Peter King and terrorism (NY-03)

There's a reason why Peter King, Chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security, always makes sure to preface the word "terrorism" with "Islamic"

tags: immigration, Peter King , Terrorism , NY-03, IRA

In fact, during the 1980s and 90s, the NSA and CIA collected intelligence on financial transactions between the United States and Ireland and Northern Ireland involving Irish terrorist groups supported by Peter King. The group Irish Northern Aid (NORAID) funneled money to the Irish Republican Army (IRA) that was used to buy weapons used to blow up civilians and members of the British government, military, and police.

King was an active supporter of NORAID, a tax-exempt front for the IRA. Martin Galvin, King's friend and former NORAID chief, rejected the Northern Ireland Good Friday agreement and supports the agenda of the terrorist "Real IRA."

During the 1980s, NSA's British counterpart, the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), intercepted a number of King's phone calls from the United States and from within Britain, in which his political and financial support for the IRA was discussed. GCHQ relied on Canada's Communications Security Establishment (CSE) to monitor King's domestic phone calls in New York and Long Island since U.S. law, including the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), prohibited the surveillance of King by NSA assets.

King's financial and political support for the IRA coincided with the terrorist group's alliances with Palestinian, Lebanese, Latin American, Basque, Corsican, German, and Breton terrorist groups and the Libyan government of Muammar el Qaddafi. NSA signals intelligence (SIGINT) intercepts demonstrate that Libya and Lebanese terrorist groups targeted Americans in terrorist attacks during the 1980s, while King supported their Irish compatriots with money and weapons.

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Texans to Peter King: Don't Fence Us In

Rep Peter King (NY-3) is quite proud of his idea to build a fence along the US-Mexican Border - "Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., said the separate fence bill was needed to show Americans "we can take meaningful action to secure the border."

But it seems he and his co-sponsers forgot to ask the residents of Texas how they feel about it.

From the LA Times story "In Texas, Little Support for Putting Up Fences."

Few Americans are more fed up with the unending human caravan of illegal immigration — or more familiar with its macabre toll — than rancher Mike Vickers.

But when he considers the wisdom of building twin steel walls along the Rio Grande to seal off the Mexican border — the plan Congress approved early Saturday before heading home for the November election — his verdict is swift and harsh: stupid idea.

"That's just a big waste of money," said Vickers, a Texas Republican activist who heads a group opposed to illegal immigration that until recently was the state branch of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps.

tags: immigration, Peter King , NY-3 , border wall

(cont.)

"The Rio Grande is the lifeblood of South Texas," he said. "A wall is just going to stand between farmers and ranchers and others who need legitimate access to water. It's not going to stop the illegals."

From Laredo to Brownsville, a meandering 200-mile stretch of the Rio Grande that would be walled off if President Bush signs, as expected, the bill to fence 700 miles of the border, reaction was overwhelmingly negative.

Many of these Texas border towns blossomed on the riverbanks not even a football field away from Mexico, a bilingual, binational culture where everyone knows someone on the other side. Here, the fence was widely seen as a federal government misadventure that would trample private property rights without accomplishing anything.

"Whether it's over rivers or deserts — or now, this wall — people will keep coming, as long as they can find a job here that's so much better," said Angelica Garcia, 26, a worker at a shop on McAllen's bustling Main Street that caters to Mexicans visiting Texas. "This wall isn't going to do a thing."

Many expressed shock that a proposal they considered a pipe dream by pandering Washington politicians had been approved, and that a fence they likened to the Berlin Wall could soon separate them from their neighbors.

"For so many years, we talked about tearing down that wall. Now we want to build a wall between us and Mexico? It makes us look like hypocrites," said Denise Carreon, 21, who like many border residents still had family members to the south.

Many others expressed outrage that the Rio Grande, a near-mystical river in the Texas imagination and one of the most prized bird-watching spots in North America, could soon be blocked from view.

