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CIS Study on Immigration from the Middle East
Reuters Mideast Immigration to U.S. Growing Fast WASHINGTON (Reuters) –– The number of immigrants to the United States from Middle Eastern countries rose more than seven-fold since 1970 and was likely to continue growing fast despite the attacks on New York and Washington of last Sept. 11, according to a report issued on Wednesday. The study by the Center for Immigration Studies, a think-tank that generally favors imposing more limits on immigration to the United States, said the number had grown from fewer than 200,000 in 1970 to nearly 1.5 million now. An additional 570,000 U.S.-born children had at least one parent born in he Middle East. The size of the overall immigrant population tripled during the same period. Analyzing data from the U.S. Census and the Immigration and Naturalization Service, the report projected that an additional 1.1 million Middle Eastern immigrants would arrive in the United States by 2010, bringing the total above 2.5 million. This figure includes newcomers from non-Arab countries including Iran, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan as well as non-Muslim countries like Turkey and Israel. However, the vast majority were Muslims. Whereas in 1970, only 15 percent of immigrants from the region were Muslim, with most of the rest being Christian, by 2000 around 73 percent of all Middle Eastern immigrants were Muslim. The INS estimates that 150,000, or 10 percent of Middle Eastern immigrants, are in the country illegally. Report author Steven Camarota said the wave of immigration might lead to changes in U.S. policy toward the Arab-Israeli conflict as elected officials responded to the increased importance of the Muslim community. "Interest in coming to America remains very strong in the Middle East even after Sept. 11. In October, 2001, the Department of State received approximately 1.5 million applications from the Middle East, not including Pakistan," Camarota said. "The events of Sept. 11 have led to somewhat higher scrutiny for applicants from that part of the world," he said. "However, this is unlikely to have a large impact on the total flow of immigrants from the region because many individuals have been waiting years to join family members already here and the political freedoms and economic opportunities in the United States remain very attractive." The hijack attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon last September were all carried out by Arab Muslims, several of whom were in the country illegally. The attacks highlighted growing anti-American sentiment in the Arab world. The report said Middle Eastern immigrants were highly educated, with 49 percent holding at least a bachelor's degree, compared to 28 percent of natives. Median earnings for Middle Eastern men were $39,000 a year compared to $38,000 for native workers. ******** Study: Middle Easterners Succeed in U.S. The Sept. 11 attacks have not dampened the desire of people from the Middle East to come to America, according to a study released Wednesday by the Center for Immigration Studies. Middle Easterners remain one of the fastest growing immigrant groups in America, increasing seven-fold since 1970, the study said. A total of 1.5 million Middle Easterners now live the United States, up from 200,000 in 1970. The study, conducted by the center's director of research Steven Camarota, looked at immigration patterns from nations spanning from Pakistan to Morocco, including Israel. Its intent was to provide statistical background for policy makers newly concerned with Middle Eastern immigration in the wake of Sept. 11. Noting high success rates in America for the group as a whole, the study recommended that Middle Eastern immigration not be singled out in the name of national security. "Given limited resources at a time when Middle Easterners have played a prominent role in attacks on the United States, it makes sense to more vigorously pursue Middle Easterners who violate immigration laws in the short-term. But as a long-term policy, this would be unfair," Camarota said. The study was based on information gathered in the 2000 census, which does not track religious affiliation. However, based on stated ethnic and national ties, the study estimated that about three-quarters of Middle Eastern immigrants were Muslim in 2000, up from about 15 percent in 1970. Camarota said this change would have a variety of social effects. At the current rate of immigration, an addition 1.1 million Middle Easterners will move to the United States by 2010. The growing numbers will give the group a stronger voice in U.S. politics, which could in turn affect U.S. foreign policy toward the Middle East, Camarota said. A large number of Middle Eastern immigrants are well educated and financially successful in the United States, the report showed. About 49 percent had bachelor's degrees, compared to 28 percent of non-immigrants. In addition, median earnings for Middle Eastern immigrant men were $39,000, slightly higher than the $38,000 for American-born citizens. About 10 percent of Middle Eastern immigrants are estimated to be illegal aliens, but there was no evidence that Middle Easterners violated immigration laws at rates higher than other immigrants, the study showed. Instead, massive numbers of Middle Easterners continue to apply to come to the country legally. In October 2001, just a month after the U.S. terror attacks, more than 1.5 million Middle Easterners applied to the State Department visa lottery, which awards 50,000 green cards to those who win a random drawing, Camarota said. ******** Mideast Immigrants Up 700 Percent Since
