The Border of Terror: Al Qaeda activity in Mexico ( Zarqawi:infiltrate the U.S.southern border)

I had the honor to speak at the recent SouthWest Homeland Security conference, held in Phoenix, Arizona, and was given the opportunity to draw attention to the situation that states like Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California face on their border with Mexico.

The concern in Washington about terrorist infiltration is nothing new, but recently, an amendment cutting Bush's Iraq request by $1.9 billion to pay for new aircraft, patrol boats and other vehicles, as well as border checkpoints and a fence along the Mexico border crossing near San Diego, widely used by illegal immigrants, was adopted on a 59-39 vote. Most of this is prompted by the leaking of illegal immigrants through the Mexican border, but there are terror concerns. Indeed, the top levels of government see the U.S.-Mexican border becoming a backdoor for terrorists entering the United States. While Al Qaeda infiltration across the nation's southern border has been a constant concern since 9/11, U.S. officials cite recent intelligence giving the most definitive evidence yet that terrorists are planning to use it as an entry point—if they haven't already.

As a result, a number of Republican and Democratic lawmakers—mainly from border states—are pushing to tighten checkpoints and other ways of monitoring the porous 1,400-mile boundary.

Continues:.................

<........Mexico provides a fertile ground for the recruitment of terrorists. Most people see the struggle against illegal immigrants as an economic problem, but could poor Mexican immigrants be terrorists? There is mounting evidence to suggest that in very poor provinces like Chiapas, conversion to the Muslim faith (necessarily practiced by more fundamentalist groups) could lead to more cases like that of Jose Padilla in Miami—of terrorists fitting a wholly different description to the usual Middle Eastern fare. There are women with veils and people chanting "Allah is Great" in San Cristobal de las Casas. The story began around 1994 when two Spaniards, Aureliano Pérez and Esteban López, brought Islamic teachings to a poor neighborhood in the outskirts of San Cristobal de las Casas, the Chiapas capital. This is the same area where the revolutionary Zapatistas came from.

Many of the recent converts were Presbyterians, but there is fertile ground in the predominantly poor and Catholic area for a religious revivalism, a la Hamas in the Palestinian territories. Chiapas has a population of 4 million.

Today, Islamic teachers promote fruitful activities among their flock in three main areas: food, carpentry and textiles. An almost totally self-reliant economy was established, allowing men to practice Islam around the clock, while women—engaged in textile handicrafts—were assured of an independent income that improves the domestic economy. Some 300 Tzotzil Mayans make up the new Islamic community, the first among Latin American indigenous people. They are said to belong to the Sufi tradition, viewed as having a mystical version of Islam.

Besides the possibility of home-grown Mexican Islamic jihadists, there are loopholes in the present system that make the border more dangerous. The policy recently was to separate the large number of illegal Mexican migrants, who are automatically turned back at the borders, from citizens of other countries who are allowed in, pending immigration hearings. These others are referred to as "other than Mexicans," or OTMs, by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). They come from other Latin American countries as well as other parts of the world, many of them designated by the government as countries of "special interest." In 2004, some 44,000 OTMs were allowed into the US.........>

Meanwhile our Border "Patrol" tips off the Mexican government as to the whereabouts of our Minutemen according to this email I received this morning:

U.S. tipping Mexico to Minuteman patrols By Sara A. Carter, Staff Writer http://www.dailybulletin.com/news/ci_3799653

While Minuteman civilian patrols are keeping an eye out for illegal border crossers, the U.S. Border Patrol is keeping an eye out for Minutemen -- and telling the Mexican government where they are.

According to three documents on the Mexican Secretary of Foreign Relations Web site, the U.S. Border Patrol is to notify the Mexican government as to the location of Minutemen and other civilian border patrol groups when they participate in apprehending illegal immigrants -- and if and when violence is used against border crossers.

A U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokesman confirmed the notification process, describing it as a standard procedure meant to reassure the Mexican government that migrants' rights are being observed.

"It's not a secret where the Minuteman volunteers are going to be," Mario Martinez said Monday.

"This ... simply makes two basic statements -- that we will not allow any lawlessness of any type, and that if an alien is encountered by a Minuteman or arrested by the Minuteman, then we will allow that government to interview the person."

Minuteman members were not so sanguine about the arrangement, however, saying that reporting their location to Mexican officials nullifies their effectiveness along the border and could endanger their lives.

"Now we know why it seemed like Mexican officials knew where we were all the time," said Chris Simcox, founder of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps. "It's unbelievable that our own government agency is sending intelligence to another country. They are sending intelligence to a nation where corruption runs rampant, and that could be getting into the hands of criminal cartels.

