July 28, 2004

Borderline Insanity

This story deserves a lot more attention that it's getting.

Middle Easterners with possible terrorist ties have been detained after entering the country from Mexico but released for lack of jail space, said U.S. Rep. Solomon P. Ortiz, the ranking Democrat on the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Readiness.

"It is true. It is very reliable information, from the horse's mouth, and it's happening all over the place," Ortiz, D-Texas, told The Herald on Thursday. "It’s very, very scary, and members (of Congress) know about this. We have contacted several agencies, and I have talked to some people, but I can't say who."

Ortiz’s comments come amid Thursday's release of the 9/11 panel's report into events leading to the deadliest attack on U.S. soil and as the House Appropriations Committee passed an amendment to the Transportation-Treasury Bill to stop the use of Mexican identification cards in this country.

Currently, matricula consulars are used by Mexican nationals to open bank accounts in the United States and obtain driver's licenses in some states.

The matricula consular card fits the bill.

Some law enforcement agencies have recently announced that they would, after all, accept the Certificate of Driving as an identity document. Thus, an illegal alien - or a terrorist - can get a phony birth certificate in Mexico, cross the Rio Grande illegally, come to Tennessee, get a matricula consular card from the Mexican Consulate in Atlanta, which regularly hands them out in events held at high schools in the Nashville area unbothered by la migre, and then use the card to get a Certificate of Driving, which is, despite the law, accepted as an official identity document, complete with photo.

And thus can Mohammed the Terrorist pretend to be Martinez the Gardener, all with the help of the state of Tennessee. Ya think maybe al Qaeda is recruiting Spanish instructors? Let's continue with the news story...

The amendment, submitted by U.S. Rep. John Culberson, R-Texas, will go before the full House in September.

Culberson said the cards present a danger to national security, pointing to the June 26, 2003, testimony of Steve McCraw, assistant director of the FBI's Office of Intelligence, before a House Judiciary subcommittee.

"The ability of foreign nationals to use the matricula consular to create a well-documented, but fictitious, identity in the United States provides an opportunity for terrorists to move freely within the United States without triggering name-based watch lists that are disseminated to local police officers," McCraw testified. "It also allows them to board planes without revealing their true identity. … At least one individual of Middle Eastern descent has also been arrested in possession of the matricula consular card."

Culberson’s spokesmen Tony Essalih and Jeff Morehouse told The Herald on Thursday that U.S. Attorney Michael T. Shelby of the Southern District of Texas told Culberson that several Middle Easterners have used Hispanic surnames to enter the country undetected.

Michelle Malkin has more, including a link to a story about al Qaeda terrorists hiding out in Central America.