Who's watching the White House? (Michelle Malkin)

TownHall.com ^ | 1/03/03 | Michelle Malkin

[kattracks]

If you thought the New Year's Eve FBI manhunt for illegal aliens with fake passports was a disturbing sign of homeland insecurity, wait until you hear about who's been working on President George W. Bush's front lawn.

While the Secret Service has now instituted criminal and citizenship screening procedures for all tourists (including children) who visit the White House, federal agents failed to detect an illegal alien who used a false identity and fraudulent documents and was employed for at least two years as a supervisor of tent installation for White House social events.

This illegal alien had been ordered kicked out of the country by the Immigration and Naturalization Service in February 2000, but was able to evade the law and fool both his employer and the Secret Service through petty identity fraud. He was finally caught at the U.S.-Mexico border last month, but it was no thanks to the law enforcement agents in Washington who are assigned to protect the White House from unknown intruders.

Posing as "Kelvin Rodriguez," a Mexican citizen named Salvador Martinez-Gonzalez worked for HDO Productions Inc., which bills itself as "the nation's most respected provider of special event tent and accessory rentals." The company designs elaborate outdoor settings for galas, weddings and government functions.

Martinez-Gonzalez had access to the White House grounds, the Pentagon and NASA, and rubbed elbows with Washington's most powerful officials -- from former President Bill Clinton to current Vice President Dick Cheney and his wife, Lynne. Martinez-Gonzalez kept festive photos of himself with Clinton and the Cheneys as souvenirs to show off his insider access.

On Dec. 2, 2002, according to a Justice Department intelligence report I obtained, Martinez-Gonzalez tried to return to the U.S. from a trip to Mexico. He showed up at the Laredo, Texas, port of entry claiming to be a U.S. citizen and provided inspectors with the photos of himself with Clinton and the Cheneys. A routine fingerprint and immigration database check showed that he had been apprehended in Brownsville, Texas, two years ago, and at that time was ordered to leave the country. He should have been immediately detained for fraudulent entry and kicked out.

But Martinez-Gonzalez was neither detained nor removed from the U.S., as required by federal law. Instead, immigration officials learned, Martinez-Gonzalez was freed and purchased a birth certificate from the real Kelvin Rodriguez, a Puerto Rican national who lent his identity to Martinez-Gonzalez. According to the intelligence report, Rodriguez helped Martinez-Gonzalez obtain a U.S. Social Security card, Maryland driver's license and a U.S. passport.

According to the report, Martinez-Gonzalez/"Rodriguez" moved to the Maryland suburbs and began to work for HDO Productions. An Associated Press article shows that the company had past problems with illegal labor at the White House. In the summer of 1998, immigration officials arrested two Mexican nationals who worked for HDO Productions and were trying to gain access to the White House grounds using fake alien registration cards. Secret Service officers detained them after they presented the fake documents. The U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia authorized prosecution for possession of fraudulent documents, and the two workers were reportedly deported.

As for Martinez-Gonzalez/"Rodriguez," he left HDO Productions sometime in the fall. Company president Jerry O'Connell said he was not aware of any immigration problems and that Martinez-Gonzalez/"Rodriguez's" departure had nothing to do with immigration-related fraud.

According to the DOJ intelligence report, the FBI and Secret Service were both contacted by immigration investigators for further interviewing of this illegal alien impostor. But an FBI spokesman in Washington, D.C., said he was unfamiliar with the case. My calls to the White House were unreturned. The Secret Service refused to comment.

Hopefully, President Bush will have better luck getting answers. For if his own guardians can't keep low-level, illegal border-crossing identity impostors out of the White House backyard, how in the world can we count on his administration to keep far more sophisticated, illegal alien evildoers -- like the five that President Bush personally ordered hunted down last week -- out of ours?

©2002 Creators Syndicate, Inc.

Contact Michelle Malkin | Read her biography

[Mo1]

Maybe you should have read my whole post

I agreed with Michelle that they need to do a better job .. but she made it sound like the guy did luch with Cheney everyday ..

[Nephi]

Republican's fear for Dubya's safety and they, meaning the Secret Service, need to do a better job.

