Ordinarily, when a man affirms that American culture and Islam are mutually exclusive, that Muslims cannot assimilate because their allegiance to Sharia law trumps everything else, and that their religion will “make people feel uncomfortable,” you can assume he’s making a case for immigration restrictions.
Then along comes Shadi Hamid, a Muslim Washington Post columnist who happily asserts all these things in an ostensible effort to make the opposite case: reassure Americans that these are qualities they should embrace.
In reality, of course, Hamid’s arguments are likely to have the opposite effect, repel even those who harbored hopes that Muslim immigrants and their descendants would be assimilable. Indeed, he spent a great part of Wednesday dealing with the hornet’s nest that his op-ed kicked off online.
But there is a clue that Hamid must have known he was being disingenuous. He made sure to throw in a caveat: his co-religionists are American now, at least in what he claims is a vague “constitutional” sense, and aren’t going anywhere anyway.
Hamid, it is important to add, is not just anyone. He is a bona fide member of the establishment.
He is not just a columnist at the Post, where he published <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2026/04/08/muslims-religion-republicans-assimilation/?pwapi_token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJyZWFzb24iOiJnaWZ0IiwibmJmIjoxNzc1NjIwODAwLCJpc3MiOiJzdWJzY3JpcHRpb25zIiwiZXhwIjoxNzc3MDAzMTk5LCJpYXQiOjE3NzU2MjA4MDAsImp0aSI6IjI3MTYxYzU5LWJkMWMtNDdhNC05N2UxLTI3NzNiYTVmZDQ5OSIsInVybCI6Imh0dHBzOi8vd3d3Lndhc2hpbmd0b25wb3N0LmNvbS9vcGluaW9ucy8yMDI2LzA0LzA4L211c2xpbXMtcmVsaWdpb24tcmVwdWJsaWNhbnMtYXNzaW1pbGF0aW9uLyJ9.DcfeobpFw6plIp9OnTE01ldX4KJZ2hhwn0CNLh-lnxs">the piece</a>; he is also a senior fellow at Georgetown University’s Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding, a former fellow at Stanford University, a former senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, and the director of research at its Doha Center.
In other words, Hamid has shaped the thinking on Islam’s place in America from the highest of ivory towers and now popularizes it through a regular gig at one of the country’s most prominent newspapers.
And yet, rebutting his claims is not hard. Some are untrue (he wrote that most American Muslims were “born and raised here,” earning an <a href="https://x.com/shadihamid/status/2041920238510317941">X community note</a> showing that 58% are actually immigrants), other claims are only partly so, and still others are just downright specious.
Among the main arguments were the following: America no longer has a unifying culture to conserve; assimilation means secularization, and thus degradation; and Republicans should ally themselves with unassimilated Muslims because they have anti-gay views (yes, he really makes this argument).
In his piece, Hamid writes that “America was not founded on the assumption that its citizens would eventually come to agree on foundational questions.”
The Founders would like to have a word. They created the new country precisely on the premise that, if it took in immigrants, they would have to, as Alexander Hamilton put it, “get rid of foreign and acquire American attachments.”
Not for nothing did they make E Pluribus Unum — out of many, one — the country’s motto. The evidence is far too large to go through in a piece of this size, but numerous quotes from many of the Founders to this effect can be found in <a href="https://www.heritage.org/immigration/report/patriotic-assimilation-indispensable-condition-land-immigrants#_ftn27">this comprehensive study</a> I authored more than a decade ago.
But let’s quote at least George Washington, who wrote to John Adams that his hope with immigrants was that “by an intermixture with our people, they, or their descendants, get assimilated to our customs, measures, and laws: in a word, soon become one people.”
On the question of Sharia, Hamid avers that “practicing Muslims — despite being repeatedly asked to — can’t disavow ‘sharia’ even if they wanted to,” because it “includes guidelines on how to pray, fast and otherwise observe what it means to submit to God.”
But Sharia is a large system derived from Muslim sacred texts and their interpretation.
Many Muslim countries and clerics have interpreted things in ways that severely disadvantage more than 50% of society, women. Sharia is invoked to impose oppressive rules from dress codes to rules on inheritance, testimony, mobility, etc. I dare Hamid to show any evidence of conservative support for any of this.
Sharia is even invoked by some Muslim states in the punishment of homosexuality. Some American conservatives will rail against LGBTQ ideology when pushed on minors. But all conservatives would find the notion of throwing gays off buildings stomach-churning.
Thus, though Hamid is disingenuous throughout his arguments, he is particularly so when he says that “You’d think Republicans would sense an electoral opportunity.”
I don’t know about Republicans, but the conservative “crusade” as I understand it — and as President Donald Trump has pursued it, with universities, museums, etc. — is to conserve the unified American culture that Hamid not only repudiates but claims no longer exists (he writes in <a href="https://x.com/shadihamid/status/2042013918927667651">a tweet</a> “There is no longer any unified culture or set of supreme values that enjoy a consensus. We can lament this, but it&#8217;s a fact”).
First, as the X poster Noah Smith <a href="https://x.com/Noahpinion/status/2042017057366241560">pointed out</a>, there is plenty of evidence that “we actually agree on a lot more than politics suggests.”
But it is the Left — which denigrates this culture as much as Hamid — that has made a wartime alliance with political Islam. They sense that they both seek to deconstruct Western culture. In Europe, this is called “the Red-Green Alliance.”
To be sure, each side senses they will fall out with each other as soon as they destroy the unified culture. But medium-term alliances win wars, as World War II attests. (My money is on the Islamists crushing the silly Leftists if this dystopia ever came to pass).
The fight to save the West — against secularism, family breakdown, and the atomized individual — is real. But it presupposes that we save the unifying culture, which may be on life support yet still redeemable.
And for that I can quote evidence from one Shadi Hamid, who left no doubt in a 2016 Atlantic <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2016/06/islam-politics-exceptional/485801/">piece</a> on the Ottoman Empire that he understands that “spiritual unity” was foundational if there is a hope of establishing a legitimate political order.
That is why assimilation remains an indispensable condition in any land that takes in immigrants. Islam is one of the world’s great religions, but its practitioners don’t get a pass.
***
Mike Gonzalez is the Angeles T. Arredondo Senior Fellow at The Heritage Foundation. His book “BLM: The Making of a New Marxist Revolution” is <a href="https://www.amazon.com/BLM-Making-New-Marxist-Revolution/dp/1641772239">now available</a>.

