Report Documents Terrorism/Immigration Link

A new report by the Center for Immigration Studies analyzes the immigration histories of the 94 known foreign-born terrorists who operated in the United states between 1993 and 2004. The Center’s conclusion: “[T]wo-thirds of them committed immigration fraud prior to or as part of their terrorist activities.” Twenty-one of the terrorists became naturalized citizens before being charged or convicted as terorists. It can hardly be a surprise that a key element of defending ourselves against terrorism is more vigorous enforcement of the immigration laws.
The Washington Post is trumpeting its latest poll, showing President Bush’s approval rating at an “all-time low” of 45%. Actually, though, considering that the poll was of “random adults,” conducted over four evenings, three of them on the weekend, with only 29% Republicans in the survey, the result is hardly surprising. In fact, Bush’s approval ratings on the key issues has barely budged compared to prior Post/ABC surveys. Here is what is interesting, in the present context: the issue on which Bush scores worst is not Iraq, the economy or Social Security. It is immigration. News accounts often implicitly assume that more or less all of those who are critical of the administration are on the administration’s left. In fact, though, on the issue where the President’s position is least popular, the criticism comes almost entirely from the right, some of it from people who on other issues describe themselves as moderates or even liberals.