"They just basically endangered the lives of American people."

Officials with the Mexican consulate in Washington, D.C., could not be reached for comment Monday.

Martinez said reporting the location of immigrant apprehensions to consulate representatives is common practice if an illegal immigrant requests counsel or believes they have been mistreated.

"Once an illegal alien is apprehended, they can request counsel," he said. "We have to give their counsel the information about their apprehension, and that includes where they are apprehended, whether a Minuteman volunteer spotted them or a citizen."

Martinez said Mexico's official perception of the civilian groups is that they are vigilantes, a belief the Border Patrol hoped to allay by entering into the cooperative agreement.

One of the documents on the Web site, "Actions of the Mexican Government in Relation to the Activities of Vigilante Groups," states that Mexican consulate representatives stay in close contact with Border Patrol chiefs to ensure the safety of migrants trying to enter the U.S., those being detained and the actions of all "vigilantes" along the border.

"The Mexican consul in Presidio also contacted the chief of the Border Patrol in the Marfa Sector to solicit his cooperation in case they detect any activity of `vigilantes,' and was told to immediately contact the consulate if there was," according to the document.

"Presidio" refers to Presidio County, Texas, which is in the Big Bend region and a gateway to northern Mexico.

The document also describes a meeting with San Diego Border Patrol sector chief Darryl Griffen.

"(Griffen) said that the Border Patrol will not permit any violence or any actions contrary to the law by the groups, and he is continuously aware of (the volunteer organizations') operations," according to the document. "Mr. Griffen reiterated to the undersecretary his promise to notify the General Consul right away when the vigilantes detain or participate in the detention of any undocumented Mexicans."

The documents specifically named the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps and its patrols, which began monitoring Arizona's southern border in April 2005, as well as Friends of the Border Patrol, a Chino-based nonprofit.

TJ Bonner, president of the National Border Patrol Council, a union representing more than 10,000 Border Patrol agents, said agents have complained for years about the Mexican consulate's influence over the agency.

"It worries me (that the Mexican government) seems to be unduly influencing our enforcement policies. That's not a legitimate role for any foreign nation," Bonner said, though he added, "It doesn't surprise me."

Border Patrol agents interviewed by the Daily Bulletin said they have been asked to report to sector headquarters the location of all civilian volunteer groups, but to not file the groups' names in reports if they spot illegal immigrants.

"Last year an internal memo notified all agents not to give credit to Minuteman volunteers or others who call in sightings of illegal aliens," said one agent, who spoke on the condition he not be identified. "We were told to list it as a citizen call and leave it at that. Many times, we were told not to go out to Minuteman calls."

The document also mentions locations of field operations of Friends of the Border Patrol, which patrolled the San Diego sector from June to November 2005. Mexican officials had access to the exact location of the group founded by Andy Ramirez, which ran its patrols from the Rough Acre Ranch, a private property in McCain Valley.

Ramirez said that for safety reasons, he disclosed the location of his ranch patrol only to San Diego Border Patrol and law enforcement officials. The group did not apprehend or spot any undocumented migrants in that area.

"We did not release this information ... to the media or anyone else," Ramirez said. "We didn't want to publicize that information. But there it is, right on the Mexican government's Web site, and our government gave it to them."

"It is pretty clear that false identities would not be difficult to obtain, making at least a few of these 44,000 potential Al Qaeda operatives. The case of Mahmoud Youssef Kourani, who paid to be smuggled across the U.S.-Mexico border in 2001, is a good example. He pleaded guilty to providing material support to Hizbullah and was sentenced to no more than five years in prison. "

"The most recent sign that terrorists may be thinking of entering the U.S. from the south came from the mastermind of many of the terror attacks in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. Last week, U.S. officials revealed that Mr. Zarqawi may be planning to broaden his campaign to include strikes in the U.S—and suggested it would be easy to infiltrate the U.S. through the southern border.

Maybe just maybe we should protect the border what do you think? How many mexican terroists have entered already, should we give them amnesty and all the goodies we can on a platinum platter? Should we keep assuming they are just innocent people looking for work?

And even if that was their motivation for breaking and entering why is it our responsibility to clothe, feed, give medical care all FREE to lawbreakers and their huge families.

To allow the mexican govt to dictate and make demands on a Super Power is unbelievable.

Illegal aliens are increasing the deficit by BILLIONS!

Why do we have to BEG our politicians to protect our borders?

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.