TRT World Forum 2019

Shadi Hamid Makes Outlandish Claims About Islam, Assimilation, And America

Assimilation

Founding Fathers

Muslim Immigration

Sharia Law

View of the US Capitol building at dusk with blurred traffic lights in the foreground. Washington DC, WA, USA

The Biggest Threat To Our Country Is Inside Our Borders

Donald Trump

Iran

Matt Walsh

Middle East

Opinion

Trump Administration

Shooting At Brown University In Providence Leaves Multiple People Dead And Injured

Violent Migrants Are Invading And Western Leaders Are Surrendering Without A Fight

Brown University

Europe

France

Radical Islamic Terror

Rhode Island

Riots

Shooting

Violent Crime

AUSTRALIA-ATTACK-BONDI

The Massacre In Australia Is Proof That Diversity Is Not Our Strength

Anti-Semitism

Australia

Immigration

Islamic Jihad

Leftists

mass migration

Police

French authorities have canceled the traditional New Year’s Eve concert on the Champs-Élysées, one of Paris&#8217;s most famous avenues, citing security and crowd-management concerns, while saying the city will proceed with a fireworks display and a televised countdown.
The decision was made at the request of the Paris police prefecture, which warned that hosting a large open-air concert on the capital’s world-renowned street known for luxury shopping and restaurants posed unacceptable safety risks. In recent years, the celebration has drawn hundreds of thousands of people, at times approaching one million, requiring the deployment of thousands of police officers.
The Champs-Élysées has <a href="https://nypost.com/2025/12/13/world-news/partys-over-in-paris-city-cancel-open-air-concert-at-the-champs-elysees-due-to-security-threats/">reportedly</a> become associated with violence from groups of Muslim migrants who have been looting stores and fighting with locals and law enforcement.
City officials said the cancellation applies only to the live concert. Fireworks at the Arc de Triomphe are still expected to take place at midnight, and a prerecorded concert will be broadcast on national television instead.
In a statement, police officials pointed to the difficulty of controlling dense, fluid crowds on the Champs-Élysées, particularly during a night associated with heavy alcohol consumption and spontaneous gatherings. Law enforcement also cited broader pressures on security forces during the holiday period.
<a class="c-link c-link--focus-visible" href="https://get.dailywire.com/subscribe/plus/?utm_medium=website&amp;utm_source=editorial&amp;utm_campaign=christmas&amp;utm_content=christmassale25" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-stringify-link="https://get.dailywire.com/subscribe/plus/?utm_medium=website&amp;utm_source=editorial&amp;utm_campaign=christmas&amp;utm_content=christmassale25" data-sk="tooltip_parent">Christmas Sale – Get 40% off New DailyWire+ Annual Memberships</a>
Mayor Anne Hidalgo accepted the police recommendation, emphasizing that public safety must take precedence. Local officials from the 8th arrondissement, which includes the Champs-Élysées, supported the move, saying the avenue was not designed to safely host a large concert crowd.
The decision has prompted political debate. “Les Republicains leader and former interior minister Bruno Retailleau condemned the move as a capitulation to rising ‘savagery,’ while left-wing mayoral hopeful Emmanuel Grégoire called it a ‘failure of responsibility’ that undermines Paris’s civic spirit,” European Conservative <a href="https://europeanconservative.com/articles/news-corner/security-fears-europe-christmas-markets-paris-new-years-eve-celebration/">reported</a>.
“It’s obvious that this is the result of massive unvetted Muslim immigration into Europe,” Daniel Di Martino of the Manhattan Institute <a href="https://nypost.com/2025/12/13/world-news/partys-over-in-paris-city-cancel-open-air-concert-at-the-champs-elysees-due-to-security-threats">stated</a>. “Western Europe has had a terrorism problem for many years now, and that has been exacerbated because of unvetted Islamic immigration as a result of the refugee crisis of over a decade ago.”
The New Year’s Eve concert on the Champs-Élysées has been a fixture of Paris’s holiday celebrations in recent years, combining live music with the midnight fireworks. Officials said details of security arrangements for the fireworks and crowd access would be released closer to December 31.
Police said the investigation and planning for the evening were ongoing and declined to provide further details.

New Year celebrations in Paris

Paris Scraps Legendary New Year’s Eve Concert Amid Heightened Security Fears

New Year's

Paris

Terrorism

World

Homeland Security <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/morning-brief-trumps-liberation-day-doge-pr-battle-self-deportation-push" target="_blank" rel="noopener">recently arrested</a> a Tufts University student, Rumeysa Ozturk, for engaging in “activities in support of Hamas, a foreign terrorist organization that relishes the killing of Americans.”
While the Trump administration&#8217;s arrest of Ozturk is a move in the right direction, she is just one of countless students across the country who share a radical ideology.
Days after the first anniversary of the October 7 massacre which left 1,200 civilians dead, including 40 Americans, the New York Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/09/nyregion/columbia-pro-palestinian-group-hamas.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">released</a> a chilling headline: &#8220;Pro-Palestinian Group at Columbia Now Backs ‘Armed Resistance’ by Hamas.&#8221;
The article claims a pro-Hamas student group at Columbia University marked the anniversary by distributing a <a href="https://newyorkwarcrimes.com/print-issue-vol-iii-no-13" target="_blank" rel="noopener">newspaper</a> titled “One Year Since Al-Aqsa Flood, Revolution Until Victory.” The headline was placed over an image of Hamas fighters breaching Israel&#8217;s security fence. Additionally, the student group published an essay describing the attack as a “moral, military, and political victory” and citing Ismail Haniyeh, the former political leader of Hamas hiding in Qatar who would later be assassinated. 
In 2024, encampments held by these same student groups multiplied on campuses across the country, from New York University to Harvard, Yale, UCLA, and many others.
How have American institutions come to the place where the mass slaughter of Westerners is celebrated on campus? 
A cursory glance at recent history reveals two driving factors: Mass Islamic migration to the West and mass funding from Islamic countries.
First, some clarification and some definitions. Radical Islam, or Islamism, is not the same as Islam. Rather, it is a radical offshoot that seeks, through political and often violent means, to establish a global caliphate where all citizens, Muslim or not, would be governed by a radical interpretation of Sharia law. While not all Muslims are Islamists, many who migrate are.
<h3>The Crusades</h3>
To truly understand the mindset of Islamists today, it is important to look back at the history of the Islamic empire. Since its rapid and bloody expansion in the 7th Century, the empire has clashed with the Western world a great many times in its pursuit for global dominance. The most famous example being the Crusades (1095-1300AD).
As Daily Wire commentator Michael Knowles <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SAPeToyagqA">described</a> on a recent Piers Morgan panel, “The Crusades started because the Eastern Emperor requested help from the Western Pope. The Seljuk Turks were slaughtering Christians in the Holy Land, which had been Christian territory before the Muslim invasion in the 7th century.”
While the Holy Land may have remained in Muslim control at the conclusion of the Crusades, a greater victory was secured by the West that continues to define our world to this day: Islamic expansion was stopped from conquering all of Europe.
Fast forward nearly 1,300 years, and Islamists have yet to give up on the ambitions of their ancestors. Take Lebanon, for example. Once dominated by Maronite Christians, the mass migration and high birthrates of Muslim Arabs in Lebanese society over the 20th century eventually changed that. Today, Maronite Christians are a minority, and the nation is predominantly controlled by Hezbollah, a Shia Muslim terrorist organization.
They have now taken a new, alternative strategy when it comes to Europe and the West: mass migration.
<h3>Mass Migration</h3>
Over the past few decades, mass migration has overwhelmed many European countries.
In 2014, England’s Daily Mail <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2755654/The-changing-face-Britain-A-child-Birmingham-likely-Muslim-Christian.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">published</a> a chilling headline; “The changing face of Britain: A child in Birmingham is now more likely to be a Muslim than Christian”. According to the 2011 census, the second largest city in England with a rich Christian history, had 97,099 Muslim Children growing up there, compared to 93,828 Christian children. 
Radical progressive and generous immigration policies, including England&#8217;s, are to blame for this trend. During a recent Q&amp;A session, Parliament Member and leader of Reform UK Nigel Farage did not <a href="https://youtube.com/shorts/HidQi4mq71U?si=jVaqhsDBuZqMvqgY" target="_blank" rel="noopener">hold back</a> when addressing the state of immigration in the UK:
<blockquote>From after the war up until the millennium, net immigration ran at 30,000 to 40,000 a year. And yes, it worked. In fact, we had the most successful immigration policies of any country in the whole of Europe—no question. Now, it is totally out of control. Just think about this: two and a half million people have come in the last two years … The numbers are now literally unimaginable and are diminishing the quality of life for everyone in this country.</blockquote>
Farage is correct. These policies have significantly worsened life for everyone living in England. A 2018 YouGov poll <a href="https://www.the-independent.com/news/uk/home-news/uk-no-go-zones-muslim-sharia-law-third-poll-hope-not-hate-far-right-economic-inequality-a8588226.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">found</a> that a third of England’s population believed there were areas in the UK they could not enter if they were not Muslim. Now, reports of predominantly Muslim grooming gangs allegedly <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/uk-new-inquiries-child-sexual-grooming-pressure-elon-musk-tweet/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">terrorizing</a> young girls across the country for over a decade have made headlines, while the government turned a blind eye. Meanwhile, Islamic terror attacks remain a grim reality, with the <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4ngx3341ldo" target="_blank" rel="noopener">last</a> major incident occurring as recently as 2023.
England is not the only European country dealing with an immigration influx. A recent <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2024/08/19/muslim-migrants-around-the-world/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Pew Research study</a> shows the top two European destinations for migrating Muslims are Germany and France. In both <a href="https://miwi-institut.de/archives/2461?_sm_nck=1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Germany</a> and <a href="https://www.thelocal.fr/20171201/how-frances-muslim-population-will-grow-in-the-future" target="_blank" rel="noopener">France</a>, some estimates hold that by 2050 nearly one fifth of their respective populations will be Muslim if record high immigration patterns persist. 
North America is also grappling with mass Muslim migration. According to a <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2011/01/27/the-future-of-the-global-muslim-population/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">2011 study</a> by Pew Research:
<blockquote>The number of Muslims in Canada is expected to nearly triple in the next 20 years, from about 940,000 in 2010 to nearly 2.7 million in 2030. Muslims are expected to make up 6.6% of Canada’s total population in 2030, up from 2.8%.</blockquote>
When an Islamist migrant was <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YuL5pgW9f7g" target="_blank" rel="noopener">asked</a> by a Rebel Media reporter if he would like to see Sharia law implemented in Canada, he replied:
<blockquote>At some point it will! You know because we are having families, we are making babies. You’re not. Your population is going down the slum, right? And by 2060 according to Pew Research institute, your research, by 2060, Muslims will be the biggest religious group.</blockquote>
<h3>Mass Funding</h3>
A key player in subverting their minds is funding. While some universities receive funding from the U.S. government, large dollar amounts are funneled in from foreign governments like Qatar, a major <a href="https://www.fdd.org/analysis/2023/12/19/10-things-to-know-about-hamas-and-qatar/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">funder</a> of Hamas.
According to a 2022 study <a href="https://www.nas.org/reports/outsourced-to-qatar/full-report#_ftn1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">noted</a> by the National Association of Scholars, from 2001-2022 Qatar donated $4.7 billion into universities across the United States. As a direct result of Qatar’s funding, according to <a href="https://www.thelawfareproject.org/campus-discrimination/2020/5/15/qatari-influencing-american-education-system" target="_blank" rel="noopener">research</a> from the Lawfare Project, students across America are “learning about the Middle East in a biased way that emphasizes only the positive aspects of Islam while omitting a balanced discussion of other religions or belief systems, most notably Judaism.”
Imam Hasan al-Banna, the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Hassan-al-Banna" target="_blank" rel="noopener">founder</a> of the Muslim brotherhood, an influential Islamist organization from Egypt, once shared his commitment to the next generation, “The youth are our hope and the backbone of our movement; train them in the principles of Islam, and they will carry the banner of reform into the future.”
If universities remain under the influence of foreign entities like Qatar, the next generation of college educated Westerners will not only fail to stop the spread of radical Islamists, they will inadvertently support their efforts.
Whether it be through mass migration, funding, or ideological subversion, Islamism is a force the West cannot afford to ignore. World leaders would do well to follow the actions of the Trump administration who have been cracking down on the threat since day one. The West deserves to stay Western, and only through political action can current pushes for a global caliphate be subdued.
* * *
Jacob Falach is an associate producer at The Daily Wire. You can find him on Instagram at: @jacobfalach.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

