FBI Warns of Security Risks at the Borders and Ports of Entry
Nearly eight years after the attacks of 9/11, a report by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) warns that America’s unsecured borders and ports of entry having lax inspections remain easy targets for terrorists. The FBI report also found serious flaws in databases that are meant to prevent terrorists from entering the country.
The threats to homeland security were further highlighted by a study carried out by researchers at Stanford University and George Mason University. Using mathematical modeling, researchers from these major universities concluded that the likelihood of non-Mexican terrorists infiltrating the U.S. across the southern border is fairly high. These risks compound the problem of increasing criminal violence spilling across the Mexican border.
The FBI’s investigation found flaws in the government’s terrorist watch list that allowed suspected terrorists to travel to and from the United States at will. The report concluded that the watch list is not updated in a timely fashion. The names of tens of thousands of people who pose no security threat remain on the terrorist watch list while the names of others who are known to pose potential terrorism threats have not yet been added to the list.
The FBI report drew a swift reaction from Capitol Hill. “That the FBI continues to fail to place subjects of terrorism investigations on the watch list is unacceptable,” complained Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Ironically, Leahy and other congressional supporters of amnesty manage to ignore the fact that the same agencies that cannot prevent potential terrorists from entering the country would be charged with identifying any terrorists and criminals among the millions who will benefit from an amnesty.
