our visas and illegals shows how unprepared and incompetent our security forces are.

The terror that two individuals caused illustrates how vulnerable we are. Can you imagine a terrorist group of twenty teams operating over the nation? We are going to pay the price for the neglect of our own security. Our own complacency and inaction is our biggest enemy.

11 posted on 10/29/2002 6:32:59 PM PST by meenie
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To: Sabertooth
Malkin is pointing out the mere tip of the iceberg.

Moslem militants hire a specialty network of immigration lawyers in the U.S. to do the alchemy of turning a visa overstayer into a naturalized citizen. These lawyers often have a client base of little else. They are very in-your-face to police - especially when their client has no legal right to whatever his lawyer is demanding.

IMMIGRATION resource library: public-health facts, court decisions, local INS numbers!

12 posted on 10/29/2002 6:41:44 PM PST by glc1173@aol.com
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To: tall_tex
Ashcroft needs the Boot!
13 posted on 10/29/2002 6:59:57 PM PST by fight_truth_decay
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To: meenie
The cold shoulder that President Fox, gave President Bush on the UN vote should speak volumes.

Why in the world would President Bush allow that third world dictator continue to embarass him in front of the world?

I do not understand why our borders are bleading illegals that want to kill and destroy our country.

When the Beltway snipers were located, who found them and who could probably captured them if they were allowed to carry weapons? The police, the fbi, ins, us marshals, atf, secret service, chief moose?

No, a couple of middle aged white male truck drivers.

I think that speaks volumes. We are on our own, best make preperations to take care of you and yours.

I do not understand the complancey towards our domestic security either. That just may well be an oxeymoron (spelling). There just not be either.. Tom
14 posted on 10/29/2002 7:01:24 PM PST by tall_tex
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To: fight_truth_decay
AG Ascroft needs direction, and support from our President and the American people.

If he has those two, congress will be forced to follow the wright way. Tom
15 posted on 10/29/2002 7:14:19 PM PST by tall_tex
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To: Sabertooth
"We have a beautiful 'mosaic,'" some Canadians say. "Melting pot assimilation is atavistic thinking."

Yeah, Right.

One big beautiful mosaic, where one part of the mosaic, Quebec, tries to secede on a regular basis.

And if they succeed in seceding (say that three times fast), there's sentiment in the rest of the provinces to apply for statehood in the US.

16 posted on 10/29/2002 7:42:35 PM PST by DuncanWaring
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To: Sabertooth
Thanks for the heads up!
17 posted on 10/29/2002 7:53:33 PM PST by Alamo-Girl
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To: Sabertooth
Malvo's mother, Uma Sceon James, admitted that six months earlier she and her son had stowed away on a cargo ship with other illegals.

I wish someone could find this statement and post it.

The INS/BP documents have her stating she was a passenger. Big difference.

18 posted on 10/29/2002 8:03:13 PM PST by Marine Inspector
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To: Sabertooth
Let's start a new party built around Tancredo, Michelle, Ann, and Dr. Savage. It is amazing how much bigger balls Ann and Michelle have than Ashcroft or Lott!
19 posted on 10/29/2002 8:28:25 PM PST by Righty1
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To: tall_tex
BTTT!
20 posted on 10/29/2002 8:53:04 PM PST by Ernest_at_the_Beach
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