TOPSHOT-US-ISRAEL-PALESTINIAN-CONFLICT-EDUCATION-PROTEST

Money And Migration: How Radical Islam Gained A Foothold On Western Campuses

Columbia University

Harvard

migration

Qatar

Radical Islam

Students

UCLA

Yale

President-elect Donald Trump bloodied Mexico and Canada with diplomatic buckshot <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/113546215051155542" target="_blank" rel="noopener">earlier this week</a> by writing that, on his first day in office, he’ll levy devastating <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-unveils-tariff-ultimatums-against-canada-mexico-and-china" target="_blank" rel="noopener">25% trade tariffs</a> on those two U.S. neighbors if they fail to crack down on illegal immigration and drug trafficking.
Much public puzzlement has filled international media coverage over why Trump would single out Canada for punishment equal to that of the far guiltier Mexico. 
“To compare us to Mexico is the most insulting thing I’ve ever heard from our friends and closest allies, the United States of America,” <a href="https://apnews.com/article/canada-trump-tariffs-mexico-12e925cfc44432140d0a776503e095ae" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ontario Premier Doug Ford said.</a> “I found his comments unfair. I found them insulting. It’s like a family member stabbing you right in the heart.” 
“We shouldn’t confuse the Mexican border with the Canadian border,” Canadian Industry Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne said.
But this narrative seems intended to deflect public acknowledgement of what the liberal progressive government of Justin Trudeau did in fact do to draw Trump’s tariff ire. In terms of immigration policy, the Canadian offenses are indeed much different from Mexico’s open super-highway mass migration wave-throughs during the Biden-Harris years. But Canada’s policies have, arguably, damaged U.S. national security and public safety interests in harmful ways that media outlets on both sides rarely report.
<h3>Canada’s Massive Legal Immigration Program As A U.S. National Security Threat </h3>
Much of the damage arises from an historic <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-63643912" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Canadian legal immigrant importation program</a> of unprecedented scope. Since the program’s 2021 implementation, the Great White North has imported some 1.5 million foreign national workers (400,000+ per year for a country of 38 million) from dozens of developing nations and hundreds of thousands of <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-67964674">foreign students in 2023 alone</a> – making it another record-breaking year.
Why are those programs a U.S. problem? Because a spiking number of foreign nationals are apparently abusing the Canadian programs as a lily pad from which to illegally enter the United States between northern border land ports of entry, among them <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/us/suspected-terrorist-from-jordan-arrested-us-northern-border-ice">proven threats</a> to U.S. national security and public safety.
Why this traffic leaking into the United States is a problem – even though the total numbers illegally entering from Canada are small relative to those crossing from Mexico – arises from the fact that many hail from Muslim-majority nations and have, Canadian media reports, fueled a <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/canadas-jihadi-crisis-should-worry-america-opinion-1961520" target="_blank" rel="noopener">spate of terrorism</a> and <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trudeau-blasted-for-dancing-while-montreal-burned-during-anti-semitic-riot" target="_blank" rel="noopener">anti-Semitic attacks</a> throughout Canada. In addition, far too many of the Mexicans Canada has allowed in turned out to be cartel drug traffickers and killers.
These are the kinds of criminals crossing the U.S. northern border in increasing numbers due to Canadian policies — policies Canada could address if it wanted to.
Consider that U.S. Border Patrol apprehensions in the brush between U.S.-Canada land ports of entry jumped from 2,238 in 2022 to 23,721 in 2024, neatly coinciding with Trudeau’s mass legal immigration programs.
Among those crossing illegally from Canada, for instance, were 15,827 Indian nationals in 2023 and 2024, 8,367 Mexicans, and 3,833 from unspecified countries listed only as “Other” on the U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s public statistics website.
<h3><a href="https://get.dailywire.com/gift-guide/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">CHECK OUT THE DAILY WIRE HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE</a></h3>
<h3>A Border-Crossing Terror Plot Foiled</h3>
Concerns on both sides of the northern border have been simmering for some years as Canadians witness newcomers carrying out <a href="https://www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/en/news/2024/father-and-son-arrested-terrorism-offences">terror plots</a>, actual attacks, and perhaps some of the record-breaking nearly <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/bnai-brith-antisemitic-report-record-high-1.7195197" target="_blank" rel="noopener">6,000 antisemitic incidents</a> Canada has logged since the Israel-Hamas war broke out.
What’s been happening in Canada was obvious to many.
“Canada has become a hotbed of radicalization, fanaticism, and jihadism,” wrote Casey Babb, Senior Fellow with the Macdonald-Laurier Institute in <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/canadas-jihadi-crisis-should-worry-america-opinion-1961520" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Newsweek shortly after the arrest</a>. “As un-Canadian as it sounds, Canada has a terrorism crisis on its hands and that should worry the United States for a whole host of reasons.”
<a href="https://macdonaldlaurier.ca/isis-and-its-violent-central-asian-chapter-are-threatening-canada-and-the-west-with-jihad-are-we-ready-to-fight-back-hussain-ehsani-for-inside-policy/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Concern</a> would reach an apogee in October 2024, when a joint U.S.-Canadian counterterrorism operation thwarted a plot by a Pakistani student <a href="https://cis.org/Bensman/Meanwhile-Northern-Border-Jihadist-Attack-New-York-Thwarted" target="_blank" rel="noopener">on a Canadian visa</a> to illegally cross the northern border to conduct an October 2024 massacre of Jews in New York.
Muhammad Shahzeb Khan, a 20-year-old Pakistani citizen legally issued a Canadian student visa in June 2023, <a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/pakistani-national-charged-plotting-terrorist-attack-new-york-city-support-isis-0" target="_blank" rel="noopener">now stands accused</a> in U.S. federal court of plotting an illegal-smuggler-assisted northern border crossing to carry out a mass shooting of Jews in New York City to celebrate with blood the October 7 anniversary of the Hamas massacre in Israel. Khan hoped it would go down in history as “the largest U.S. attack since 9/11.”
“We are going to nyc (sic) to slaughter them” with AR-style rifles and hunting knives “so we can slit their throats,” Khan told an undercover FBI agent he believed to be a co-conspirator, according to <a href="https://www.justice.gov/d9/2024-09/u.s._v._khan_complaint_0.pdf?utm_medium=email&amp;utm_source=govdelivery" target="_blank" rel="noopener">an agent complaint</a>. “Even if we don’t attack an event we could rack up easily a lot of Jews.”
His was among the record-breaking <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-67964674" target="_blank" rel="noopener">400,000 foreign student visas</a> Canada issued in 2023.
That alarming new terrorism prosecution in New York State should have been enough to renew Trump’s interest in turning diplomatic pressure onto Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau’s mass legal immigration policies and border security on its side.
But terrorists cannot be the only concern.
<h3>Mexican Cartel Killers And Traffickers In Canada Crossing Too</h3>
