Month: February 2012

While the advocates for open borders and many of our political leaders often claim that virtually all aliens who enter our country simply want their share of the “American Dream,”  in fact, there are aliens who enter our country to evade law enforcement authorities in their home countries or other countries where they are wanted for committing heinous crimes or enter our country with the intentions of committing crimes and may belong to transnational gangs.

While such criminal aliens comprise only a small percentage of the aliens who enter our country, the fact remains that each year many people are killed, injured or otherwise victimized by aliens who engage in crime in our country.  Often the victims of the crimes that are committed by these aliens are, themselves, immigrants or members of the same ethnic community as are their assailants. 

Today my commentary is predicated on the alleged horrific homicide that was committed by a naturalized citizen of the United States, Charles Ann, who was born in South Korea and naturalized in 2009.  Purportedly, his victim was his former girlfriend, Anna Hong who, according to published reports, was seen arguing with Mr. Ann moments before he ran her down with his car when she terminated their relationship.  According to eyewitness accounts of the crime, Mr. Ann drove over her with his car and then shifted into reverse running over her repeatedly.

Here is an excerpt from the February 21, 2012 New York Post article that reported on this alleged murder:

“Authorities suspect Ann, who was born in Korea, was going to flee the country. He was captured at a friend’s house in Queens early this morning with a passport and large amounts of cash, authorities said.”

The issue to focus on is how, at the time of his arrest, Mr. Ann was found with his passport as well as with large amounts of cash.  It is unclear if the passport he had in his possession when he was arrested was his U.S. passport or his South Korean passport.  According to published reports, bail has been set at 3 million dollars because he presented an extreme flight risk.

Most aliens who are arrested in the United States present an extreme risk of flight because they are able to leave the United States to head for their home countries where extradition may be difficult or even impossible.  This provides transnational criminals and terrorists who enter the United States with the intention of carrying our criminal or terrorist acts with a virtual “Trap Door” they can escape through to to evade the “Long arm of the law” of various law enforcement agencies within the United States.

When I was an INS Special Agent I was often called upon by state and federal prosecutors to actively participate at bail hearings following the arrest of defendants who were aliens or dual nationals.  A bail hearing consists of two primary factors: 1) danger to the community, and 2) risk of flight.  In the great majority of the cases where I was called to testify at bail hearings, the alien defendants were either remanded without bail at all, or the bail was set so high that the defendants were unable to post the bail.  We made certain that they “faced the music!”

This is yet another reason why local and state law enforcement agencies and prosecutors should work in close cooperation with ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) so that aliens who are accused of committing serious crimes are denied the opportunity to post a low bail which will result in yet another alien on the long list of fugitives.  Criminals all seek to evade detection by law enforcement authorities.  This is why criminals resort to all sorts of tactics to keep from being identified as participating in a crime or being caught after a crime is committed.

Aliens who commit crimes have an additional tactic in their “bag of tricks” one that is not readily available to the American counterparts: they can simply leave the United States after they commit a crime. For these criminals, our borders represent a sort of “turnstile.”  They obviously have to get into the United States in order to commit a crime but then may well seek to cross the border in the opposite direction to prevent being arrested or, if arrested, to avoid serving a lengthy jail sentence if they are arrested and facing prosecution.

Terrorists similarly move around the globe frequently to plan and carry out attacks and to evade capture.  In fact, the 9/11 Commission Staff Report on Terrorist Travel focused on just how essential international travel and crossing international borders was to the attacks of 9/11 and other such terrorist attacks.  This is a voluminous report but one well worth reviewing.

The June 18, 1997 edition of the Washington Post published an important news report that was entitled, “Suspect in ’93 Shooting Spree at CIA Captured.” Here is an important excerpt from that news report:

WASHINGTON — Mir Aimal Kansi, the alleged gunman in a ruthless 1993 shooting spree outside CIA headquarters that left two agency employees dead and three others wounded, has been captured and secretly brought back to the United States to face murder charges, the CIA and FBI announced Tuesday.

Kansi, a Pakistani immigrant, coldly machine-gunned motorists stuck in morning rush-hour traffic at an intersection outside the CIA’s headquarters in Langley, Va., U.S. officials charge. He was turned over to American officials by Afghans cooperating with the FBI and CIA, the government said. Officials said that Kansi, who is being held in the Fairfax County Jail, is expected to be arraigned in a Fairfax County court this morning. He faces state murder charges and could get the death penalty if convicted.

After fleeing the United States for Pakistan after the shooting, Kansi, now 33, had managed for more than four years to elude one of the most intensive international manhunts ever mounted by U.S. law enforcement and intelligence operatives.

Clearly criminals and terrorists understand the importance of being able to elude American law enforcement by simply fleeing from our country after they do their “dirty work.”  It is time for our “leaders” on all levels to devise strategies to defend our nation and our citizens and immigrants from the threats posed by those who would, in one way or another, gain entry into our country to do us harm.

This is not about being “Anti-Immigrant” but about being “Pro-America!”