"Zero — that's how many people I know who support this. People are opposed from Brownsville to El Paso," said Eagle Pass Mayor Chad Foster, head of a group of frontier leaders called the Texas Border Coalition.

"The Rio Grande is a very historic and scenic place, one of the natural treasures of Texas. We're going to wall it off?"

As Congress approved building the fence, it was hard to find a South Texas politician, merchant, economic analyst or academic who believed a wall would work — and who did not consider it an insult to the people of Mexico, with whom the region shares a strong social and economic bond, especially since passage of the North American Free Trade Agreement.

...Mexican shoppers are a major source of money for Texas border towns, and gleaming malls and vast big-box outlets have been built to cater to them.

Between 1978 and 2001, Mexican shoppers made 26% of all retail sales in Brownsville, 35% in McAllen and 51% in Laredo, according to economists at the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. Local officials said more recent estimates are higher.

"The Wal-Mart with the largest number of retail transactions in the United States is in Laredo, and if you go to that parking lot, more than half the cars have Mexican plates," said Eddie Aldrete, senior vice president for the Laredo-based International Bank of Commerce. "The fence is a knee-jerk reaction by Congress. No one really studied the economic impacts, the environmental impacts."

Ray M. Keck III, the president of Texas A&M International University in Laredo, said the idea of building a wall to deter immigrants ignored the lessons of history, which clearly showed that such barriers do not work unless they are patrolled by soldiers willing to kill. More important, he said, he feared that the expensive proposal demonstrated a lack of priorities.

"Are we really so terrified of what might come from Mexico," he asked, "that we must spend billions to construct this wall, then billions to maintain it, at a time when healthcare and education so desperately need better funding?"

LA Times

From: Peter King Watch

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Pete King (NY-03) takes money from Mosque then calls them terrorists.

Congressman Peter King (NY-03), facing the toughest electoral challenge of his career, has once again turned to the kind of divisive politics that have become his trademark of late. While trying to smear his opponent with charges of ties to terrorism, the fourteen-year incumbent appears to have put his foot in his mouth, managing to alienate and offend the Islamic community and open himself up to charges of hypocrisy and possibly lying all in one fell swoop.

On Sept 7th, King sent a letter to Jewish constituents in his district voicing his “concerns” about a local Islamic Center that he claimed was engaging in “radical and extremist rhetoric” and preaching that the “CIA and ‘Zionists’ were responsible for 9-11.” But these concerns were overshadowed by what King believed was a more pressing problem. These “extremist” according to King were trying to take an “active political role”… by “supporting (his) opponent in this years election.” King stated that as the Chairmen of the Homeland Security Committee it is his job “to protect America from Islamic terrorist” and he felt compelled to let the voters know about the “terrorists” in their mist and the “involvement of radical Islam in the campaign against (him)".

But there’s one little problem for King. He not only accepted sizable contributions from the Mosque's leadership for his current campaign, he’s had a long and friendly relationship with the Center and it's leaders going back for years. He’s contribute to a book about the Mosque, visited in the homes of it’s leaders on numerous occasions, and even attended the wedding of one of it’s leaders sons.


tags: immigration, Peter King , NY-03 , Dave Mejias, Islam, dirty tricks

At first, Kings letter garnered outrage from both the Muslim community and his opponent, Dave Mejias, who posted up details of King’s controversial letter at the popular Democratic blog, Daily Kos, in hopes of raising awareness of his opponents dirty trick. But for the most part the mainstream press has avoided the story.

Now further details of the affair have become available in an exclusive interview with the Islamic Learning Center of Long Island’s Chairmen of the Board of Trustees, Dr. Farouque Khan, obtained by KingWatch, a local watchdog group.

In the interview, published on the groups blog, Dr. Kahn, of the Westbury NY based Mosque, goes into great detail about both his and the Mosques long-standing relationship with the Congressman, and his theories as to why King has chosen to attack the Mosque at the present time.

King Watch: How long have you known Rep. Peter King?

