The following material was included in my closing remarks that I provided to the Senate Judiciary Committee when I testified before that legislative body on March 20, 2013:

The 9/11 Commission Staff Report on Terrorist Travel detailed numerous examples of instances where terrorists not only made use of visa and immigration benefit fraud to enter the United States but to also embed themselves in the United States.

To cite an example, page 47 of the above-noted report contained the following paragraph:

“Once terrorists had entered the United States, their next challenge was to find a way to remain here. Their primary method was immigration fraud. For example, Yousef and Ajaj concocted bogus political asylum stories when they arrived in the United States. Mahmoud Abouhalima, involved in both the World Trade Center and landmarks plots, received temporary residence under the Seasonal Agricultural Workers (SAW) program, after falsely claiming that he picked beans in Florida.

“Mohammed Salameh, who rented the truck used in the bombing, overstayed his tourist visa. He then applied for permanent residency under the agricultural workers program, but was rejected.

“Eyad Mahmoud Ismail, who drove the van containing the bomb, took English-language classes at Wichita State University in Kansas on a student visa; after he dropped out, he remained in the United States out of status.”

Although I made note of this in my prepared testimony, for purposes of placing emphasis on this highly significant vulnerability, especially as political pressure appears to be building for the enactment of “Comprehensive Immigration Reform,” a massive amnesty program for unknown millions of illegal aliens present in the United States where there are no resources to routinely conduct face-to-face, in person interviews with these aliens. These aliens seek various immigration benefits that would include providing “undocumented” aliens with official identity documents even though there is no realistic way of determining their true identities or backgrounds or true intentions for entering the United States in violation of law.

Here is a paragraph under the title “Immigration Benefits” found on page 98:

“Terrorists in the 1990s, as well as the September 11 hijackers, needed to find a way to stay in or embed themselves in the United States if their operational plans were to come to fruition. As already discussed, this could be accomplished legally by marrying an American citizen, achieving temporary worker status, or applying for asylum after entering. In many cases, the act of filing for an immigration benefit sufficed to permit the alien to remain in the country until the petition was adjudicated. Terrorists were free to conduct surveillance, coordinate operations, obtain and receive funding, go to school and learn English, make contacts in the United States, acquire necessary materials, and execute an attack.”