Houston arrest shows need for different culture on immigration

Robert Pratt

According to the Houston Chronicle: “Items seized last week from the Houston apartment of accused ISIS sympathizer Omar Al Hardan – who allegedly wanted to blow up the Galleria – include a dozen cell phones, three laptops and two tablets, according to a search warrant receipt provided by his family.”

“Al Hardan, 24, is charged with providing material support to a foreign terrorist organization, providing fraudulent information to obtain citizenship and making false statements to U.S. officials. He was arrested Jan. 7 and pleaded not guilty to the charges on Wednesday. A federal judge decided he would remain in custody without bail.

“An agent with Houston’s FBI joint terrorism task force testified at the detention hearing on Wednesday that Al Hardan was learning to assemble remote detonators in a plot to set off bombs at the Galleria and PlazAmericas, formerly known as Sharpstown Mall.”

The raid on the alleged terrorist’s dwelling was on the same day that he and his parents had citizenship naturalization interviews. Is there a lesson here? Yes but it is not a new lesson, it’s a lesson that goes back to the first world war: We must well control immigration including entry and exit; we must demand evidence of assimilation for citizenship; we must watch those in this country on visas carefully especially when they fit a known profile which tends dangerous, and; we must as a society get over being embarrassed of doing these things.

Our first responsibility as a society is to protect our society.