9/11 + 10: Never Forget

On this 10th anniversary of 9/11, we will never forget the thousands who were slain, the brave souls who perished while rushing into harms way to save them, and the many who have fallen in far away lands, in defense of our nation, in the 10 years since. We honor their memories, and pray for the families they left behind.

But we will also not forget that 5 of the hijackers – Mohammed Atta included – had stayed in the U.S. with expired student visas, some of them also obtained driver’s licenses with them, and 3 of them never had their immigration status checked after police stops for speeding - permitting them to remain free to carry out their murderous plan.

Yet 10 years later we have a state – New Mexico – which permits foreign nationals to obtain driver’s licenses, permitting an unknown number of potential terrorists to gain official access to American society. Gov. Susana Martinez is fighting to end this outrage, but is facing opposition from those cynically making a racial issue out of what is a gaping national security hole. Shame on them. Have they learned nothing from 9/11?

We also have a Department of Homeland Security which still is unable to track those here on expired visas. Despite plans recommended by the 9/11 Commission, DHS still has no way to know whether any of the millions who enter our nation each year on student, work or tourist visas, have left the country. We owe the victims of 9/11 better than this.

And we will not forget that our border remains wide open – despite a 2006 law to build a border fence, the funds for which were gutted by a new Congress the very next year. Despite promises and platitudes from empty suits in both parties, hundreds of thousands cross our borders unmolested every single year – including terrorists.

Finally, recent actions by President Obama have actually set us back. Obama’s new softening of deportation rules will leave untold numbers of lawbreakers and potential terrorists who overstay their visas amongst us. Shockingly, under the new Obama rules, none of the 9/11 terrorists would be subject to removal. Why? Because none of them had “criminal records” in the U.S., nor had they had done anything more than overstay their student visas – until they proceeded to murder nearly 3,000 Americans.

To honor the memories of those who have fallen, we must secure our borders and our immigration system to ensure it can never happen again. We promise to never stop fighting for these goals, and we are blessed that tens of thousands of you stand with us in this fight. God bless you, God bless those who have sacrificed for us, and God Bless America.

- J.H.