Purge the bail jumpers

1/15/2002

Some members of Muslim and Arab-American groups are upset that a few thousand men from Middle-Eastern countries with an al-Quaida presence will be scrutinized by immigration agents charged with flushing out more than 314,000 immigration bail jumpers. They should chill.

This is not a matter of racial profiling but common sense. We are not talking here of upstanding citizens but law breakers, people knowingly in the country illegally who have jumped bail to stay.

The common sense of the matter is that many of these individuals in this country illegally pose potential risks to the United States.

In the case of the Arab and/or Muslim illegals, we are dealing with a known population of people who are breaking the laws of the nation. They have not only violated our immigration laws, they have also fled to avoid capture and punishment. It is fair to suspect that at least some of them do not think fondly of this country.

To be sure the bulk of illegals in the U.S. are Hispanic, people who have gone to great lengths to get into this country and make a go of life. Population studies indicate many of them are a financial drain on the economy for two or three generations. While there have been calls for a mass declaration making them citizens, the nation must carefuly consider the wisdom of such a move.

In contrast to the Arab/Muslim illegals, however, the Hispanics, as far as we know, aren't from a population looking to destroy this country. They just want in.

The same may be true of some or all of the illegals who come from nations with al-Qaida cells. They may be no greater clear and present danger, but they are potentially a far higher risk when a state of war exists, and that warrants expelling them first.

If they suffer a little because being in the wrong place at the wrong time has moved them to the head of the deportation line, too bad.