Patterico's Pontifications

12/22/2016

Trying To Track Potential Terror Suspects Over There, And Ending A Visitor Registry Here

Filed under: General — Dana @ 3:37 pm



[guest post by Dana]

While German Chancellor Angela Merkel continues to publicly defend her lenient immigration policies in spite of Monday’s terror attack in Berlin, a former head of MI6’s counter-extremism unit is pulling back the curtain and exposing the difficulties of keeping tabs on the whereabouts of potential terror suspects in Germany:

…Richard Barrett said Thursday that German authorities are finding it virtually impossible to keep track of the 7,000 potential terror suspects roaming around the country.

Intelligence failings have been at the forefront of the public’s mind, following Monday’s devastating truck terror attack on a Christmas market in Berlin, leaving 12 dead and 48 injured.

Not only did German authorities arrest the wrong suspect, but they determined that the actual suspect, Anis Amris, a known supporter of the Islamic State and recruiter for the terror group, had been arrested three times in 2016 alone and should have already been deported. Amris is a 24-year-old Tunisian asylum seeker.

Barrett said it’s hardly surprising that German law enforcement are having a difficult time because they have to continually keep track of 550 “really extreme potential terrorists on the books.”

In total, the number of “live” potential terror suspects roaming around Germany amounts to 7,000. These suspects are believed to have some level of communication with extremist groups and are deemed worth of further investigation.

Merkel doesn’t agree that there is a problem with her anti-terrorism efforts:

[S]he defended her anti-terrorism record and championed the “seamless” cooperation Germany has with other intelligence services.

“We have made considerable efforts in recent years to better meet the danger of terrorism,”

Of course, the simple question is: If the front door hadn’t been left wide open for nearly anyone to enter, would Germany be facing such an enormous and unmanageable problem now?

With that, it was announced today that a visitor’s registry here in the U.S. that was instituted after 9/11 to keep track of immigrant men from mostly Muslim countries, has been scrapped by President Obama:

The original National Security Entry-Exit Registration System, or NSEERs, launched about a year after 9/11, requiring men and boys from a variety of mostly Middle Eastern countries to register with the federal government upon their arrival in the U.S. Registration, which also applied to immigrants from North Korea, included fingerprints and photographs and a requirement to notify the government of any address changes.

But after the Obama administration suspended the program in 2011, the Department of Homeland Security put out a notice Thursday officially removing what it called “outdated regulations” pertaining to the “obsolete” system.

Here is what the notice said:

“DHS ceased use of the National Security Entry-Exit Registration System (NSEERS) program in 2011 after finding that the program was redundant, captured data manually that was already captured through automated systems, and no longer provided an increase in security in light of DHS’s evolving assessment of the threat posed to the United States by international terrorism. The regulatory structure pertaining to NSEERS no longer provides a discernable public benefit as the program has been rendered obsolete. Accordingly, DHS is removing the special registration program regulations.”

The decision by the president comes when terror attacks are increasing around the globe and the official transition to a Trump presidency is just around the corner.

One year ago, then-candidate Trump called for “…a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our country’s representatives can figure out what is going on”.

The president-elect revised the statement in June of this year:

“When I am elected, I will suspend immigration from areas of the world when there is a proven history of terrorism against the United States, Europe or our allies, until we understand how to end these threats,”

After Monday’s attack in Germany, Trump said that the attack was “an attack on humanity and it’s got to be stopped.” When pressed about his campaign pledge to temporarily suspend Muslim immigration [from an unnamed list of countries], Trump responded:

“You know my plans. All along, I’ve been proven to be right, 100 percent correct,” Trump said when asked if the attack in Berlin had caused him to reevaluate the proposal. “What’s happening is disgraceful.”

From the incoming administration’s website:

Suspend, on a temporary basis, immigration from some of the most dangerous and volatile regions of the world that have a history of exporting terrorism.

–Dana

The Ivanka Trump Story And Fake News

Filed under: General — Dana @ 2:03 pm



[guest post by Dana]

Of course, when you consider what’s happening in the world, the harassment of Ivanka Trump and her children this morning isn’t the biggest thing happening at the moment. However, the MSM distorting and misrepresenting a story and making painfully obvious efforts to give cover to select individuals should always be called out. In this case, the individual is a gay, liberal male harasser of women and children. And when media outlets “re-framing” the incident are now Facebook’s official “news checkers,” it seems all the more necessary to point out the distortions.

So, this was Matthew Lasner’s tweet this morning (he has since deleted his account). Lasner makes it very clear that his husband went out of his way to chase down Ivanka Trump so that he could harass her. Not talk to her, engage in conversation, chat or be diplomatic. There is no if, and, or but to it:

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Here is a sampling of the um, adjustments to the story. Remember, too, that there was eye-witness testimony to what took place on the plane. Make note of the words “expressing displeasure,” “allegedly harassing,” “talking to Ivanka,” “questioning why,”

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Let me know if you find any other examples and I’ll post them.

As I said yesterday, fake news, it’s is all the rage.

–Dana

Ivanka Trump And Her Children Harassed By Fellow Passenger On JetBlue Flight

Filed under: General — Dana @ 8:45 am



[guest post by Dana]

It is being reported that Ivanka Trump was verbally accosted by a fellow passenger on a JetBlue flight out of JFK. Trump, who had her three children with her, was berated by a male passenger who not only yelled at Ivanka Trump, but her children as well:

Ivanka was on a JetBlue flight leaving JFK Thursday morning with her family when a passenger started screaming, “Your father is ruining the country.” The guy went on, “Why is she on our flight. She should be flying private.” The guy had his kid in his arms as he went on the tirade.

A passenger on the flight tells TMZ Ivanka ignored the guy and tried distracting her kids with crayons.

JetBlue personnel escorted the unruly passenger off the flight. As he was removed he screamed, “You’re kicking me off for expressing my opinion?!!”

An update was added to the original report:

The husband of the unruly passenger tweeted an hour before the plane took off, *”Ivanka and Jared at JFK T5, flying commercial. My husband chasing them down to harass them.”

Of course, over at the NY Daily News, in their report, “JetBlue passengers kicked off flight over complaints about Ivanka Trump, Jared Kushner,” it’s a bit of a different story:

A Hunter College professor says he and his husband were booted from a JetBlue flight leaving JFK International Airport after complaining that Ivanka Trump and her husband Jared Kushner were on their flight.

“My husband expressed displeasure in a calm tone, JetBlue staff overheard, and they kicked us off the plane,” wrote Matt Lasner, an associate professor of urban studies and planning.

Jet Blue released a statement:

[T]he decision to remove customers is made “if the crew feels the situation runs the risk of escalation during flight.”

I was not able to find any report of the incident on The New York Times website, nor The Washington Post. Sadly, we already know that any hands-off policy with regard to a politician’s minor children (or grandchildren, as in this case), only applies if there is a “D” after their name. Just ask Sarah Palin and Ted Cruz…

Here is husband Matthew Lasner’s tweet, which he has since deleted:

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–Dana


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