1970 The number of Middle Eastern immigrants to the United States has risen more than seven-fold since 1970 and is likely to continue growing fast despite the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, according to a report issued yesterday. The study by the Center for Immigration Studies, which generally favors imposing more limits on immigration to the United States, said the number has grown from fewer than 200,000 in 1970 to nearly 1.5 million. An additional 570,000 U.S.-born children had at least one parent born in the Middle East. The overall immigrant population tripled during the same period. Analyzing data from the U.S. Census Bureau and the Immigration and Naturalization Service, the report projected that an additional 1.1 million Middle Eastern immigrants will arrive in the United States by 2010. This figure includes newcomers from non-Arab countries such as Iran, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Turkey and Afghanistan as well as from Israel. In 1970, only 15 percent of the immigrants from the region were Muslim, with most of the rest being Christian, but by 2000 around 73 percent of all Middle Eastern immigrants were Muslim. ******** Middle East Sends Many
Immigrants WASHINGTON — Middle Eastern immigrants to the United States are among the fastest-growing groups in America, numbering about 1.5 million in the 2000 census and potentially reaching 2.5 million by 2010, according to a new report by the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS). There are also 570,000 U.S.-born children of Middle Eastern immigrants, and by 2010 that could grow to 950,000, according to the report, which was based on an analysis of census data. The number of Middle Eastern immigrants is a sevenfold increase over 1970, and one key part of that growth has been a gigantic shift from mostly Christian immigrants to mostly Muslim immigrants, said Steven A. Camarota, the center's director of research. He said in 1970 only 15 percent of immigrants from Middle Eastern nations were Muslim; in 2000, about 75 percent were Muslim. At a forum to discuss the center's report yesterday, Daniel Pipes, director of the Middle East Forum, said about 80 percent of Islamic schools, newspapers, mosques and other institutions subscribe to a militant version of Islam. "In its long history of immigration, the United States has never encountered so violent-prone and radicalized a community as the Muslims who have arrived since 1965," he concluded. Stephen Steinlight, a senior fellow at the American Jewish Committee, said the growing Muslim population in the long term could substantially change America's history of support for Israel. "Down the road, that's only going to get worse. The battle's going to be joined at a different level," he said. But Hodan Hassan, a spokeswoman for the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR), defended the new immigrants' rights. "I think you're going to find that people, when they come to this country, are going to have viewpoints that differ with him. When they're going to come, they have every right as American citizens to voice their viewpoints on American foreign policy," she said. Mr. Camarota estimated there are about 3 million Muslims in the United States, with about two-thirds of those being Middle Eastern immigrants or their U.S.-born children and the rest mostly native-born converts. That's less than half the 6 million to 7 million number of Muslims that CAIR and other advocacy groups cite, and far below the upper estimate of 12 million Muslims found in some news reports. "It just doesn't comport with everything we see in the demographic files," Mr. Camarota said. The numbers matter, Mr. Steinlight said: "As an ethnic group in the United States which as every other group seeks to promote its agendas, the good news in the short to midterm is they're smaller." Ms. Hassan, though, said CAIR stands by its estimate of Muslims. She said CAIR's unique connections to Muslim communities and institutions gives them better information. The CIS report found that Middle East immigrants are less likely to own their home, one in five lives in poverty, and almost 23 percent of households headed by a Middle East immigrant use at least one major welfare program. Still, they tend to be better-educated than native U.S. residents — about half hold bachelor's degrees, compared to 28 percent of natives. They also perform as well economically as natives — 30- and 40-year-old Middle Eastern males with a college education have the same median income as natives, and Middle East immigrants are more likely be self-employed. Those were encouraging findings, Ms. Hassan said, pointing also to the data that showed 55 percent of Middle Eastern immigrants have gained American citizenship — significantly more than the 38 percent average for all immigrants. ******** Middle Eastern Immigrants in U.S.