Apparently, you care more about W's safety than even he does. W is part of the problem - he refuses to enforce our borders.

I think that your criticism is mis-directed. The INS is the culprit here. Not only do they NOT enforce our borders, but when they catch an illegal, they simply release them and expect them to go back to Mexico.

As for, "Republican's fear for Dubya's safety...", speak for yourself. When W starts fulfilling his constitutionally mandated responsibility to enforce our borders then I'll fear for his safety.

[philosofy123]

Malkin is normally a good writer, but here, I think she sounds like a hysterical boob. Our enemies are MOSLEM fanatics. Screening for applicants legal or illegal, citizens or not should flag only one group; M O S L E M S. If they are black white female, fat skinny,.... ONLY MOSLEMS hate us and plotting against us. Screen for them FIRST, and this country will be mush safer. Don't go dumping on the poor Latinos. Fortifying our boarders, and the illegal smuggling of aliens is a good thing! But, this Malkin babe bitching about a Mexican guy working for a tent company, get a life! If this guy’s real name was Ahmed, then I would have understand her point. For the life of me, I cannot understand how difficult it is for the media, the education establishment, the police, the military, and yes the President to understand that ONLY MOSLEMS are the problem. It is not the Arabs, not the blacks, not the Mexicans. It is MOSLEMS from wherever the hell they come from, Brooklyn, or Mecca, they are the evil doers.

[GovernmentShrinker]

It needs to include every U.S. citizen and every non-citizen given a visa to visit or reside here. Yes it would have to be done from birth and at time of visa application, and for the initial set-up would have to be done for everyone now living in the country. It would probably need to be DNA-based ultimately, to avoid changes in fingerprints, irises, etc. that invariably occur between birth and adulthood/old age.

It wouldnt' be cheap, would need security back-ups, like duplicate records being held at the county level (county of birth and any counties of subsequent legal residence) as well as federal, to protect from nefarious or inept meddling with the database by governement officials at either level. It has all kinds of issues, but we better hurry up and get cracking on how to overcome them all. Not only is our country overrun with illegal aliens, but there is absolutely no way to prevent them from voting (nor to prevent actual citizens from voting multiple times). There is no way to deport people on the spot, because if you don't give them the opportunity to go to court and try to prove they are actually citizens, then you'd risk instant deportations of real citizens who really would be able to provide proof of their citizenship if given the opportunity.

As extensive as the potential problems with a national biometric database are, I really believe that they pale in comparison to the problems posed by not having one. There are no benefits to citizenship whatsoever, if nobody can promptly prove who is or isn't one, and act accordingly.

[GovernmentShrinker]

If they entered illegally under the radar, then their biometric record wouldn't be in the database. When checked, no amount of paper records -- forged, other people's, etc. -- would do a bit of good. Either your biometric record is in the database, or you're expelled forthwith. And employers would no longer have the excuse that "I had no way of knowing his documents were fake". When somebody applies for a job, their biometrics must match one in the database, or no job.

[Dark Wing]

A Secret Service "opps" ping!

[hot august night]

"I do not believe that the 5 mystery men even exist. I think it is the White House way to keep America's focus on terrorism and keep their eyes off the selling of America."

Agreed. It wouldn't surprise me if this was a hoax fabricated by Jorge Bush and Rove as well. And you can bet the Crawford ranch that if the terrorists had really come over the MEXICAN border, as opposed to the Canadian, the White House would have hushed this up big-time. Just like the fact that the Mexican Army is coming over our borders and killing our U.S. agents in border patrol. If I didn't read FR, I would have not known about this.

With each passing day, I believe more strongly that Bush's whole farce about "fighting terrorism in Iraq" is nothing more than a ploy to distract taxpaying Americans from the peasant invasion and destruction going on in this country.

All this from the "leader" and "defender" who claims to read his Bible every night and looks up to Jesus as his role model. What a hypocrite.

[hot august night]

Why are you so concerned about "Dubya's" safety? If "Dubya" really cared about YOUR safety and that of your family's, he would seal the borders and prevent foreign freeloaders/thugs/robbers/rapists/murderers from entering our country at will. We have enough of our own vermin to worry about, without having to deal with those from other countries.

