by Phil Kent, SLF President

The September 11 assault on the United States puts a fine point on the broader discussion of our nation's immigration policy. Fifteen of the 19 terrorists responsible for the World Trade Center and Pentagon attacks were in the U.S. under expired visas, and at least four of the terrorists were illegal aliens possessing driver's licenses. Even as the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Immigration and Naturalization Service detain, question and arrest dozens of foreign students and illegal aliens allegedly involved in terrorist activity, what is clear is that the status of many legal and illegal immigrants on American soil is a mystery to those charged with protecting our national security.

The U.S. immigration disaster is a multi-headed monster. On April 1, 1994, the Clinton administration ordered the INS to stop conducting routine fingerprint background checks on aliens receiving visas. According to INS figures, hundreds of thousands of student "F1" visas were granted without such basic routine checks. Immigration reform groups point to the fact that short-term visas routinely expire without action, and many of the 514,000 foreign "students" currently in the U.S. overstay their legal welcome with alarming frequency.

Former Deputy Assistant FBI director for national security Dale Watson testified before Congress that "we know for a fact that organizations funded by a state sponsor of terrorism fund students coming to the United States . . . and that is part of their intelligence organization." Remember, in this vein, that a terrorist who bombed the World Trade Center in 1993 simply entered the U.S. on a student visa.

What has been our national response to this fair warning of imminent danger? In 1996, Congress passed a law requiring universities to report the whereabouts and status of all foreign students in the U.S. to a $40 million electronic tracking system. The law has even been funded by Congress, yet the system has never been used.

The crisis is not a federal problem alone. Four states -- Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Utah -- issue driver's licenses to illegal aliens under the guise of "safer streets." California's governor is considering OKing such legislation. But Minnesota's Commissioner of Public Safety and others rightly denounce the "road safety" issue as a red herring. If security and safety are the issues, then consider: A state that issues a driver's license to an illegal alien waives criminal background checks and identity documents, including birth certificates and Social Security numbers, required of U.S. citizens. With a driver's license, an illegal can transact complex business, open a bank account, and even enter a flight school.

The issue has attracted the attention of congressional lawmakers and several state attorneys general. In South Carolina, Attorney General Charlie Condon is exploring potential legal recommendations for state law enforcement personnel presented with a driver's license from a state that issues to illegals. South Carolina, like nearly every state, requires Social Security and other identity documents to obtain a driver's license.

U.S. Rep. Bob Barr (R-Ga) and other in Congress are contemplating federal legislation banning states from issuing driver's licenses to illegals, which would effectively nullify further state action. Let's not procrastinate in addressing these issues; after all, the president underscores this is now "war."

And to those who believe that justice and the rule of law are compatible with an open borders policy, let it be said that those millions who break our laws by entering our borders illegally, or abuse the loopholes in our visa system and overstay their legal invitation, mock the very system we intend to protect. The FBI, INS, and U.S. Justice Department have demonstrated in recent days a new resolve to enforce our laws. It's now up to the nation's leaders, based on the will of the people, to direct our law enforcement to do its job beyond today's emergency.

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