The incoming Trump administration will need to force resolution of another issue regarding U.S. public safety concerns dating back to an especially damaging 2016 Trudeau move that did great harm until it was addressed just recently. Trudeau <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/news/2016/12/canada-lifts-visa-requirement-mexico-1.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">rescinded 2009 visa requirements</a> on Mexican citizens and against the <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/mexico-visa-restrictions-lifting-three-amigos-1.3648757" target="_blank" rel="noopener">advice of his own government</a>. Mexican criminals would abuse the policy to fly in at will and bedevil both Canadian and northern American cities.
That all began in early 2017. A sustained surge was underway of Mexican nationals who, unable to easily cross the southern border under Trump 1.0, were flying over the United States into Canada. They would claim Canadian asylum and cross southward over the less tended northern U.S. border.
Among them were the predicted Mexican cartel operatives.
Leaked Canada Border Services Agency <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/3578905/justin-trudeau-mexican-visa-more-criminals/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">intelligence reports</a> said Mexican &#8220;drug smugglers, human smugglers, recruiters, money launders and foot soldiers&#8221; were turning up in greater numbers than ever before. The cartels went to work building human smuggling networks to move other Mexicans south over the American border, just as they did all along the southern border.
In July 2017, Global News quoted <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/3578905/justin-trudeau-mexican-visa-more-criminals/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the intelligence reports</a> saying the ultra-violent Sinaloa cartel had turned up in Canada to &#8220;facilitate travel to Canada by Mexicans with criminal records.&#8221; Others identified included La Familia Michoacana, Jalisco New Generation, and Los Zetas.
For instance, whereas the reports said 37 Mexicans linked to organized criminal groups had entered between 2012 and 2015, 65 involved in &#8220;serious crimes&#8221; were identified midway through just 2017, compared to 28 in 2015. By May 2019, at least <a href="https://www.publicsafety.gc.ca/cnt/trnsprnc/brfng-mtrls/prlmntry-bndrs/20200621/fp001/index-en.aspx" target="_blank" rel="noopener">400 Mexican criminals</a> connected to drug trafficking, including sicario hitmen, were plying their trades in Canada, at least half of them in Quebec, according to a May 24, 2019, report in the <a href="https://torontosun.com/news/crime/100s-of-drug-cartel-members-have-entered-canada-since-liberals-waived-mexican-visa-report" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Toronto Sun</a> and other Canadian <a href="https://tnc.news/2019/05/25/canadian-authorities-have-lost-track-of-400-mexican-hit-men-and-drug-traffickers/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">media outlets</a>.
All had entered through the Trudeau visa loophole for Mexicans.
By the end of 2019, Canada saw a <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/article-mexican-ambassador-cautions-against-re-imposing-visas-to-address/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">1,400% spike</a> in the number of bogus Mexican <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/4042075/mexico-refugee-claims-spike-visa-lift/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">refugee claims</a>, the vast majority naturally rejected, and of associated <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-canada-immigration-mexico-detention/canadas-detention-of-mexicans-surges-after-visa-lift-idUSKBN1942IW" target="_blank" rel="noopener">detentions</a>.
<h3>Canada Finally About To Face The Music</h3>
Only in February 2024 did the Americans pressure the Canadians to finally <a href="https://apnews.com/article/canada-mexico-visa-requirement-59cf64c5d74271cb2e3f40970ffb4786" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reimpose some visa restrictions</a> on Mexicans — though not all. Now, only Mexicans who already <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/canada-will-reinstate-some-visa-requirements-mexicans-says-cbc-2024-02-28/">hold a U.S. visa</a> or old Canadian one can travel visa-free, while most other Mexicans with neither will have to apply for a Canadian one.
The damage is already done, but there&#8217;s always a chance Trudeau could revert to visa-free once again.
From January to mid-October 2022, for instance, 7,698 Mexican asylum seekers took direct flights from Mexico City to Montreal, according to <a href="https://nationalpost.com/pmn/news-pmn/canada-news-pmn/the-number-of-mexican-asylum-seekers-in-canada-has-increased-dramatically">a November 2022 Canadian Press story</a>.
The paper quoted officials at nonprofit refugee assistance groups attesting that most fly to Canada because they found out Trudeau’s visa-free policy also got them government financial assistance while awaiting their mostly denied asylum applications.
In their October 2021 book, &#8220;<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Wolfpack-Millennial-Mobsters-Canadian-Underworld/dp/0735275394" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Wolfpack: The Millennial Mobsters Who Brought Chaos and the Cartels to the Canadian Underworld</a>,&#8221; journalists Peter Edwards and Luis Najera established that the Sinaloa Cartel now <a href="https://insightcrime.org/news/how-mexican-cartels-settled-canada/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">has a foothold</a> across eastern Canada, with “solid control of cocaine shipments in and out of Canada.” The Arellano Felix group has its foothold in Vancouver and in the state of Alberta.
The Zetas are in Canada “involved with temporary migrant workers.”
Asked in 2023 if Canada’s importance to Mexican organized crime had increased “in recent years,” co-author Luis Najera answered: “I would say it has increased since criminal cells moved up north to settle and expand operations here. It is also strategic to have groups operating north of the U.S. border, close to key places such as Chicago and New York, and without the scrutiny of the DEA and rival groups.”
Canada is not Mexico but its policies pose consequences for the United States.
Any normal U.S. administration would put Canada on the hook for adjusting its policies and more robustly guarding its supposedly treasured neighboring ally, the United States, from harm. If punishing trade tariffs finally focus Canada’s attention on those policy-driven harms, let them last until Canada fixes what it recklessly broke.
* * *
Todd Bensman is a Senior National Security Fellow, Center for Immigration Studies and a two-time <a href="https://www.toddbensman.com/awards/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">National Press Club award winner.</a> He is a graduate of the University of Missouri School of Journalism and a 23-year veteran newspaper reporter. He is the author of “<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Americas-Covert-Border-War-Infiltration/dp/1642937258/ref=sr_1_2?crid=BP7S7BH2VBFB&amp;dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.O6ZnUZYfSlVsoiHcdjPhFHfMHLUTDwW2ZnKSAJboBbE5kdYf_h7sD08-h6YkTqOaoX3BwNswbUMPbnTbwQYA0OPgQiI3nLoLjosQWsEhFf5KFAPB4F0DTwUsSoJFgmaEF7V1rMQnOPvLvOLapFQ1ESD-D7UVwCNHsSGEs2XzEa9rmO1CLoVV277SrmlPOkJf.15UkCaAoqCyd7hpP16dl7D3_ZWawrd1RcN3D_ZSFo4w&amp;dib_tag=se&amp;keywords=todd+bensman&amp;qid=1730314546&amp;s=books&amp;sprefix=todd+bensman%2Cstripbooks%2C100&amp;sr=1-2" target="_blank" rel="noopener">America’s Covert Border War</a>,” and “<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Overrun-Unleashed-Greatest-Border-History-ebook/dp/B0BS1R9LCP?ref_=ast_author_dp" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Overrun: How Joe Biden Unleashed the Greatest Border Crisis in U.S. History</a>.”
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau Hosts Cabinet Retreat