Bush knows damn well the suffering going on in this country at the hands of illegals (both from the violence they perpetuate and the theft from our tax base)...in just one instance, it was only a few weeks ago that the poor woman on Long Island was brutally raped and beaten for two hours by five illegal Mexican thugs. As much as the liberal press tried to disguise that these thugs weren't illegals, it was leaked by outlets regardless. I'm sure when Bush was the TX governor, he heard horror stories every day about those Americans on his own border who were being preyed upon by Mexican illegals, and endured theft, vandalism, assault, etc. And what did he do? Simply encouraged it even more because "those folks just want to do the work that Americans won't".

You should save your prayers for protection for Tom Tancredo, who receives death threats every day, simply for wanting to do what is RIGHT and JUST -- enforcing our immigration laws and protecting our people, our sovereignty and our culture.

[Joe Hadenuf]

Totally agree......

[WRhine]

What are the odds that this administration would hold businesses that hire these workers accountable?

The odds are somewhere north of a single person winning the PowerBall Lottery Twice in a Row.

[Barnacle]

BREAKING NEWS

Langley, VA January 3, 2003

A window washer employed at CIA headquarters has been taken into custody following charges that he had falsified identification papers in order to gain employment at the top secret intelligence facility.

The employee, known to CIA officials as John Smith, is believed to Salvador Martinez-Gonzalez. He aroused suspicions of his coworkers when he complained, “Washing windows at CIA sucks. I used to set up tents at the White House! I used to be somebody.” Whereupon he produced photographs of himself with President Bill Clinton and the Cheneys.

One of Martinez-Gonzalez’s coworkers said, “Man, that’s when it really got strange. John began ranting in Spanish and attacked the crew foreman with a squeegee.”

After a long standoff with a SWAT Team, Martinez-Gonzalez was persuaded to put down his squeegee and surrender. A court appointed lawyer representing Martinez-Gonzalez said, “ We are working with Federal officials to ensure that Smith will soon have his job back as a tent setter-upper at the White House.”

[WRhine]

LOL, and not too far away from the immigration insanity in America today.

[WRhine]

Great Post. You Nailed It.

[WRhine]

Sounds about right.

How would you like to see his tax return? He probably claimed enough dependents to qualify for a complete refund of all income tax paid and an 'earned income tax credit' check on top of that.

Think the U.S. Taxpayers made the down-payment on his house and gave him a home loan at 1% or 2% below market?

America has gone from the land of opportunity to the land of illegal opportunists. ;^)

How True.

[WRhine]

"We're not looking for individuals of any particular religion or from any particular country." FBI Director Robert Mueller - SOURCE

We know. Why would Mueller want to put security before political correctness if it put his job on the line?

[WRhine]

This whole illegal immigration business is a sham and will continue to be a sham until G.W. gives the right orders and shows his commitment to erase the problem.

The only thing Bush is committed to erasing is America’s Borders. The illegal immigration nightmare in America is NOT a crisis borne out of incompetence. It is the result of many conscious unsaid policy decisions at every level of government.

The installment of James Ziglar, a self-professed Open Borders Libertarian to the INS by Bush, who was candid enough to admit prior to being sworn in that he had serious philosophical disagreements with enforcement of our immigration laws, is just another damming piece of evidence that our leaders are squarely FOR the continuance of illegal immigration.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

They just interviewed Michelle on Foxnews regarding this story!

Maybe that will wake up someone in washington!

[cyncooper]

They just interviewed Michelle on Foxnews regarding this story!

Maybe that will wake up someone in washington!

Well, don't keep us hanging!

What did she say!

!

[goody2shooz]

...save your prayers for the protection of Tom Tancredo...

Yes. Your're right.

[Uncle Bill]

Illegal alien works at White House - Report: Mexican citizen dupes INS, Secret Service with fake ID - Worldnetdaily

Illegal Alien Worked at White House for Two Years - Fox News

WHITE HOUSE'S ILLEGAL ALIEN - New York Post (Free Republic)

"Why would Mueller want to put security before political correctness if it put his job on the line?"

Have you seen these quotes?

