In testimony before the Subcommittee on Immigration Border Security and Claims, Homeland Security and Justice Director Richard Stana discussed the INS's Immigration Interior Enforcement Strategy, which was designed to deter illegal entry. The strategy is now the responsibility of the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (BICE). Stana said the INS faced several challenges in implementing its interior enforcement strategy, which he said was historically funded at only one fifth the level which was devoted to border enforcement. Among the INS' shortcomings were a lack of reliable data, reliable information technology, clear guidelines, coordination within the INS and other agencies, and performance standards. Stana said the Department of Homeland Security has brought a new focus to the strategy, but it also came with additional challenges, including the need to coordinate between the new agencies involved with adjudication and enforcement, and the need for sufficient training. The interior enforcement strategy was designed to address the removal and detention of criminal aliens, dismantle and diminish smuggling operations, handle community complaints about illegal immigration, and to document fraud.

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An article published in the Washington Times this week reported that a group of Al Qaeda terrorists is attempting to infiltrate the United States from Mexico, according to officials who wished to remain anonymous. The sources said at least 14 Al Qaeda members were in Mexico working with Mexican organized crime groups, such as drug-trafficking organizations. No specific details about the terrorist plan was disclosed, but other intelligence sources told the Times that the recently-captured Al Qaeda operations chief, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, mentioned as a possible target the stretch of Washington's Metrorail between Capitol Hill and the White House.

The Mexican government denied the Washington Times report and said security is tight at the country's borders, airports and ports of entry.

"We have no knowledge whatsoever at this time that people with any tie to terrorist groups or attacks want to enter (the United States) through our territory," Interior Secretary Santiago Creel said.

Last week in Border News we wrote about terrorist plot, reported in the New York Daily News, dealing with Al Queda members attempting to get smuggled into the U.S. through Mexico, with the Bush ranch in Crawford, Texas, as a potential target. Link to last week's article: http://www.visalaw.com/03apr1/4apr103.html

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Seventeen passengers aboard the hijacked commercial flight from Cuba that landed in Key West we reported on last week have returned home, and 10 others opted to stay in the United States. Two others remain in custody of federal officials as part of the hijacking investigation.

The five women, two men and three children who decided to stay in the U.S. were released Wednesday from a federal detention center in Southwest Miami-Dade. Link to last week's article: http://www.visalaw.com/03apr1/13apr103.html