In a series of incidents now familiar to all Americans, 19 foreign terrorists, all of whom had been living in the U.S. for months or years, shattered our country’s peace with an assault that has left more than 6500 dead. As part of an all-government investigation, the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) is already holding 75 aliens on immigration charges in connection with the attack. The FBI has a list of 190 additional people that it wants to question, most of whom, it is expected, it will be able to hold on immigration charges.

Apparently, most of the terrorists entered the United States on temporary visas as students, tourists, or business visitors, and overstayed their visas. Because the U.S. has no system for detecting when foreigners have overstayed their visas, states are lax in giving identification cards to aliens, and interior enforcement of immigration laws is virtually nonexistent, the terrorists were able to remain unnoticed for the years it took them to plan their attack.

In response to the emergency, the Justice Department has drafted legislation that would allow the Attorney General to lock up foreign terrorist suspects and to deport them without further evidence. Also, internal rules have been altered to now allow the INS to hold a suspected illegal alien for two days, instead of just one, before having to decide whether to charge him. The INS can already detain aliens indefinitely in extraordinary circumstances, such as the threat of terrorism.

FAIR reacted immediately to the tragedy with public statements and recommendations for fighting terrorism on U.S. soil. “The heinous terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, D.C. yesterday that cost the nation many lives demonstrate anew the need to defend our country better by stopping the easy entry into our country by terrorists,” said Dan Stein, executive director of FAIR. “The nation's defense against terrorism has been seriously eroded by the efforts of open-borders advocates, and the innocent victims of today's terrorist attacks have paid the price.”

“Only by restoring an orderly process over admission of immigrants and temporary visitors will we gain greater security for our people against terrorists,” noted Stein. “We can never bring back those people who lost their lives to these terrorist attacks, but we can bring back greater security for those of us who were spared.”

Among FAIR’s recommendations are:

• An increase in consular officers assigned to issuing visas and increased scrutiny and background checks of each applicant.
• Reject any extension of the 245(i) provision that allows illegal aliens to adjust their status while remaining in the United States, thereby bypassing overseas consular reviews.
• Comprehensive I.D. reform that includes machine-readable visas and documents for all entrants to the United States to minimize forged entry documents, and a database of entry and exit information.
• Implement the proposed database to monitor student visa holders to determine whether they are enrolled in and attending the institutions for which the visas were issued.
• An electronic work eligibility document that will make it more difficult for unauthorized aliens to work and support themselves while in the United States. Several pilot programs have been proven successful and must be made mandatory in all work places by Congress.
• Adopt national standards for drivers' license issuance and design. All states must protect these vital identity documents by cross-referencing them with the Social Security database, and adopting anti-tampering and anti-counterfeiting features.
• Establish greater cooperation between local and federal agencies in the enforcement of immigration laws. Section 133, which provides for training of state and local police in immigration law enforcement should be encouraged and funded.

For more on the relationship between immigration and terrorism, see the related article, “How Immigration Law Relates to National Security”. For more detailed information on FAIR’s anti-terrorism recommendation, see our “Immigration Control Handbook.” FAIR 10/01