It doesn’t give you much confidence in our border security that tuberculosis patient Andrew Speaker was able to get into the United States. His passport had been flagged so that he would be detained and isolated at the border. But when Speaker and his fiancee flew into Montreal and drove across the border into New York, they were stopped for just two minutes and then allowed to pass through. The inspector who let him through was removed from duty, but our borders must have significant weaknesses if a person with flagged passport is allowed in.
Posted by Andie Clum
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30 Comments
Yep, homeland security at work. Good job, boys.
Didn’t some of the 9/11 terrorists come into the US through Canada?
In a worst case scenario, he could have came in through Mexico, or sneaked in via either border. But don’t worry, terrorist have been put on notice that we’re ‘fighting them over there, so we don’t have to fight them here’. Nothing to worry about.
Tom,The TB guy was POST 9/11 AND on a no-fly list. Go figure…
It’s bad enough that we don’t have control over the big empty places on our borders. But waving these people through controlled checkpoints…WTF???
But this all begs another question: If this guy is a US citizen, why would anyone have the power to keep him out of the country?
Double edged sword? As a citizen, he should be able to enter. But on a no-fly list…
There have been some complaints from people with names that match on the no fly list. They are not the specific person, but since their name matches…
But he didn’t fly into the US. He flew into Canada, and drove across the border through a US checkpoint. The no-fly list doesn’t cover that kind of situation, does it?
Sol, you raise an interesting point that I’ll expand on. If “no-fly” is supposed to cover situations like this, then there are serious problems with the no-fly list and the way it’s implemented. Are people being waved through and/or ignored because everyone knows the quality of the list data is crap?
Tom,I don’t think so. As mentioned before, the complaints of right name, wrong person.
The no-fly list relates to the foreign countries he flew into. The US/Canada check points should have caught him as well driving thru. No human operated system will be infallible, but with this example, you might as well try to carry water in a colander.
Three or four hundred billion on war in Iraq, and our borders here at home leak like sieves.
:::sigh:::
Yeah, but we DO have a new arms race with the Russians. Welcom back to the 80’s
If I remember correctly, the no-fly list also applies to flights that do not fly to US destinations, but may enter its airspace during the journey, e.g., London to Mexico City.
The only good thing that came out of the 80s was Stevie Ray Vaughan. I’ll go back to the 80s only if he comes back to life.
I note that Athens-Montreal Great Circle Route does NOT cross into US airspace.
Heru,I’ll look for the source, but the problem was with another country. The no fly list is global no?
Tom,Grew up in Texas. Been to Austin and have seen the statue to Stevie. Ever hear his “Don’t mess with Texas” ad?
The border agent that let this guy through said that he ignored the flagged passport because the TB guy didn’t look sick. Nice to know that lists are ignored by the way you look. “Well….I am sorry but that guy didn’t look like a terrorist”…..what crap!
And Sol and Tom…..we are going to party like its 1999. There is a blast from the past. I will go back to the 80’s if Prince makes good music again. Not to trivialize the points made about returning to the Cold War. Put another feather in Bushs’ cap. He is turning the hands of the clock back as we speak. He has inflamed now….Iran from the 70’s….Russia from the Cold War….isolated us from the German’s again…..walked on the Constitution like Nixon…..and escilated an unpopular war like LBJ. This guy is awesome!
Sol,
Haven’t heard the ad. Is it on the internet somewhere?
Mike,
I think you are confused with ignoring problems as them being solved and then when Bush confrontst them as causing them.
Putin has long been rolling back the Democratic reforms in Russia while consolodating power.
He is just spouting off rhetoric for political posturing.
Russia knows that our placing 10 interceptor missles in Europe isn’t going to do anything to stop their Nuclear Capabilities.
Bush is looking at the rogue capabilities and planning for the future.
Everyone likes to pretend like Russia stopped doing anything with their military after the collapse of the Soviet Union which is simply burying your head in the sand.
Russia has still been developing nuclear weapons and improving their technology.
Do you think they just all of a sudden came up with a new ICBM with multiple warheads this week in response to Bush or have they simply been continuing with a program already in place?
I mean seriously, the liberal philosophy is that we must provoke everything and it is all our fault…
What a sham.
Three hours of peaceful chat and no personal attacks on a controversial subject. I knew it couldn’t last.
Thanks, Nathan.
I believe he was the first one to do a spot.
http://www.dontmesswithtexas.org/tv_campaigns.php?category=&year=86#ads
As long as this thread has been derailed what I have wondered about since the fall of the USSR is where the hell are all their ICBMs. Supposedly they had thousands upon thousands scattered across the country. When the USSR fractured, did the fractured pieces just keep the ones in their area? I know that times were REAL tough for them especially in the beginning. Did a few war heads or delivery devices get sold here or there?
Sol,
I would be surprised if the mega-rich oil states on the Arabian peninsula, specifically Saudi Arabia, _haven’t_ tried to buy nuclear weapons. I would be further surprised if they tried and failed.
NathanAgain here we go with our “diplomacy by the end of a gun” mentality. What if Russia put a missle defense system in Cuba? What would our response be? Surely premptive military action. But we can do anything we want right? It doesn’t matter how others feel or think about our actions right? We are the GREAT UNITED STATES OF AMERICA damn it and we will do as we please. Putin is only a threat while Bush is president. He is the one that has shown the world he cannot be trusted. So who can really blame Putin for dialing up the rhetoric? Is this the next “great threat”? Or will the GOP create one so that they can appear to be more sound on national defense?
“Putin is only a threat while Bush is president. He is the one that has shown the world he cannot be trusted.”
Reason #5,897 why you people will not make it into the White House anytime soon. You can’t be trusted to defend this country. The voters will see it.Blame America First will not work as a campaign slogan.
“But this all begs another question: If this guy is a US citizen, why would anyone have the power to keep him out of the country?”
- As a citizen he would not have been denied admission. He was in fact supposed to be placed in isolation and then safely moved to a medical facility.
And how is the “boot in your ass” foreign policy working out for us? Every intelligence estimate has stated that your party has made us less safe. The We Are America….so we do what we want policy hasn’t exactly been effective either.
“Every intelligence estimate has stated that your party has made us less safe.”
Hillary said otherwise in the last debate.
Mike,
Less safe by what standard?
I will be safer than ever once I get my Concealed Carry license.
When did you start listening to Hillary Fleet? Oh, thats right…..when it suits your purpose. She has to defend her war vote somehow. Here are some more credible references on the subject that would disagree with Hillary.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/23/AR2006092301130.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/24/world/middleeast/24terror.html?ex=1316750400&en=da252be85d1b39fa&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss
The Washington Post and the NY Times. Why not throw in DU and Slate while you’re at it?
“The Sky is Cryin”…probably because Reagan is weeping at the mess his successor’s son has done to his party.