Shabaab-linked Somalis Accidentally Released From Mexican Custody
Somalis with terrorist links feared headed to U.S. border – Washington Examiner
Somalis with ties to a terrorist organization are believed to be plotting to illegally enter the United States after being mistakenly released from custody in Mexico.
All were in Mexican Immigration custody due to illegal entry into Mexico and released on January 21, 2010.
It’s difficult to say what is most troubling about this. First, there is the fact that suspected terrorists have finally started trying to take what has to be the easiest and most logical route into the United States: our giant porous border with Mexico. Though these types of occurrences have been coming to light more with more frequency recently, I’m always surprised that we don’t hear of terrorists trying this method of entry daily. Second, there is the fact that someone within the Mexican law enforcement establishment, after noting that 23 Somalis were trying to get into Mexico illegally and getting them in custody, thought it would be a good idea to release them. Third, this occurrence pretty clearly underscores the fact that the terrorist threat from Somalia may in fact be evolving from a regional concern to a global one, and that U.S. security and the ongoing conflict in Somalia may be more closely linked than thought previously.
There are a lot of unknowns here, but a few things are fairly clear:
First, we have to impress more clearly upon Mexican authorities that an unexplained catch and release for suspected Somali terrorists headed for the U.S.-Mexican border, even if it turns out to be accidental, simply cannot happen. Granted, it’s unclear exactly what the Mexican law enforcement authorities knew about the Somalis at the time, how the decision was made, and by whom. It’s also fairly easy to argue, however, that it wouldn’t make much sense for the Mexican authorities to release illegal entrants into their country even without the terrorism suspicion angle. Either way, no matter how or why the release actually occurred, the fact that individuals who had at the very least violated Mexican immigration law were released for no apparent reason does little to inspire confidence in the Mexican law enforcement establishment’s competence or judgment.
It is also important to recognize that any counterterrorism strategy relying primarily on our ability stop terrorists at the border, or on Mexican authorities’ ability to do so before they get that far, is a strategy that is destined to eventually come up short. Though occurrences like this one might be taken as illustrative of why America needs tighter border security, a U.S.- Mexico border fence, new immigration legislation, etc., this incident would seem to at least as clearly underscore the need for a more effective and comprehensive strategy to counter al-Shabaab’s influence in Somalia and limit their ability to send terrorist operatives to the U.S. in the first place.
The alternative is to hope that the Mexican authorities sort out their competence and corruption issues or that would-be terrorists keep trying to beat airport watchlists, somehow forgetting that it’s much easier to get in the back way. Given how this incident has played out so far, neither of those options seems to be a particularly safe bet.