‘Proven Threats To U.S. National Security’: Canada, Cartels, And Trump’s Tariffs

'Proven Threats To U.S. National Security': Canada, Cartels, And Trump's Tariffs

Canada

Cartels

Illegal Immigration

Justin Trudeau

Mexico

Southern Border

Daily Wire Editor Emeritus <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/ben-shapiro" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ben Shapiro</a> said that multiculturalism might lead to the breakdown of Western civilization in the latest episode of his YouTube series “<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/show/facts" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Facts</a>.”
In the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ffByO07NcM">episode</a>, which was released on Saturday, Shapiro details the three main problems that can come with a society being built on multiculturalism. He said that many people who have come into the West in recent years did not share many of the values that built the West, such as recognizing a political system based on ordered liberty and rule of law.
“Political multiculturalists have long suggested that all cultures are equally worthy of respect and inclusion, and the best society is the most diverse society. This point of view is disastrous,” Shapiro said. “It&#8217;s disastrous because not all cultures are morally equivalent. Some cultures, for example, prized truth as a value above others. Other cultures value death over life.”
The first major problem Shapiro outlined was that multiculturalism contributed to the breakdown of civic bonds.
“Every society has baseline propositions to which all members must pledge fealty. In the West, for example, most countries rely on social agreement to the rule of law and equal justice before the law,” Shapiro said. “Importing large numbers of people who disagree with these propositions results not in a richer and more wonderful life for Western countries, but in societal breakdown.”
Shapiro then discussed the mass migration of mostly males from the Middle East and Africa into Europe over the last 20 years and the impact it had on society there. In the wake of this migration, rates of sexual assault increased across Europe and some authorities were even worried to investigate over concerns that they would be accused of racism.
The second key problem with multiculturalism is the taxing effect it has on public resources. Shapiro pointed to statistics showing that immigrants were more likely to be on welfare in the U.S. than native-born citizens.
Third, Shapiro said that mass immigration broadened the Overton window, pointing to examples of the high amount of immigrants in France who expressed sympathy for the motives behind the terrorist attack on French satire magazine Charlie Hebdo. He also pointed to a recent poll showing that over half of Muslim Americans had sympathy for Hamas following the Hamas terrorist attacks that left over 1,400 Israelis dead.
“Diversity can, in fact, be a strength, but only when that diversity serves a common purpose and a societal goal,” Shapiro said. “The West must rediscover its shared values and stand in pursuit of them or allow itself to be torn apart from the inside.”
WATCH:
<iframe loading="lazy" title="This Is How The West Ends | Facts Ep. 6" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/5ffByO07NcM?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Facts Intro Still

Ben Shapiro Says Multiculturalism May Bring About ‘Downfall Of Western Civilization’ In Latest ‘Facts’ Episode

Ben Shapiro Says Multiculturalism May Bring About 'Downfall Of Western Civilization' In Latest 'Facts' Episode

Ben Shapiro

General

Hamas

U.S.

