Terrorist crossing: cover-up on the U.S.-Mexico border.

What price will we pay in future terrorist attacks because of our continued failure to protect our borders? How many terrorists are slipping into the U.S. along with the millions of illegal aliens? No one knows, and federal officials are trying to keep this explosive scandal under wraps. In June, the Tombstone Tumbleweed, a local newspaper in Tombstone, Arizona, reported that on June 13, 2004, Border Patrol agents had encountered a group of approximately 158 illegal border crossers near the foothills of the Chiricahua Mountains. Only 71 members of the group were apprehended. According to the Tumbleweed, "among them were 53 males of middle-eastern descent." An unnamed Border Patrol agent told the newspaper: "[W]e discovered they spoke poor English with a middle-eastern accent: then we caught them speaking to each other in Arabic.... This is ridiculous that we don't take this more seriously, and we're told not to say a thing to the media, but I have to."

Border Patrol spokesman Andy Adame responded to the story with a categorical denial. "There were no middle-easterners in the group," said Mr. Adame. "Every single one of them was Mexican."

Shortly thereafter, as if to prove Mr. Adame wrong, another incident occurred. The Tumbleweed reported: "On or about the evening of June 21,2004, agents from the Willcox Border Patrol station apprehended 24 members of a larger group of Arabic-speaking males located just east of the Pierce/Sunsites area of Cochise County. At least half of the males escaped capture and disappeared into the United States."

A retired Border Patrol agent, who has been a longtime reliable source, informed THE NEW AMERICAN that a local law enforcement officer confirmed that arrests of Middle Eastern men in Cochise County had indeed taken place. The retired Border Patrol agent, who is still active in law enforcement, said that he recently learned of similar occurrences in New Mexico. It appears that the smugglers, known as "coyotes," have developed a system of using Mexican aliens for cover. According to the retired agent, the Border Patrol has been "losing the Arabs because they were lagging behind the Mexican groups that were being led in by the coyotes. It seems that the Border Patrol grabs the Mexican group, loads them up and leaves while the Arabs lag behind and get away." However, when Middle-Eastern aliens are arrested, they are immediately taken by the Department of Homeland Security and Border Patrol agents. Local law enforcement are told to be quiet about it for "national security" reasons. The Bush administration, ever anxious to put a happy face on our deteriorating border situation, does not reveal the national origin of those arrested.

However, the Border Patrol's Andy Adame did release a very alarming footnote. Adame reported that from October 2003 through June 2004, Border Patrol agents in the Tucson sector alone had apprehended 5,510 illegals from countries other than Mexico or other Central or South American countries. Adame described them as "people from all over the world."