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Integrating Service Learning into the Study of International Terrorism
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Service Learning Components for International Terrorism:
Empowering Students through Activism
David Reilly
February 2004 Draft
19
boy in the custody of the INS. A political battle ensued, as the INS refused the boy asylum and eventually sent him home to his father in Cuba. Not a single one of the September 11
th
hijackers was a U.S. citizens or immigrant. They were
foreign born visitors to the U.S., here on tourist, student or business traveler visas. One of their accomplices, Zacarias Moussaoui was in the country through the visa waiver program with France. At least three on the hijackers had (illegally) overstayed their visas, the INS had no information on six of them, and two of the hijackers received visas from the INS in the mail six months AFTER their death. Lee Boyd Malvo and his mother were taken into custody by the INS in December 2001, after authorities discovered that they were illegal immigrants from Jamaica. After a detention period, both were released on bond. A deportation hearing is scheduled for Lee on November twentieth. In the meantime, Lee was picked up by the authorities once again on October 24, 2002. This time it is not for an immigration violation, but as an accomplice in the “Beltway Sniper” murders of at least eleven people, and the attempted murder of four others. After three high-profile messes in three years, fingers are pointing directly at the INS. It is one thing to admit that everyone makes mistakes and another to ignore a continuous problem. Each year, around 450,000 illegal immigrants settle in the U.S. and many legal immigrants overstay their visas. Some estimates put the number of illegal immigrants within the country at five million.
How can this pattern of incompetence be explained? Part of it is budgetary and staffing limitations. While the US National Defense Budget for 2003 is approximately $396.8 billion, the INS receives approximately $6.3 billion. Granted, the scope of INS responsibilities does not range as far as the US military’s, but it often serves as the first and only line of defense that the US has against those with good or bad intentions who wish to enter the country. Even after an increase in border patrol agents for 2003, there are still less than twenty thousand officers to cover eight thousand miles of border. That averages out to about two people per mile, assuming that every single officer is on patrol every hour of every day. Since this is not feasible, there is at best one patrol officer per mile of the border. If there is more, it is because the dedicated INS officers work double, triple and swing shifts to provide for our safety. These shifts leave officers tired and dim their alertness. Now consider that each year, the INS processes approximately 900,000 legal immigrants and 30 million visitors. No wonder illegal immigrants can sneak across the border. Is it fair to condemn the INS for the examples listed above? Their budgets are dictated, their priorities are defined, and their responsibility is to carry out the laws that others enact. Maybe our attention should be turned to Attorney General John Ashcroft, the chief law enforcement officer of the Federal government. The INS ultimately falls under his jurisdiction, and yet he does not appear willing to take the responsibility for its failings. What’s more, he was in Niagara Falls earlier this week to promote a new screening system that provides for faster border crossings with fewer restrictions.
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Service Learning Components for International Terrorism:
Empowering Students through Activism
David Reilly
February 2004 Draft
19
boy in the custody of the INS. A political battle ensued, as the INS refused the boy asylum and
eventually sent him home to his father in Cuba.
Not a single one of the September 11
th
hijackers was a U.S. citizens or immigrant. They were
foreign born visitors to the U.S., here on tourist, student or business traveler visas. One of their
accomplices, Zacarias Moussaoui was in the country through the visa waiver program with
France. At least three on the hijackers had (illegally) overstayed their visas, the INS had no
information on six of them, and two of the hijackers received visas from the INS in the mail six
months AFTER their death.
Lee Boyd Malvo and his mother were taken into custody by the INS in December 2001, after
authorities discovered that they were illegal immigrants from Jamaica. After a detention period,
both were released on bond. A deportation hearing is scheduled for Lee on November twentieth.
In the meantime, Lee was picked up by the authorities once again on October 24, 2002. This
time it is not for an immigration violation, but as an accomplice in the “Beltway Sniper” murders
of at least eleven people, and the attempted murder of four others.
After three high-profile messes in three years, fingers are pointing directly at the INS. It is one
thing to admit that everyone makes mistakes and another to ignore a continuous problem. Each
year, around 450,000 illegal immigrants settle in the U.S. and many legal immigrants overstay
their visas. Some estimates put the number of illegal immigrants within the country at five
million.
How can this pattern of incompetence be explained? Part of it is budgetary and staffing
limitations. While the US National Defense Budget for 2003 is approximately $396.8 billion,
the INS receives approximately $6.3 billion. Granted, the scope of INS responsibilities does not
range as far as the US military’s, but it often serves as the first and only line of defense that the
US has against those with good or bad intentions who wish to enter the country. Even after an
increase in border patrol agents for 2003, there are still less than twenty thousand officers to
cover eight thousand miles of border. That averages out to about two people per mile, assuming
that every single officer is on patrol every hour of every day. Since this is not feasible, there is at
best one patrol officer per mile of the border. If there is more, it is because the dedicated INS
officers work double, triple and swing shifts to provide for our safety. These shifts leave officers
tired and dim their alertness. Now consider that each year, the INS processes approximately
900,000 legal immigrants and 30 million visitors. No wonder illegal immigrants can sneak
across the border.
Is it fair to condemn the INS for the examples listed above? Their budgets are dictated, their
priorities are defined, and their responsibility is to carry out the laws that others enact. Maybe
our attention should be turned to Attorney General John Ashcroft, the chief law enforcement
officer of the Federal government. The INS ultimately falls under his jurisdiction, and yet he
does not appear willing to take the responsibility for its failings. What’s more, he was in Niagara
Falls earlier this week to promote a new screening system that provides for faster border
crossings with fewer restrictions.
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