Posted on 02/22/2008 4:04:55 AM PST by Man50D
WASHINGTON – Two more Iraqis with false Bulgarian passports were detained by Mexican officials in Monterrey – bringing the total to four this month.
Wisam Gorgies, a 34-year-old man, and Rana Nazar Peyoz, a 26-year-old woman, reportedly flew from Madrid and landed in Monterrey, according to reports in two Mexican newspapers today.
Following questioning, the pair admitted they intended to reach the United States. They were taken to Saltillo in the state of Coahuila, for final determination of their status.
Mexican officials said the are investigating "a network that could be made up of Mexicans operating in Greece who are selling false Bulgarian passports for $10,000 to European and Middle Eastern citizens."
Earlier this month, El Universal, a daily in Mexico City, reported two other Iraqis, Markos Ramy, a 25-year-old man, and Sollem Pate, a 20-year-old woman, presented Bulgarian passports upon arrival at the Monterrey airport after a flight from Spain.
They told customs officials they came as tourists for a couple days. But because they spoke no Bulgarian, their passports were determined to be fraudulent. The Bulgarian consulate did not acknowledge them as citizens and their hotel reservations proved to be phony.
Only after their cover story was blown did the couple admit to being Iraqis. They claimed to be fleeing the war.
Last year, dozens of Iraqis were discovered attempting to enter Monterrey with phony ID – 17 of them in a single event.
In addition, earlier this month, Norwegian authorities reported that Iraqis affiliated with al-Qaida and former Baath Party members may have slipped into Kuwait after obtaining $15,000 Norwegian passports. Authorities in Kuwait say they are on the lookout for any Iraqi citizen bearing a Norwegian passport.
(Excerpt) Read more at worldnetdaily.com ...
These guys were just coming here to do the jobs Americans won’t do. They were coming here to enjoy our strong border security and get in on the coming amnesty goodie bag offered by the Republicans and Democrats.
Lets not be racists and bigots. *extreme* sarcasm here
Not to worry...Congress approved 28 miles of a “virtual fence” between AZ and Mexico yesterday, at a staggering price, of course. We are safe because Chertoff says we are.
Hope they weren't headed for Philly, they'd be better off home.
Eight hours, six dead in Philadelphia (yes we can !!)
“But because they spoke no Bulgarian, their passports were determined to be fraudulent.”
I hate it when that happens!
Now the charge will be $11,000...and will include Rosetta Stone Bulgarian Language Software.
Three Afghanis were arrested Wednesday at an international airport in India’s Kerala state for flying with forged Mexican passports. They had just arrived there from Kuwait, where officials examined the passports identifying them as “Antonio Lopez Juan,” “Javier Sanchez Alberto,” and “Atonio Lopez Ernesto,” and found that they didn’t understand any Spanish. Maybe they were also suspicious of these inept attempts to ape Spanish names.
“Antonio,” “Javier,” and “Atonio” insisted they were trying to get to France, but given their newly-minted Mexican identities, that seems about as likely as the possibility that Hillary Clinton will cede the Democratic nomination gracefully to Barack Obama. Now what could Afghan nationals who don’t speak Spanish want with Mexican passports? Maybe they were really tired of Afghan fare and were craving some enchiladas. Or maybe they were hoping to craft a new brand of Afghan/mariachi music.
From the general level of concern exhibited in official Washington after other evidence of jihadist attempts to cross into the U.S. from Mexico, one might reasonably assume that nothing more worrisome than mariachi is going on. But in the real world, this incident is yet another indication of the national security aspect of the immigration issue.
The warnings have been coming in for years. In June 2004, border patrol agents arrested 77 “Middle Eastern” men attempting to enter the U.S. illegally. Congressman Solomon Ortiz (D-Tex.) said that such attempts are “happening all over the place. It’s very, very scary.” In October of that year, intelligence officials began investigating allegations that 25 nationals from another hotbed of jihad, Chechnya, had crossed into the country across the Arizona border. And the next month, a captured Egyptian jihadist named Sharif al-Masri told interrogators about Al-Qaeda’s plans to “smuggle nuclear materials to Mexico,” where “operatives would carry material into the U.S.” A Bangladeshi Muslim, Fakhrul Islam, was arrested in December 2004 while trying to cross into Texas from Mexico. With him were members of the Central American Mara Salvatruchas gang, which some officials allege has ties to Al-Qaeda.
If all this isn’t an argument for border security, what is? Perhaps the most curious aspect of these stories that are two and three years old is that they didn’t get national attention, and didn’t result in genuine action to secure our borders. But with the latest incident in India, McCain, Hillary, and Obama should be asked pointed questions about their immigration policies, and asked to go beyond the dismissal of immigration controls as “racism” to address the genuine national security issues involved in the continued porous state of our southern border.
There is no way to estimate how many jihadists may already have crossed into the U.S. from Mexico. But the time to play politics with the border issue is long past. The shallow sloganeering and race-baiting that have dominated the national debate about border controls should be recognized as what they are: hindrances to sane and sensible national defense measures.
Why should we stand idle while those who have vowed to destroy us cross the border with relative impunity? And why isn’t such a question being asked of our presidential candidates at every stop they make on the hustings?
Mr. Spencer is director of Jihad Watch and author of "The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam (and the Crusades)" , "The Truth About Muhammad" and "Religion of Peace?" (all from Regnery -- a HUMAN EVENTS sister company).
Are those guys “Boogarian” tourists?
LOL!
And lest we forget, 800 miles of non-virtual Alaska Pipeline were built in an unforgiving climate and over a few mountain ranges after 3 years of continuous 24x365 effort at a cost of about $28 billion 2006 dollars.
And I vaguely recall that we were treated to regular weekly newsclips of this mammoth engineering effort, such was the interest in such a huge construction project.
Seen any news clips of the “virtual fence” being built lately?
I haven’t. Not even 10 seconds.
These terrorists might not hate America quite as much after they spend awhile in a Mexican jail.
btt
Iraqi pair nabbed in Mexico, headed to U.S. with fake IDs....
viva la virtual fence!!!!!
Just more McCain/huckster supporters headed norte...nothing to see here folks.
what a joke, Americans are shown two, and the rest of the plane load, pay the fees, and head toward the border....mho
bttt
The fingerprinting policy would prevent such people from entering the country, Hatoyama concluded.
Why would being photographed and fingerprinted prevent a terrorist from entering the country?
This would only prevent an individual who is on a terrorist watch list from entering.
A newly minted terrorist intending to die in a suicide bombing would not be deterred and would not appear on a watch list.
They’re sure trying....
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.