'Arab terrorists' crossing border: Middle Eastern illegals find easy entrance into U.S. from Mexico

---

"People ask me all the time, what can I do to help America, how can I participate in this war against terror? Well, if you're interested, really interested, you can call up -- dial up USA Freedom Corps on the Internet to find out. But you don't need to do that. If you're interested in fighting evil, do some good. If you're interested in fighting evil, love a neighbor just like you'd like to be loved yourself. ...I know we can rise to the challenge of showing the world that in the face of the incredible evil done to America can come some great good. And it starts right with you. Every act of individual kindness and compassion, the gathering momentum of millions of acts of kindness and compassion, will show the enemy and the world the true face of the greatest nation on the face of the earth."
George W. Bush - President - Remarks by the President to the 14th Annual World Pork Expo Iowa State Fairgrounds - Des Moines, Iowa - June 7, 2002.

"America is made better by millions of Muslim citizens"
George W. Bush - President - The State Dining Room - Iftaar Dinner - Source

"The Muslim faith is a peaceful faith."
George W. Bush - President - Meeting with leaders from the U.S. House and Senate - September 19, 2001.

"When we think of Islam we think of a faith that brings comfort to a billion people around the world."
George W. Bush - President - remarks at the Islamic Center Washington, D.C., September 17, 2001.

"Well, Chairman Arafat has agreed to a peace process, He's agreed to the Tenet plan. He's agreed to the Mitchell plan. He has negotiated with parties as to how to achieve peace. And, of course, our hope is that he accepts the Tenet plan."
George W. Bush - President - Source. Arafat - The Man of Peace.

"There may be better ways to do it than arming pilots,"
George W. Bush - President - New York Times - September 27th, 2001.

"That's why I'm for instant background checks at gun shows. I'm for trigger locks."
George W. Bush - President - Source: St. Louis Debate - October 17, 2000.

"We don't need to have a potential for handguns getting loose on airplanes,"
Gordon Johndroe - White House spokesman - May 1, 2002. Source

"It's not a matter of if, but when,...I think that the prospects of a future attack on the U.S. are almost a certainty,...It could happen tomorrow, it could happen next week, it could happen next year, but they will keep trying."
Dick Cheney - Vice President - Fox News Sunday - May 19, 2002.

"I want to reiterate that during this time the overwhelming bulk of the evidence was that this was an attack that was likely to take place overseas."
Condoleezza Rice - National Security Adviser - Press Conference - May 17, 2002.

"I want to reiterate: It was not a warning. There was no specific time, place or method mentioned. What you have seen in the run-up that I've talked about is that the FAA was reacting to the same kind of generalized information about a potential hijacking as a method that al Qaeda might employ, but no specific information saying that they were planning such an attack at a particular time."
Condoleezza Rice - National Security Adviser - Press Conference - May 17, 2002.

"I wish I could be more optimistic, there will be another terrorist attack. We will not be able to stop it, it’s something we all live with. It’s inevitable."
Robert Mueller - FBI Director - May 20, 2002 - Speech to the National Association of District Attorneys meeting in suburban Alexandria, Virginia.

"Looking at it right now, I can't say for sure it would not have, that there wasn't a possibility that we could have come across some lead that would have led us to the hijackers."
Robert Mueller - FBI Director - FBI headquarters - Inerview - May 29, 2002 - Source

"I've seen indications of concerns about taking certain action, because that action may be perceived as profiling,"
Robert Mueller - FBI Director - Senate Judiciary Committee - June 6, 2002. Source

• Rowley: 'Climate of fear' impeded agents
  
• Muslim FBI Agent Refuses to Wear a Wire, "Muslims don't tape Muslims"
  
• Despite Profiling Fears, FBI Won't Do It

"Osama bin Laden is still foremost among these terrorists, he wants to strike further blows against America and he could strike without further warning."
George Tenet - CIA Director - The New York Post - February 13, 2002.

"There is not the slightest doubt that Osama bin Laden, his worldwide allies and his sympathizers are planning further attacks against us, We are anticipating bombing attempts with conventional explosives, but his operatives are also capable of kidnappings and assassinations and I must tell you that we are concerned that one or more of bin Laden's attacks could occur at any time."
George Tenet - CIA Director - Testimony to Senate Armed Services Committee - February 2, 1999.

