The Subcommittee on Immigration, Border Security and Claims, House Committee on the Judiciary recently heard testimony from the General Accounting Office on the success of undercover agents attempting to enter the United States with counterfeit documents. A statement by Robert Cramer, the Managing Director of the Office of Special Investigations, reported that OSI agents working undercover were able to enter the United States from various countries in the Western Hemisphere using counterfeit documentation and fictitious identities. Cramer said current law provides an opportunity for individuals to enter the United States illegally.

"Although BCBP inspects millions of people who enter the United States and detects thousands of individuals who attempt to enter illegally each year, the results of our work indicate that BCBP inspectors are not readily capable of detecting counterfeit identification documents. Further, people who enter the United States are not always asked to present identification," Cramer's report said.

The OSI operation was executed at the request of the Senate Finance Committee and was continued at the committee's request.

***

A Mexico native who was a key figure in the government's case against Tyson Foods has been arrested and is in custody at a Louisiana detention center, awaiting a deportation hearing. Amador Anchondo-Rascon, 43, spent almost two years in jail negotiating a plea bargain in return for cooperation with prosecutors, who were ultimately unsuccessful in the case. Rascon was never called as a witness, and is now subject to a federal law that non-citizens with multiple felony convictions be arrested.

***

U.S. authorities deported a Saudi consular official living in Southern California on suspicions that he was linked to terrorism. Fahad al Thumairy, 32, was detained at Los Angeles International Airport upon arriving from Frankfort. Thumairy's diplomatic A-2 visa was revoked on March 21, apparently without his knowledge, and his name was placed on a list of travelers who are not allowed to enter the United States because of suspected links to terrorism. He was deported Thursday, to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Riyadh is the location of a recent terrorist attack that killed 8 American citizens. Department of Homeland Security officials said Thumairy may not return to the United States for a period of five years.

Al Thumairy, who had worked at the Saudi consulate in Los Angeles since 1996, was also a Muslim leader and was the imam at the King Fahd Mosque in Culver City, one of the largest Muslim congregations in the region.