Dr. Khan: Since he was first elected, I believe in 1992 when I visited him, after that he visited my home($$$$), the mosque several times, including a book discussion of his first novel--Terrible Beauty-in which he describes the evolution of IRA and "Bernadette Hanlon" a housewife who becomes a 'terrorist' after her family suffers at the hands of the British etc.
On Aug 13 2001,he wrote on this book: "To Dr Faroque Khan--with my thanks for your friendship--All the best."
This pretty much covers our pre 9/11 relationship, cordial, professional, he sometimes called me and sought my views regarding medical questions and his chief of staff Gene Turner was in regular communication.
Congressman King attended my son's wedding reception as well. I also visited him in Washington when I was part of American College of Physicians-ACP- delegation and shared some ACP proposals regarding healthcare with him.

King Watch: King's comments about the 85% of Mosques being run by "extremists" coincided with the release of his book about muslim terrorists. Do you think his attacks on american-muslims was to increase his media presence and promote his book?

Dr. Khan: For well over a year post 9/11 2001 I was receiving regular mailings and responses from Cong King, his attacks and statements seemed to 'coincide' with the release of his book. If he was aware of statements from me or other's post 9/11 why did he wait for well over a year before speaking out??.

King Watch: King has made charges against you citing an incident at Temple Beth El in October 2001. He says attendees walked out while ou were speaking. What exactly happened and why is King saying differently?

Dr. Khan: As per Rabbi Jerome Davidson, a family left the sanctuary while I was speaking as they were running late for an event to celebrate a kid's birthday etc.
Rabbi Davidson stated this in a letter he wrote to Newsday in 2004 and incidentally Cong King was not present at that event.

King Watch: King contributed to your book "Story of a Mosque in America," saying "My visit to ICLI was memorable couldn't help but be impressed with the work ethic, devotion to family and spiritual commitment so evident at the center. It has been gratifying for me to help build a political awareness in this, the fastest-growing religious group in America."
Why do you think Kings views have changed?

Dr. Khan: I am puzzled and have requested Cong. (King) several times to let us know what specifically is bothering him, he has not responded to several written and personal invites.

King Watch: According to FEC filings, King took contributions from you after his attack on the Islamic Center. Did he attempt to return the contribution?

Dr. Khan: No, and he received and kept a sizable donation from the current president of Islamic Center--Mr Habeeb Ahmed within the past few months, who also invited Congressman to visit and meet with ICLI executive and board.

…

King Watch: How do you feel about Peter King questioning your right to participate in the political process and those of other muslims?

Dr. Khan: He never questioned our rights in the past, in fact his chief of staff Gene Turner gave a session at the ICLI some years ago on how to become effective citizens.

Read the entire interview at: KingWatch

This is not the first time King has relied upon the politics of division.

As a co-sponsor of the House’s draconian anti-immigration bill, HR4437, King faced questions from both the Catholic Church and the Hispanic community over measures in that bill that would criminalize humanitarian aid givers and the undocumented immigrants they help.

Earlier this year King, along with fellow anti-immigration advocate, Rep. Steven King (IA), tried to block the renewal of the 1965 Voting Rights Act on the grounds of their opposition to the bilingual ballot provisions contained in the landmark civil rights legislation.

In August of this year the Long Island Congressman called for the use of ethnic and racial profiling in airport security. “Declaring that airport screeners shouldn't be hampered by "political correctness …King has endorsed requiring people of "Middle Eastern and South Asian" descent to undergo additional security checks because of their ethnicity and religion.”

Then just this last week, King sponsored the House legislation to build 700 miles of wall along the US/Mexico border to prevent to flow of undocumented immigrants into the country. An action widely criticized by immigrants rights advocates and Hispanic leaders.

All of these actions have one underlying theme running through them. Kings unswerving dedication to using race, ethnicity, and religion as divisive weapons in his quest to retain power and influence.