"Failure means no focus, no attention, no discipline - and those were not present in what either we or the FBI did here and around the world,"
George Tenet - CIA Director - Senate Select Intelligence Committee - February 6, 2002 - Source

"I cannot say to you if we had enacted these in August, we would have curtailed the activities in September nor can I assure this committee that we won't have terrorist acts in the future,"
John Ashcroft - Attorney General - House Judiciary Committee - September 24, 2001. - Source

"To those who scare peace-loving people with phantoms of lost liberty, my message is this: Your tactics only aid terrorists, for they erode our national unity and diminish our resolve."
John Ashcroft - Attorney General - Senate Judiciary Committee - December 6, 2001.
The Arab-American Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) and five men who claim to have been "unfairly singled out" on the basis of their appearance have filed suit against four major U.S. airlines in federal court

"The world is just as dangerous today, if not more so, The threat is real; it's as real as it was seven months ago. In fact, it is a permanent condition to which this country must permanently adapt."
Tom Ridge - Homeland Security Director - The Associated Press annual meeting - April 29, 2002.

"I don't think we want to equip our pilots with firearms. That doesn't make a lot of sense to me."
Tom Ridge - Homeland Security Director - March 4, 2002 - USA Today - White House officials say Ridge's view reflects the thinking of President Bush.

"Surrendering to discrimination makes us no different than the terrorists."
Norman Mineta - Transportation Secretary - Source.

"I don't feel that we should have lethal weapons in the cockpit,"
Norman Mineta - Transportation Secretary - March 4, 2002 - Press Conference.

• "They can't tell the difference between a bomb and a bowel movement,"
  "It was Magaw's idea to add chairs and shoehorns at checkpoints for passengers randomly picked by screeners to remove their shoes for inspection."

Sen. George Allen, R-Va., asked the obvious question about how the tragic and devastating events of Sept. 11 might have been recast without such restrictions imposed on responsible airline pilots, most of whom are trained in the military.

QUESTION: "If they had firearms, if they had a pistol to defend themselves or their plane, would that have made a difference?"

ANSWER: "Well it may have, but that's a lot different today than it was then."
John Magaw - Transportation Security Administration Under Secretary - Senate Commerce Committee - May, 28, 2002 - Source

"The government already has told us that if terrorists take control of one of our cockpits, they will send military aircraft to shoot down the airliner and all its crew and passengers. In the face of such choices, we do not understand why these same government officials refuse to give pilots a last chance to prevent such a tragedy."
Captain Duane Woerth - president of ALPA. - Source

"If we can find a way to move illegal immigrants into legal channels, we would enable the border patrol to focus on the bad guys coming across the border rather than the people coming across to work"
James Ziglar - INS Commissioner - Source

• I.N.S.U.L.T.
  
• U.S. Has Given 50,000 Visas Since 9-11 To New Visitors From The Middle East
  
• Arab Terrorists Crossing Border: Middle Eastern Illegals Find Easy Entrance Into U.S. From Mexico
  
• INS Agents Get Cash Bonuses After 9-11 Gaff
  
• INS Releases 35,318 Criminal Illegal Aliens
  
• "This is an average of over 7,488 illegal aliens enetering the United States undetected daily and it could be as high as 16,849."
  
• Open Borders

"Had I known That the enemy was going to use airplanes to kill on that fateful morning, I would have done everything in my power to protect the American people,"
George W. Bush - White House - Rose Garden ceremony - May 17, 2002. Source

"In a fit of exasperation the other day, I blurted out to a U.S. senator: "Washington can't protect us, can it?" He looked down and slowly shook his head." - Source

"Let us damn America. Let us damn their allies until death. Why do we stop?"
Professor Sami Al-Arian - Source

The George Bush Center for Intelligence

"While the terrorists and their sponsors were plotting to hijack airliners and crash them into Manhattan skyscrapers and the Pentagon, senior CIA officials were compelling analysts and operations officers to attend sensitivity-training classes and sew diversity quilts. That is a fact." - Insight Magazine