Far-left Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) made false claims about the six new countries that the Trump administration announced on Friday were going to have <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-trump-admin-adds-new-travel-restrictions-for-six-countries">new travel restrictions imposed upon them</a>, suggesting that the countries were selected due to &#8220;anti-Muslim hate&#8221; despite the fact the majority of those impacted with the new ban are non-Muslim.
In a statement, the Trump administration said [emphasis added to highlight the newly added countries]:
<blockquote>Today, following the recommendations provided by Members of his Cabinet and his advisors, President Donald J. Trump has issued a proclamation maintaining entry restrictions on certain nationals of Iran, Libya, North Korea, Syria, Venezuela, Yemen, and Somalia; suspending the overseas issuance of immigrant visas for certain nationals of Burma (Myanmar), Eritrea, Kyrgyzstan, and Nigeria; and suspending participation in the “Visa Lottery” for certain nationals of Sudan and Tanzania. The new restrictions will not apply to tourist, business, or other nonimmigrant travel.</blockquote>
Omar, who has a well-documented history of anti-Semitic comments, responded by writing: &#8220;This is a monument to anti-Muslim hate. This president does not believe in freedom of religion. He does not believe in the rule of law. And he does not believe in our Constitution. We will fight this with all we have.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
This is a monument to anti-Muslim hate. 
This president does not believe in freedom of religion. He does not believe in the rule of law. And he does not believe in our Constitution.
We will fight this with all we have. <a href="https://t.co/oT0WD3FcLN">https://t.co/oT0WD3FcLN</a>
&mdash; Rep. Ilhan Omar (@Ilhan) <a href="https://twitter.com/Ilhan/status/1223353489750941699?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 31, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
However, a review of the six countries added to the list shows that half of them have more Christians than Muslims and that the majority, 53.33%, of those impacted by the ban are non-Muslim, according to <a href="https://www.pewforum.org/2015/04/02/religious-projection-table/2020/number/all/">estimates</a> from the Pew Research Center on the religious demographics for each country.
<ul>
<li>Eritrea:
<ul>
<li>Christians: 4,230,000</li>
<li>Muslims: 2,460,000</li>
<li>Total population: 6,730,000</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Kyrgyzstan:
<ul>
<li>Christians: 620,000</li>
<li>Muslims: 5,540,000</li>
<li>Total population: 6,190,000</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Burma (Myanmar):
<ul>
<li>Christians: 4,040,000</li>
<li>Muslims: 2,200,000</li>
<li>Buddhists: 41,440,000</li>
<li>Total population: 51,910,000</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Nigeria:
<ul>
<li>Christians: 96,080,000</li>
<li>Muslims: 104,650,000</li>
<li>Total population: 204,690,000</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Sudan:
<ul>
<li>Christians: 2,280,000</li>
<li>Muslims: 38,430,000</li>
<li>Total population: 42,360,000</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Tanzania:
<ul>
<li>Christians: 38,740,000</li>
<li>Muslims: 20,950,000</li>
<li>Total population: 61,440,000</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
This is not the first time that Omar has made false statements about the administration&#8217;s travel ban list, as she has falsely claimed on numerous occasions that the original ban is a &#8220;Muslim ban,&#8221; despite the fact that over 80% of the Muslim-majority nations worldwide are not impacted by the ban.
Acting Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Chad Wolf said, “The top responsibility of the President and the Department of Homeland Security is the safety and security of the American people, and these new vetting criteria accomplish that goal and are raising the bar for global security. It is logical and essential to thoroughly screen and vet everyone seeking to travel or immigrate to the United States. However, there are some countries from whom the U.S. does not receive the necessary information about its travelers and, as a result, pose a national security or public safety risk that warrants tailored travel restrictions.”
Wolf continued, “DHS has refined its robust security standards, including enhanced screening and vetting capabilities, that allow us to better identify terrorists and criminals attempting to enter the United States. These screening and vetting capabilities are most effective when foreign governments contribute to our ability to verify a traveler’s identity and assess whether they pose a national security or public safety risk. For a small number of countries that lack either the will or the capability to adhere to these criteria, certain travel restrictions have become necessary to mitigate potential threats. The new, additional restrictions are not blanket restrictions. These tailored restrictions will make the U.S. safer and more secure. And countries that make the necessary improvements will have their restrictions removed accordingly, as was done in 2018.”
In a statement, DHS outlined why the six countries were added to the list:
<blockquote>Burma: Burma has begun to engage with the United States on a variety of identity-management and information-sharing issues, but it does not comply with the established identity-management and information-sharing criteria assessed by the performance metrics.
Suspension of entry for Immigrants, except as Special Immigrants whose eligibility is based on having provided assistance to the U.S. Government.
Eritrea: Eritrea does not comply with the established identity-management and information-sharing criteria assessed by the performance metrics.
Suspension of entry for Immigrants, except as Special Immigrants whose eligibility is based on having provided assistance to the U.S. Government.
Kyrgyzstan: Kyrgyzstan does not comply with the established identity-management and information-sharing criteria assessed by the performance metrics.
Suspension of entry for Immigrants, except as Special Immigrants whose eligibility is based on having provided assistance to the U.S. Government.
Nigeria: Nigeria does not comply with the established identity-management and information-sharing criteria assessed by the performance metrics.
Suspension of entry for Immigrants, except as Special Immigrants whose eligibility is based on having provided assistance to the U.S. Government.
Sudan: Sudan generally does not comply with our identity management performance metrics and presents a high risk, relative to other countries in the world, of terrorist travel to the United States.
Suspension of entry for Diversity Immigrants, as described in section 203(c) of the INA, 8 U.S.C. 1153(c).
Tanzania: Tanzania does not comply with the established identity-management and information-sharing criteria assessed by the performance metrics.
Suspension of entry for Diversity Immigrants, as described in section 203(c) of the INA, 8 U.S.C. 1153(c).</blockquote>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Today <a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@POTUS</a> signed a proclamation issuing tailored travel restrictions on 6 countries that currently fail to meet the minimum US security standards set by this Administration. Through this action, we are raising the baseline of security around the world. <a href="https://t.co/lrlXZDvqB2">https://t.co/lrlXZDvqB2</a>
&mdash; Acting Secretary Chad Wolf (@DHS_Wolf) <a href="https://twitter.com/DHS_Wolf/status/1223375563328577549?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 31, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Ilhan Omar

Omar Makes False Claims About New Countries Added To Travel Ban List

Fake News

Travel Ban

As The Daily Wire <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-considering-dramatic-expansion-of-terrorist-nations-added-to-travel-ban-list">previewed weeks ago</a> and as has also been rumored for much of this current week, the Trump administration on Friday imposed travel restrictions on six new countries.
&#8220;President Donald Trump is expected to reveal an expansion of his controversial travel ban on Friday, the same day he could be acquitted in his impeachment trial and just days ahead of the president’s annual State of the Union address,&#8221; Politico <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2020/01/30/trump-travel-ban-expansion-109659">reported</a> yesterday. &#8220;The expected announcement — confirmed by two people familiar with the matter — had initially been planned for this past Monday to coincide with the three-year anniversary of the original order, which restricted travel from several majority-Muslim nations.&#8221;
On Friday afternoon, The Wall Street Journal <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/trump-administration-imposes-new-travel-restrictions-on-six-countries-11580500874?emailToken=ee9c4d96fd7222587f6a95ea5366a1faJTb2EUg+d0M9bUrQCrIOQzQ91WSepUbYHQgY9Wk%2F8tABR%2F6914m7UCcOGLZysxL+RosZfgYd3Lb8J2OSgyyjyduSEnQYimX%2FldifLfWwadKmtNJ7tcwwfsnO5mS8469GWPrBhircuAoxdsFvkggkYQ%3D%3D&amp;reflink=article_whatsapp_share&amp;fbclid=IwAR03FzpEH7xWpUAx8Zyh0wkm5hGE__rlQ_gQW9NIAzsU5wuLbIvKnm8_tAc">confirmed the news</a>. The six new countries to have various types of travel restrictions imposed upon them are Nigeria, Eritrea, Myanmar, Kyrgyzstan, Sudan, and Tanzania.
&#8220;Citizens from Nigeria, Eritrea, Myanmar and Kyrgyzstan won’t be allowed to apply for visas to immigrate to the U.S. under the policy, which the Trump administration said was designed to tighten security for countries that don’t comply with the U.S. minimum security standards or cooperate to prevent illegal immigration,&#8221; the Journal reports. &#8220;Two other countries, Sudan and Tanzania, will be barred from participating in the diversity visa lottery, which randomly awards green cards to 50,000 immigrants from underrepresented countries annually. Many of the recipients are from African countries.&#8221;
Specifically, Nigeria, Eritrea, Myanmar and Kyrgyzstan will have the issuance suspended of all visas that might lead to permanent residency, according to <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-immigration-ban/trump-to-expand-travel-ban-to-six-additional-countries-u-s-official-idUSKBN1ZU2WD">Reuters</a>.
Overall, &#8220;[t]he six countries [added today] will join a list of seven nations, most of them Muslim-majority, that faced significant travel restrictions under President Trump’s original travel ban, issued in 2017,&#8221; the Journal continues. Those original seven nations were Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria, Yemen, Venezuela, and North Korea.
That original travel ban was ultimately upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in the attention-grabbing 2018 case of <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/17pdf/17-965_h315.pdf">Trump v. Hawaii</a>.
&#8220;By its plain language, [8 U.S.C.] §1182(f) grants the president broad discretion to suspend the entry of aliens into the United States,&#8221; Chief Justice John Roberts wrote for a bare 5–4 Court majority. &#8220;The president lawfully exercised that discretion based on his findings — following a worldwide, multi-agency review — that entry of the covered aliens would be detrimental to the national interest. And plaintiffs’ attempts to identify a conflict with other provisions in the [Immigration and Nationality Act], and their appeal to the statute’s purposes and legislative history, fail to overcome the clear statutory language.&#8221;
The addition of countries with Trump administration-imposed travel restrictions placed upon them surely has a political element, and can likely be viewed as an attempt by the president to help shore up his base in the lead-up to November&#8217;s election. But the primary rationale seems to be a more emotionally detached attempt to buttress homeland security.
“These countries for the most part want to be helpful, want to do the right thing,” said Chad Wolf, acting Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, according to the Journal. “But for a variety of reasons, they failed to meet those requirements we laid out.”