Ironically, King who was placed under surveillance by both the United States and Great Britain for his rabid support of the IRA and his connections to US based groups funneling guns and money to the Irish terror group, is now so quick to label his political opposition and all Muslims in general as having ties to terrorist activity.

Maybe it’s just King’s guilty conscience, for having aided in the death and destruction that went on for so many years on both sides of the conflict in Northern Ireland, that has him now seeing terrorists behind every corner. Unfortunately, it appears that many innocent people might have to pay the price for Mr. Kings troubled soul.

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HR 4437: King promised changes, but none made

Back in late December, in reaction to an outpouring of concern from church groups and humanitarian aid organizations, co-sponsor of HR 4437 , Rep. Peter King (NY) promised that the bill would be reworded to guarantee that aid workers would be free from prosecution.

It appears that Mr King has changed his mind.
more below the fold
Tag: immigration

KING SAYS HE'LL REWORD BILL
Says he didn't mean to target humanitarian groups after outcry over measure aimed at illegal immigration

Newsday Dec 31, 2005
By Bart Jones and J Jioni Palmer
Staff writers

After an outpouring of criticism from churches and relief groups, Rep. Peter King (R-Seaford) said Friday he is willing to reword the legislation he co-sponsored that would have made it illegal to assist undocumented immigrants.

The bill calls for building a 698-mile fence along the U.S.-Mexico border, turning undocumented immigrants into felons and permitting "deputization" of local and state police officers as immigration agents.

But it also included a provision that makes it a crime for anyone to assist undocumented immigrants to "come or remain" in the United States.

Immigrant advocates and officials from churches and relief agencies said this could lead to the imprisonment of priests, nuns, social workers, doctors and Good Samaritans who may provide these immigrants with anything from counseling to a ride to the grocery store.

King said that was never the intention of the provision, which he said targets gangs that smuggle undocumented immigrants into the country.

The measure "is not aimed at humanitarian groups at all," said King, who is chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee. "If there are any specific words they want changed, I can assure you that will be done."

King said the groups were misinterpreting the bill and that "the church is developing a persecution complex here ... If an alien smuggling ring gets a guy into the country and he stops at St. Brigid's at a soup kitchen, we're not going to lock up the pastor of St. Brigid's. They're not part of the smuggling ring."

Some church workers greeted King's words with relief Friday, although they said they were still outraged by the bill in general and do not believe they were misinterpreting its broad language.

"If we can discuss it, excellent," Yanira Chacon, a church outreach worker at St. Brigid's in Westbury, said in Spanish. "The ideal for me is that this bill doesn't pass at all."

Church and immigrant groups call the bill the harshest piece of anti-immigrant legislation in 70 years. Supporters say it would help bring under control a situation of anarchy at the border that has swelled the number of undocumented immigrants in the country to 11 million, including an estimated 100,000 on Long Island.

King said the bill is unlikely to be passed in its present form by the Senate, which he expected to add provisions for a guest-worker program granting temporary visas mainly to low-skilled workers.

However, he did say "a significant portion of it has to become law otherwise no immigration reform bill will pass the House

Newsday (pay link)
alternate link

An examination of the modified bill that was presented to the Senate on January 27, 2006 reveals that no changes have yet been made, and in fact it puts many humanitarian workers in great legal jeopardy.

SEC. 202. ALIEN SMUGGLING AND RELATED OFFENSES.
(a) IN GENERAL- Section 274 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1324) is amended to read as follows:

`ALIEN SMUGGLING AND RELATED OFFENSES
`SEC. 274. (a) Criminal Offenses and Penalties-

`(1) PROHIBITED ACTIVITIES- Whoever--

`(A) assists, encourages, directs, or induces a person to come to or enter the United States, or to attempt to come to or enter the United States, knowing or in reckless disregard of the fact that such person is an alien who lacks lawful authority to come to or enter the United States;

`(B) assists, encourages, directs, or induces a person to come to or enter the United States at a place other than a designated port of entry or place other than as designated by the Secretary of Homeland Security, regardless of whether such person has official permission or lawful authority to be in the United States, knowing or in reckless disregard of the fact that such person is an alien;

