AMONG OUR HONORED GUESTS – AT 7:49 A.M. ET:  Homeland Security has issued a new alert about those crossing our southern border.  From Fox:

The Department of Homeland Security is alerting Texas authorities to be on the lookout for a suspected member of the Somalia-based Al Shabaab terrorist group who might be attempting to travel to the U.S. through Mexico, a security expert who has seen the memo tells FOXNews.com.

The warning follows an indictment unsealed this month in Texas federal court that accuses a Somali man in Texas of running a “large-scale smuggling enterprise” responsible for bringing hundreds of Somalis from Brazil through South America and eventually across the Mexican border. Many of the illegal immigrants, who court records say were given fake IDs, are alleged to have ties to other now-defunct Somalian terror organizations that have merged with active organizations like Al Shabaab, al-Barakat and Al-Ittihad Al-Islami.

In 2008, the U.S. government designated Al Shabaab a terrorist organization. Al Shabaab has said its priority is to impose Sharia, or Islamic law, on Somalia; the group has aligned itself with Al Qaeda and has made statements about its intent to harm the United States.

In recent years, American Somalis have been recruited by Al Shabaab to travel to Somalia, where they are often radicalized by more extremist or operational anti-American terror groups, which Al Shabaab supports. The recruiters coming through the Mexican border are the ones who could be the most dangerous, according to law enforcement officials.

COMMENT:  Hmm.  "Be on the lookout"?  Precisely what does that mean?  Does it mean stopping people who might look Somali?  Does it mean looking only for this one chap, or for others who might be his allies? 

Does the word "profiling" come to mind?

The hypocrisy just flows, doesn't it?  At a time when the self-declared righteous of the Earth are denouncing the carefully crafted Arizona anti-illegal-immigration law out of one side of their mouth, out of the other they're issuing this warning.

I'm glad they've issued the warning.  It's appropriate and correct.  But let's understand that it implies a certain kind of profiling that's inevitable in these cases.  What must end is the political grandstanding that is designed only to frighten the Hispanic community and grab its votes.  If the Obamans would stop exploiting Hispanics and explain the border situation thoughtfully, they will find a community that is very supportive of law and reasonable action to deal with the illegal immigration issue. 

May 27, 2010