Passport on the desk of an American businessman

BREAKING: Trump Admin Adds New Travel Restrictions For Six Countries

Department of Homeland Security

Immigrants

John Roberts

Judicial Branch

Judiciary

Lawsuit

Supreme Court

Wall Street Journal

In its latest annual <a href="http://www.islamophobia.org/reports/228-2018-civil-rights-report-bias-incident-data.html">hate crimes report</a>, the <a href="https://www.adl.org/education/resources/profiles/the-council-on-american-islamic-relations-cair">Council on American-Islamic Relations</a> (CAIR) vilified U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials as the nation’s greatest perpetrators of anti-Muslim discrimination. So, when as many as 60 Iranian and Iranian-American travelers were delayed for hours earlier this month at the U.S.-Canada border, CAIR was quick to accuse the federal agency of living up to its purported reputation. Has the U.S. government decided to make life difficult for Iranians living in America, as CAIR contends? Or are the nonprofit’s actions part of an enduring campaign to subvert U.S. border security?
In response to a January 2 air strike which <a href="https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.nytimes.com/2020/01/10/opinion/soleimani-iran-tom-cotton.amp.html">killed</a> Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) <a href="https://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/ntas/alerts/20_0104_ntas_bulletin.pdf">published</a> a bulletin warning that Hezbollah and other Iranian loyalists could carry out homeland-based plots by targeting “critical infrastructure.” New York Governor Andrew Cuomo deployed the national guard to protect public transportation, while <a href="https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-01-03/us-cities-on-alert-after-killing-of-iran-leader-qassem-suleiman">government officials</a> in California, Washington, and Massachusetts ordered increased police patrols or warned citizens to remain extra vigilant.
Meanwhile, the Peace Arch Border Crossing in Blaine, Washington became congested on January 4 after as many as 60 Iranian natives were allegedly selected for additional screening and detained, in some cases, for several hours. The travelers, who were returning from a pop concert in Vancouver, put a <a href="https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.bellinghamherald.com/news/local/article238985213.html">strain</a> on CBP resources as customs agents struggled to keep up with the sudden increase in cross-border traffic. However, CAIR officials explicitly alleged that delays and mistreatment were premised solely on national heritage.
Soon after, CAIR’s Washington chapter issued a <a href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/cair-wa-assisting-iranian-americans-detained-at-us-border-300981286.html">press release</a> accusing CBP officials of treating Iranians and Iranian-Americans to prolonged interrogations at the U.S.–Canada border. “A source at CBP reported that the [DHS] has issued a national order to CBP to ‘report’ and detain anyone with Iranian heritage entering the country who is deemed potentially suspicious or ‘adversarial,’ regardless of citizenship status,” CAIR wrote.
CBP <a href="https://www.king5.com/article/news/local/us-border-protection-denies-reports-that-iranian-americans-were-detained-at-washington-canada-border/281-e276b43b-21a1-46d3-8de7-f1e700b0016a">rejected</a> these allegations. &#8220;Social media posts that CBP is detaining Iranian-Americans and refusing their entry into the U.S. because of their country of origin are false. Reports that DHS/CBP has issued a related directive are also false,” said CBP spokesperson Michael Friel.
So far, CAIR has failed to produce any evidence supporting its discrimination claims. Instead, the nonprofit denigrated CBP personnel based on the testimony of frustrated tourists who experienced delays while crossing an international border during a period of heightened geopolitical tension.
What can’t be known about the recent cross-border controversy, because it falls beyond the public purview, is whether there was specific intelligence from the Terrorist Screening Center that indicated a need to conduct a more robust screening operation at the Peace Arch crossing. It is telling that <a href="https://www.thenorthernlight.com/stories/order-to-detain-iranian-american-travelers-likely-originated-in-blaine-say-lawyers,9173">no other enhanced security measures</a> were enforced at other U.S. entry points around the same time.
Even public knowledge of the threats posed by Shi’ite Islamism suggests that it was credible national security risks, and not uninformed profiling, that guided CBP’s actions. The agency must contend with Hezbollah’s elite external operations unit, known as the Islamic Jihad Organization (IJO), whose members have been <a href="https://thefederalist.com/2020/01/07/iran-has-terrorists-embedded-inside-the-united-states-and-across-our-border/">trained</a> to &#8220;maintain ostensibly normal lives” until they are activated to serve the Iranian regime&#8217;s interests.
<a href="https://thefederalist.com/2020/01/07/iran-has-terrorists-embedded-inside-the-united-states-and-across-our-border/">FBI reports</a> indicate that Canada serves as a staging area for future homeland attacks. Ali Kourani, a Hezbollah sleeper agent <a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/hizballah-operative-sentenced-40-years-prison-covert-terrorist-activities-behalf-hizballah-s">convicted</a> in 2019 of planning attacks in the U.S., <a href="https://foreignpolicy.com/2019/06/14/hezbollah-isnt-just-in-beirut-its-in-new-york-too-canada-united-states-jfk-toronto-pearson-airports-ali-kourani-iran/">told </a>FBI agents that IJO is “even more active in Canada than they were in the United States.” Kourani’s Iranian handlers discussed the strategic advantages of cultivating familial ties to Canada, so that “it wouldn’t appear suspicious or odd if he were to make travel to Canada with some regularity or frequency.”
Iran is a country that is regularly <a href="https://www.rferl.org/a/u-s-state-department-iran-remains-world-s-worst-state-sponsor-of-terrorism-/30248755.html">cited</a> as a state sponsor of terrorism, with a track <a href="https://foreignpolicy.com/2019/06/14/hezbollah-isnt-just-in-beirut-its-in-new-york-too-canada-united-states-jfk-toronto-pearson-airports-ali-kourani-iran/">record</a> of penetrating U.S. borders. For instance, between 1995 and 2000, Lebanese immigrant Mohammed Youssef Hammoud oversaw a vast “<a href="https://www.ice.gov/news/releases/mohamad-youssef-hammoud-sentenced-30-years-terrorism-financing-case">criminal enterprise</a>” in Charlotte, North Carolina, which accumulated millions of dollars in capital intended for Hezbollah leaders in Lebanon.
In 2011, Soleimani’s Quds Force was implicated in a clandestine <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/">plot</a> to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to the U.S. and bomb the Saudi embassy in Washington D.C. Then there is Alexei Saab, a New Jersey resident charged in September with a <a href="https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/manhattan-us-attorney-announces-indictment-new-jersey-man-terrorist-activities-behalf">nine-count indictment</a> for surveilling targets on behalf of IJO, probing for “soft spots” throughout New York City.
CAIR’s position on screening for terrorists, however, has been to <a href="https://www.cair.com/cair_to_announce_complete_victory_in_constitutional_challenge_to_federal_terror_watchlist">undermine</a> the process wherever possible. Indeed, the organization exerts a great deal of <a href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/cair-asks-federal-court-in-mich-to-prohibit-fbi-border-agents-from-interrogating-muslim-travelers-about-religious-beliefs-and-practices-300858541.html">effort</a> challenging the government’s immigration and border security policies.
In September, CAIR proclaimed “complete victory” in a <a href="https://www.cair.com/cair_to_announce_complete_victory_in_constitutional_challenge_to_federal_terror_watchlist">lawsuit</a> that challenged the constitutionality of the <a href="https://apnews.com/f8abc66af1a64cc7a5f4fba0420cfc54">terrorist watch list</a>, a security protocol that subjects implicated airline passengers and border transients to additional screening. (Fewer than 0.5% of watch list suspects are U.S. citizens or legal residents.) For more than a year, CAIR filed lawsuits and amicus briefs that <a href="https://www.cair.com/fighting_the_unconstitutional_muslim_ban">stalled</a> Trump administration efforts to implement a <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/presidential-proclamation-enhancing-vetting-capabilities-processes-detecting-attempted-entry-united-states-terrorists-public-safety-threats/">travel ban</a> affecting visitors from select high-risk countries
CAIR has even directed Muslim Americans who are detained by customs officials to <a href="https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.wtsp.com/amp/article/news/politics/muslim-rights-groups-urge-passengers-to-refuse-secondary-questioning/67-395025140">obstruct</a> the screening process whenever possible, perhaps explaining the delays experienced at the Peace Arch Border Crossing. “Whether you wait an hour or four hours, remain silent until they let you out,” advised CAIR-Florida executive director Hassan Shibly.
National-level law enforcement efforts must be led by consulting relevant intelligence <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/all/law-enforcement-guard-iran-retaliation-u-s-after-commander-killed-n1109826">sources</a>. Given the geopolitical context, the enhanced security posture at the U.S.-Canada border can be attributed to due diligence, and not some nefarious desire to pester Iranian-Americans. Yet, CAIR is far too eager to paint American security personnel as aggressors. CBP was merely taking reasonable precautions in the face of escalating hostility from a rogue nation that has spent decades building powerful Islamist infrastructure across North America.
&nbsp;
David Firester is a writer for Islamism in Politics, a project of the <a href="https://www.meforum.org">Middle East Forum</a>. He is the founder and CEO of TRAC Intelligence, LLC, an Adjunct Lecturer at Hunter College, and a former U.S. Army Intelligence Analyst.