`(C) assists, encourages, directs, or induces a person to reside in or remain in the United States, or to attempt to reside in or remain in the United States, knowing or in reckless disregard of the fact that such person is an alien who lacks lawful authority to reside in or remain in the United States;

`(D) transports or moves a person in the United States, knowing or in reckless disregard of the fact that such person is an alien who lacks lawful authority to enter or be in the United States, where the transportation or movement will aid or further in any manner the person's illegal entry into or illegal presence in the United States;

`(E) harbors, conceals, or shields from detection a person in the United States knowing or in reckless disregard of the fact that such person is an alien who lacks lawful authority to be in the United States;

`(F) transports, moves, harbors, conceals, or shields from detection a person outside of the United States knowing or in reckless disregard of the fact that such person is an alien in unlawful transit from one country to another or on the high seas, under circumstances in which the person is in fact seeking to enter the United States without official permission or lawful authority; or

`(G) conspires or attempts to commit any of the preceding acts,

shall be punished as provided in paragraph (2), regardless of any official action which may later be taken with respect to such alien.

`(2) CRIMINAL PENALTIES- A person who violates the provisions of paragraph (1) shall--

`(A) except as provided in subparagraphs (D) through (H), in the case where the offense was not committed for commercial advantage, profit, or private financial gain, be imprisoned for not more than 5 years, or fined under title 18, United States Code, or both;

`(B) except as provided in subparagraphs (C) through (H), where the offense was committed for commercial advantage, profit, or private financial gain--

`(i) in the case of a first violation of this subparagraph, be imprisoned for not more than 20 years, or fined under title 18, United States Code, or both; and

`(ii) for any subsequent violation, be imprisoned for not less than 3 years nor more than 20 years, or fined under title 18, United States Code, or both;

`(C) in the case where the offense was committed for commercial advantage, profit, or private financial gain and involved 2 or more aliens other than the offender, be imprisoned for not less than 3 nor more than 20 years, or fined under title 18, United States Code, or both;

`(D) in the case where the offense furthers or aids the commission of any other offense against the United States or any State, which offense is punishable by imprisonment for more than 1 year, be imprisoned for not less than 5 nor more than 20 years, or fined under title 18, United States Code, or both;

`(E) in the case where any participant in the offense created a substantial risk of death or serious bodily injury to another person, including--

`(i) transporting a person in an engine compartment, storage compartment, or other confined space;

`(ii) transporting a person at an excessive speed or in excess of the rated capacity of the means of transportation; or

`(iii) transporting or harboring a person in a crowded, dangerous, or inhumane manner,

be imprisoned not less than 5 nor more than 20 years, or fined under title 18, United States Code, or both;

`(F) in the case where the offense caused serious bodily injury (as defined in section 1365 of title 18, United States Code, including any conduct that would violate sections 2241 or 2242 of title 18, United States Code, if the conduct occurred in the special maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the United States) to any person, be imprisoned for not less than 7 nor more than 30 years, or fined under title 18, United States Code, or both;

`(G) in the case where the offense involved an alien who the offender knew or had reason to believe was an alien--

`(i) engaged in terrorist activity (as defined in section 212(a)(3)(B)); or

`(ii) intending to engage in such terrorist activity,

be imprisoned for not less than 10 nor more than 30 years, or fined under title 18, United States Code, or both; and

`(H) in the case where the offense caused or resulted in the death of any person, be punished by death or imprisoned for not less than 10 years, or any term of years, or for life, or fined under title 18, United States Code, or both.

`(3) EXTRATERRITORIAL JURISDICTION- There is extraterritorial Federal jurisdiction over the offenses described in this subsection.

`(b) Employment of Unauthorized Aliens-

`(1) IN GENERAL- Any person who, during any 12-month period, knowingly hires for employment at least 10 individuals with actual knowledge that the individuals are aliens described in paragraph (2), shall be fined under title 18, United States Code, imprisoned for not more than 5 years, or both.

