One of the most troubling aspects of our federal government’s misguided immigration policy has little to do with illegal aliens. It involves the type of people that we allow into this country on a legal basis, and I can think of no more compelling argument for reassessing our priorities in this regard than the case of Khalid Ali-M Aldawsari, the recently arrested Saudi student/terrorist.
The Center for Immigration has a great update explaining how a potential mass-murderer and thoughly anti-American, radical Islamic bigot managed to obtain a student visa to “study” in this country.
The F-1 student visa program is merely another avenue through which terrorists and radicals can exploit America’s lax and self-defeating immigration laws. And although tightening up screening procedures, or taking the more drastic step of denying visas to young Saudi males who harbor similarly noxious views, would be the logical outgrowth of a sound immigration policy, I don’t see any steps being taken to accomplish either goal in the near future, despite the gravity of this latest crime. In fact, it’s more than likely that Aldaswari’s arrest will disappear into a media black hole once the novelty of it has worn off, just as the rightful outrage expressed over Visa Express eventually subsided.
That is all the more reason why articles like the one above are so important. Until there is enough public awareness of the extent to which the State Department’s visa programs have been exploited by those seeking to inflict harm upon our country, we won’t be able to marshal the requisite public pressure to change the way our federal government does business. One of the most egregious examples of the aforementioned abuse is the story of 1993 World Trade Center bomber Mahmud Abouhalima, who managed to come to this country on a tourist visa and would eventually be amnestied under the 1986 Immigration Control and Reform Act. An even more apt comparison is the immigration status of the 9/11 Al Qaeda hijackers, who were approved for student visas six months after the September 11th massacres.
The carnage that our federal government’s mishandling of the this issue has caused in the past or could unleash in the future is simply unfathomable, which is why the story of Khalid Ali-M Aldawsari is so instructive. If we don’t learn from the past and take corrective steps to ensure the same mistakes don’t occur in the future we’re might live to regret it, but not all of us.
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