Couple Indicted in Vermont: Woman Linked to Ressam Faces Immigration Charges
Prosecutors Link Border Arrests: Canadian Woman Has Ties to Wash. Bomb Suspect, 2 Algerian Terrorist Groups
Terrorist Ties? Woman Arrested at Canadian Border: Linked to Possible Terrorist Group
 
The arrest of Ahmed Ressam has put a new focus on the great expanse of the U.S.-Canada border, and the potential for illegal immigration and other activities. That’s how some U.S. authorities on the Canadian border may feel, after Customs agents last week stopped and then arrested Ahmed Ressam, an Algerian national accused of trying to bring bomb-making materials into the United States.
 
Dec. 21 - Canadian officials with the embassy in Washington and at the CSIS - the Canadian equivalent of the CIA - say that there are as many, if not more, individuals who enter Canada illegally from the United States than the other way around. They particularly point out the case of Hani el-Sayegh, who is wanted in the United States for questioning about the bombing of Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia, which killed 19 people. He entered the United States through Boston’s Logan airport and then fled to Canada, from where he was eventually extradited.

Yet, in January, the Canadian senate’s special committee on security and intelligence found that the country's current immigration policy inadvertently rewards people who arrive in Canada illegally. “The majority of refugee claimants make their claim upon arrival in Canada and remain in Canada while their claim is being processed,” it concluded in a report released earlier this year. “It is a means by which terrorists may circumvent our vetting process abroad and enter Canada in search of a temporary or permanent haven.  “Once here, they may conduct fund-raising or other activities in Canada or, in a very few cases, to organize acts of violence in Canada or against other countries.” “The vast majority of people who arrive in Canada and claim refugee status are not detained, but are allowed to circulate freely in Canadian society pending a decision on their status.”