In past wars the United States fought, the term "home front" was used as a metaphor. But in the current war on terror, the home front has become a reality, according to Mark Kirkorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies.
Kirkorian, who supports stricter immigration policies as a national security measure, faced off against Frank Sharry, who argued that immigration policies should be more humane, at a Monday night debate. Sharry is the executive director of the National Immigration Forum.
The debate was sponsored by the 24th annual Providence Journal/Brown University Public Affairs Conference, "Homeland Insecurity: The Changing Face of Immigration," and held in Salomon 001.
During World War II, "people talked about the home front mainly to motivate people to recycle their old tires or stop griping about ration coupons," Kirkorian said. "In this conflict the home front is no longer a metaphor; the home front is the main front. Our country is the objective of the terrorists - mass casualty civilian attacks within the U.S. are the point."
The threat of a home-front attack comes mainly from abroad, Kirkorian said. "There are home-grown terror phenomenons, but they are a lot of talk and not much action. The threat in this conflict comes almost exclusively from overseas."
Kirkorian said no matter what the weapon of choice, terrorists must gain entry to the United States to be able to complete their attacks. "The most important weapons they use are not the suitcase bombs or airplanes but rather the terrorists themselves," he said.
Kirkorian said the U.S. immigration system has been "penetrated comprehensively by the enemy" and must be examined and corrected. But reconstructing the system is not merely a matter of responding to Islamic fundamentalists, he said.
"The immigration vulnerability that we have experienced is going to come into play if, God forbid, we get involved in conflict with North Korea," he said. While much of U.S. response to terrorism since the Sept. 11 attacks has focused on people from the Islamic world, Kirkorian said, "a Middle Easterners-only immigration response cannot succeed."
The United States focuses attention on immigration from the Middle East as a way to quell public concern, Kirkorian said. This is a sensible short-term tactic, but it is not effective in the long term because al-Qaeda is organizing terrorists who are already in the United States, he said.
"They are using Russian citizens living within the U.S. who have Russian names, Russian appearances and Russian passports. So if we're looking for a person in a turban with an 'I heart al-Qaeda' bumper sticker, we're not prepared," he said.
Immigration control needs to be comprehensive if it is going to do any good, Kirkorian said. "If you improve immigration control in one place and not in another, you will find that the enemies will adapt," he said.
Kirkorian said mass levels of immigration are problematic from a security point of view. Immigration forms take a long time to process not because of any incompetence on the part of authorities but because of a mismatch between the limited resources dedicated to immigration control and the enormous volume of immigrants.
"Whatever level of immigration we want, we need to match our resources to deal with that level," Kirkorian said. "The only realistic way for this to happen in the short term is to reduce numbers of immigrants."
Sharry countered Kirkorian's arguments, saying the Sept. 11 attacks were the product not of a flawed immigration system but of a lack of communication between intelligence agencies and gatekeepers at U.S. borders.
"If we want our gatekeepers to identify potential suspects that try to enter the U.S., we want to be fingerprinting at our airports, checking pictures of people who are given visas, implement a student tracking system and give this information to gatekeepers," he said.
Sharry said intelligence should be used to go after individuals based on behavior rather than groups based on background and should encourage people in the Muslim world to see the United States as an ally, not an enemy.
"That kind of soft power combined with hard power would be a more effective way to fight the war against terror. It is time for a new approach to immigration. We need to legalize the flow, and we need to know who is coming in," Sharry said.
The United States has become the strongest nation in the world with a foundation of immigrants, he said. "Immigrants are so fundamental to our country and to our future, and we should make immigration policies that work."