Border Wall As House Investigates $400 Million Contract

FIRESTER: CAIR’s Fight To Undermine U.S. Border Security Continues

Border Wall

CAIR

Islam

Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps

National Security

U.S. Customs and Border Protection

The news that the deceased suspect of this morning&#8217;s <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-active-shooter-at-pensacola-naval-air-base-at-least-5-rushed-to-hospital-shooter-confirmed-dead">horrific shooting spree</a> at Naval Air Station Pensacola was a Saudi aviation student here to <a href="https://www.nationalreview.com/news/authorities-identify-pensacola-naval-base-shooter-as-saudi-national">train with the Saudi military</a> ought to serve as a wakeup call for American elected officials.
The suspect appears to have been a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-attacker-at-florida-military-base-was-member-of-saudi-military-was-an-act-of-terrorism-congressman-says">student officer</a> with the Saudi Air Force and, while it is unclear right now which U.S. visa he obtained to arrive here, an <a href="https://twitter.com/RMConservative/status/1203012127952449541">A-2 visa</a> — <a href="https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/other-visa-categories/visas-diplomats.html">described</a> by the U.S. State Department as appropriate for those &#8220;traveling to the United States on behalf of [his/her] national government to engage solely in official activities for that government&#8221; — is perhaps likely . As The Daily Wire has <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-active-shooter-at-pensacola-naval-air-base-at-least-5-rushed-to-hospital-shooter-confirmed-dead">reported</a>, there are at least ten victims injured, including three dead.
There is a lot to unpack and unravel here — especially for <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hammer-us-must-side-saudi-arabia-against-iranian-josh-hammer">those of us</a> who have generally encouraged closer U.S.-Saudi military ties in order to help deter the far greater Middle East terrorism threat, Iran. This developing story has many moving parts, and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia ought to be prepared for a Jamal Khashoggi-level public relations blowback when even a stalwart pro-Israel/anti-Iran conservative such as Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has an <a href="https://twitter.com/NBCNightlyNews/status/1203029174753153025">immediate reaction</a> that the Saudi government &#8220;needs to [financially] make things better for these victims.&#8221; Indeed, it is hard to disagree with the governor.
But the focus here must be on immigration policy. As The Daily Wire&#8217;s Ryan Saavedra already <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-attacker-at-florida-military-base-was-member-of-saudi-military-was-an-act-of-terrorism-congressman-says">reported</a>, hardline conservative Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) has opined that today&#8217;s naval base tragedy &#8220;represents a serious failure in the vetting process and in the way in which we invite &#8230; people into our community.&#8221; Gaetz vowed to help &#8220;ensure that we have extreme vetting for the people that come into our country on our bases and in our communities.&#8221;
This is obviously correct. And it is important that this, and not a short-sighted hard diplomatic pivot away from Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman at a time when the uniquely evil Iranian regime is yet again on the proverbial ropes and facing an increasingly restive population, become the preeminent takeaway from today&#8217;s horrific incident.
Why, as I <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hammer-never-forget-911-we-need-rethink-how-we-josh-hammer">lamented</a> on the most recent anniversary of the 9/11 jihadist attacks, has the U.S. continued to implement an exceedingly generous and lax immigration policy for prospective immigrants from the broader Islamic world? While there will always be dispensations for legal immigration from the Islamic world, why are we not starting from a default baseline level of effectively zero? Our much-ballyhooed &#8220;vetting&#8221; procedures are oftentimes, as was tragically the case today, revealed to be exceedingly inadequate. But hey, in fairness, <a href="https://twitter.com/josh_hammer/status/1203010783958982657">how would we ever have known</a> to keep a close eye on Saudi aviation students? It&#8217;s not like we&#8217;ve had <a href="https://twitter.com/Sultanknish/status/1203014470525542400">previous noteworthy incidents</a>, right?
Policymakers ought to heed the unassailable wisdom of the <a href="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc1213676/m1/6/?q=cornerstone">9/11 Commission Report</a>: &#8220;It is perhaps obvious to state that terrorists cannot plan and carry out attacks in the United States if they are unable to enter the country.&#8221; Heck, does anyone even remember that 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammad, according to former CIA contractor James Mitchell, <a href="https://thehill.com/policy/national-security/307362-9-11-mastermind-al-qaeda-to-use-immigration-to-end-us">allegedly believes</a> that &#8220;the &#8216;practical&#8217; way to defeat America [is] through immigration?&#8221;
Immigration policy is national security policy. And that extends to both illegal immigration and legal immigration. Our policymakers ought to not forget that.

Menu