`(2) ALIEN DESCRIBED- A alien described in this paragraph is an alien who--

`(A) is an unauthorized alien (as defined in section 274A(h)(3)); and

`(B) has been brought into the United States in violation of subsection (a).

Thomas/Library of Congress

As written, the bill would make activities such as providing undocumented immigrants with food, medical care, counseling, or even transportation to a doctor or grocery store a crime punishable with up to five years imprisonment.

We obviously should not accept Mr. King at his word. Hopefully church groups and humanitarian aid services will not be lulled into a false sense of security by Mr. Kings assertions

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King claims HR4437 not to punish humanitarians: I say prove it

Rep Peter King (R-NY3rd), co-sponsor of HR4437 has claimed he never intended it to target humanitarian groups who aid undocumented immigrants and he will be looking into rewording the bill. It is now time for Mr King to put up, or shut up. He has an opportunity to prove that he respects the rights of those who help their fellow man, or can show himself to be a simple bully who has no real respect or compassion for human life . He claims those who voiced concern with hr4437 over reacted ... I say prove it

(more below the fold)
tag: immigration



The bill which has now moved on to the Senate calls for the reclassification of immigration offenses to federal crime status, permits "deputization" of local and state police officers to enforce immigration laws and allows for “Expedited Removal” and "Mandatory Detention" of undocumented immigrants. It also included a provision that makes it a crime for anyone to assist undocumented immigrants to "come or remain" in the United States.

Immigrant advocates and officials from churches and relief agencies have criticized the bill saying it could lead to the arrest and imprisonment of priests, nuns, doctors, social workers and Good Samaritans who may provide immigrants with anything from counseling to medical care, or even a ride to the store or doctors office.

The recent arrests of the Daniel Strauss and Shanti Sellz in Arizona by agents of the US Border Patrol after trying to take three desperately ill immigrants they found wandering in the desert to a nearby hospital has only confirmed these fears. Strauss and Sellz currently face up to a fifteen year prison sentence for the "transport of illegal aliens."

After the outpouring of criticism from churches and relief groups, Rep. King has backed down and said he is willing to reword the legislation.

King said that it was never the intention of the provision, which he said targets gangs that smuggle undocumented immigrants into the country.

The measure "is not aimed at humanitarian groups at all," said King, who is chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee. "If there are any specific words they want changed, I can assure you that will be done."

King said the groups were misinterpreting the bill and that "the church is developing a persecution complex here ... If an alien smuggling ring gets a guy into the country and he stops at St. Brigid's at a soup kitchen, we're not going to lock up the pastor of St. Brigid's. They're not part of the smuggling ring."

Some church workers greeted King's words with relief Friday, although they said they were still outraged by the bill in general and do not believe they were misinterpreting its broad language.

-snip-

King said the bill is unlikely to be passed in its present form by the Senate, which he expected to add provisions for a guest-worker program granting temporary visas mainly to low-skilled workers.

However, he did say "a significant portion of it has to become law otherwise no immigration reform bill will pass the House."

Now it is to be seen exactly what Mr. King means by "re-wording". As one who was born and raised in Mr. King's home town and lives in his district, I look on with skepticism at anything he does.

Perhaps as Chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee he could call the DHS and intercede on Mr. Strauss and Ms. Sellz behalf. Maybe we should all drop him a note at: Pete.King@mail.house.gov to let him know that one way he could show that we are not suffering from a "persecution complex" would be to make sure that those already facing jail time for the "transport of illegal aliens" while only trying to save lives, were set free. Their hearing will be Tuesday Jan. 10th, so it might be a good idea to reach out to Mr. King ASAP so he has ample opportunity to show us he's not the hypocrite we know him to be.

[UPDATE] You might want to phone or fax him at:

Phone: 202-225-7896
Fax: 202-226-2279

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