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By Fred Burton
There has been plenty of shouting from both sides in the debate over illegal immigration into the United States. To be sure, the issue is an emotional and multifaceted one for American citizens and noncitizens alike; huge public demonstrations have been staged by pro-immigration advocates, while national-security conservatives -- fixated on threats from terrorism, gangs and other factors -- have called for strict border controls and enforcement of immigration laws.
From a security standpoint, illegal immigration unquestionably poses certain risks to the United States -- though in the context of cross-border immigration from Mexico, those from jihadist or terrorist organizations like al Qaeda are far from the top of the list. Which is not to say that the most common arguments put forth by national security advocates are not well-founded; for example, document fraud -- which figures prominently in the illegal immigration issue -- is a tactic frequently used by jihadists, and even is prescribed in al Qaeda training manuals such as "Military Studies in the Jihad against the Tyrants." The immigration issue also touches on concerns like drugs- and weapons-smuggling, as well as transnational criminal syndicates like Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13).
Beneath all of these politically charged issues, however, lies a more subtle danger posed by criminal aliens, one frequently overlooked or simply glossed over in the debates. It is a quiet threat; the risks to national security are quite small, but criminals mixing in with the tide of other legal and illegal migrants crossing the border can directly threaten the security of private American citizens and corporations in very real ways.
There is an important point to be made here: The vast majority of illegal aliens in the United States -- whether they cross the border in hopes of becoming American citizens or as temporary economic migrants -- are not violent criminals. They have powerful economic incentives to enter the country; many unskilled laborers can earn more in one hour working in the United States than they earn in an entire day in their home country. Moreover, the economies in many countries that contribute to the problem are partly or largely dependent on remittances from both legal and illegal aliens working in the United States -- so officials there have few incentives to help control document fraud or discourage emigration.
There are an estimated 12 million illegal aliens in the United States, most of whom view the country as a "land of opportunity." Among this multitude are a minority who perceive a land of criminal opportunity as well.
Defining the Risk
The number of criminal aliens in the United States far outweighs the number of people associated with al Qaeda or organized crime groups, such as the Mexican drug cartels or MS-13. It is difficult to quantify the problem precisely, but some statistics from the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) service are useful here: In fiscal 2005, 15,049 fugitive aliens were arrested and 9,100 of those were deported; during the same period, only 267 aliens were arrested in connection with terrorism investigations.
Quantifying the criminal alien problem is also made difficult by restrictions placed on many police departments, which preclude any questions about the immigration status of people they arrest. However, a May 2005 report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) -- which studied 55,322 criminal aliens (in detention) who had entered the country illegally -- is helpful. Among its findings: 97 percent of those in the study population had been arrested more than once; there were more than 459,000 total arrests within the group -- an average of eight arrests per person; 81 percent of those in the study were arrested after 1990. Crimes committed by those in the study group included:
- Drugs -- 24 percent
- Immigration violations -- 21 percent
- Property crimes (such as burglary, larceny, theft and vehicle theft) -- 15 percent
- Violent crimes (murder, robbery, assault and sex crimes) -- 12 percent
- Other offenses (including traffic violations, weapons offenses and fraud) -- 28 percent
Given the numbers of people involved, the types of crimes in question, and the kinds of victims such criminals seek out, it is logical to conclude that more Americans are likely to have contact with alien criminals than with suicide jihadists or MS-13 gangsters.
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