http://investigations.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/10/22/21081443-chicago-woman-hid-terrorist-past-on-citizenship-application-say-feds
In case you didn’t follow the link to the actual news article, the basic facts are this: a woman who committed an act of terror years ago lied on her application for citizenship to the U.S. and it was granted.
After reading this article, I wondered, who is stupid enough to ask “why did she not disclose her terrorist past?” The article quotes William Hayes (acting special agent in charge for Homeland Security in Detroit) as saying, “The United States will never be a safe haven for individuals seeking to distance themselves from their pasts.” Wow! A powerful statement if it actually had any meaning. Apparently, Homeland Security is working hard at keeping terrorists out of this country by asking them if they are in fact a terrorist. If they answer “no”, then they MUST be telling the truth, so we let them in. Why would we want to check into their past to see if they might be lying? I’m sure if we asked all of the illegal immigrants in this country, “are you an illegal immigrant?” they would all answer “yes” because the fear of being deported or prosecuted would never make them lie. And why would they lie? It’s not like they broke the law by coming here without the proper visas and documentation that are required. Oh, wait, that IS what makes them illegal. So if you’re willing to break the law to enter a country illegally, would you also be willing to lie on your application for citizenship? OK, who needs time to think about their answer? Anyone?
In the particular case reported in the article, the woman lied on her immigration papers to come to this country. And then she lied on her application for citizenship. Why are we surprised that she lied? She was willing to commit terrorist acts, but we think lying is so bad that we don’t expect her to do it? Since when was lying worse than killing people? The more I think about this, the more I wonder if the root of our immigration problems is that we are so afraid of offending someone by questioning their statements that we just believe every word out of that person’s mouth. But then I have to wonder, since our current administration is so weak on existing immigration law, are they also willing to let everyone into this country regardless of any danger they might pose? If they are going to allow illegal immigrants to stay by NOT enforcing the most basic laws currently on the books, why would they enforce the stricter immigration laws that would prevent terrorists from entering this country? We aren't allowed to ask the hard questions or check into someone’s past because that is “racial profiling”. I also wonder why we have people fill out paperwork to become U.S. citizens in the first place when anyone can come into the country illegally without any sort of repercussions? Filling out paperwork just creates another government job that costs the taxpayer more money when the government has no plan to prosecute someone who is here illegally anyway. So until the time where being a “legal” citizen has meaning, we are just wasting money and time “processing” people through the legal channels. If the current president gets his way, he will just declare all illegal immigrants to be legal, so why bother filling out the paperwork?
I said this before, I am in favor of immigration. However, those who truly want to become citizens of our country have the obligation to follow our laws and will have to “earn” the right to become a citizen. Those who are willing to do that deserve to become citizens, but those who are not, should be sent back to where they came from.
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