Educated, Prosperous, Study Says (Also ran in Arizona Republic - 8/15) WASHINGTON — Middle Eastern immigrants in the United States are well educated, earn more money than most Americans and are predominantly Muslim, according to a report released Wednesday. They also are among the nation's fastest-growing immigrant groups, according to the report issued by the Center for Immigration Studies in Washington, a think tank that supports reducing the number of immigrants to the United States. The report says the number of Middle Eastern immigrants increased from fewer than 200,000 in 1970 to almost 1.5 million in 2000. The overall number of foreign-born residents in the United States tripled to 31 million over the same period. The report offers a rare portrait of an immigrant group that has received intense scrutiny and negative publicity since the Sept. 11 attacks. The federal government has targeted Middle Eastern immigrants as part of the war on terrorism, and many of the estimated 1,200 people the Justice Department detained after the attacks are Muslim noncitizens living here permanently or temporarily. None have been prosecuted in connection with the attacks. The Sept. 11 hijackers — all from the Middle East — entered the United States on temporary visas. Researchers at Center for Immigration Studies culled census numbers from the last three decades to compile a flattering portrait of Middle Eastern immigrants. The researchers found that nearly half those immigrants had earned a college degree compared with 28 percent of the non-immigrant population. And Middle Eastern immigrants earned a median income of about $39,000, slightly above the $38,000 median for Americans overall. But Jim Zogby, president of the Arab-American Institute in Washington, criticized the report for raising concerns about the growing Muslim population. "They are attempting to scare people by saying the Muslims are coming, the Muslims are coming,' " he said. "These aren't members of Al-Qaida coming into the country," Zogby said. "These are immigrants coming to the United States for the same reasons other generations of immigrants come to this land — for economic opportunities and the chance to give their children a better life than their own." Most Middle Eastern immigrants — 55 percent — are U.S. citizens, the report said. By comparison, 38 percent of all immigrants in the United States are citizens, it said. Researchers for the center also found that most Middle Eastern immigrants are concentrated in California, Virginia, Texas, Michigan and New York. California has the largest Middle Eastern immigrant population — almost 400,000 people. About 10 percent of the Middle Eastern immigrants living in the United States — or about 150,000 — are reportedly here illegally. Researchers counted immigrants as Middle Eastern if they were born in one of 25 countries — Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Syria, Turkey, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Yemen, Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Sudan, Tunisia, West Sahara and Mauritania. Steven Camarota, the center's research director and the report's author, suggested that the increasing population of Middle Eastern immigrants may eventually flex its political muscle by pressuring U.S. foreign policy decisions in the region. "Given their strong interest in Middle East politics, absent a change in U.S. immigration policy, continued Mideast immigration appears likely to lead to changes in U.S. policy toward the Arab-Israeli conflict as elected officials respond to this population's growing electoral importance," Camarota said. ******** Mideast Immigrants' Effect Weighed Demography: Soaring
population in U.S. seen as having major political and social implications (Also ran in San Francisco Chronicle - 8/15, Seattle Times - 8/15, and Boston Globe - 8/16) WASHINGTON — Immigration from the Middle East has been so heavy in recent years — and is expected to continue at such high levels — that it is likely to have significant political and social implications in the United States, some demographers and other experts say. The number of Middle Eastern immigrants in the United States has grown from fewer than 200,000 in 1970 to almost 1.5 million in 2000. The portion who are Muslims has jumped from 15% in 1970 to 73% in 2000, according to an analysis of census data released Wednesday by the Center for Immigration Studies, a Washington-based group that supports limits on immigration. "Their successful integration is more important than people had realized in the past," said Steven Camarota, who wrote the report for the group. However, some groups of Middle Eastern Americans and experts on immigration criticized the report's authors for using the data to try to further their aim of reducing immigration. "The anti-immigrant groups have risen up and discovered they can use the Muslim boogeyman to try to achieve their objective," said James Zogby, president of the Arab American Institute. "It begins with the assumption that Muslims are scary; they are a danger to America. And then it seeks to put together faulty data with bad analysis to prove the point," said Zogby, whose group works for civic and political influence for Americans of Arab descent. However, Zogby did agree with the basic findings of the report: that Middle Eastern immigrants are on the rise and that more of them are Muslims. Zogby and Camarota also agreed that one of the likely effects of having more Muslim immigrants voting in U.S. elections is that U.S. foreign policy toward the Middle East will probably become less tilted toward Israel. "This is an emerging counterweight to the people who feel very strongly about the Arab-Israeli conflict on the other side," Camarota said. "I sure hope it has an impact," Zogby said. "I sure hope it makes our policy more sensitive. It may not alter the policy in every instance, but it does help shape the discussion." The increase in Muslim immigrants was noticeable earlier this year when three Democratic House members from Michigan, where concentrations of Muslim immigrants are high, were among the 21 voting against a resolution expressing solidarity with Israel in its fight against terrorism. Scholars who spoke at a news conference Wednesday announcing the report stressed the possible negative effects from the increase of Muslim immigrants from the Middle East. Daniel Pipes, director of the Middle East Forum, a Washington-based think tank that seeks to promote U.S. interests in the Middle East, said that American authorities have to do more to prevent even a small number of militant Islamic activists from slipping into the country as immigrants, visitors or students. "This is our enemy; we must not let it into our house," he said. He asserted that most of the institutions created by Muslim immigrants are Islamist and are working against mainstream American principles. However, Zogby accused Pipes of misrepresenting Muslim immigrants. "They didn't come here to Islamize America," Zogby said. "They came here for economic opportunity and political freedom — the same reasons other people come to America." Muslim immigrants and their children, who are bicultural and bilingual, are helping American companies expand into the Middle East and assisting the U.S. government in understanding the complicated region, he said. Frederick Denny, a University of Colorado professor whose research focuses on Muslims in America, said that since Sept. 11, the image of respectable Muslim immigrants has been thrown out of focus by the attention to militant Islam. "A lot has been done to reinforce negative stereotypes since Sept. 11, and negative attitudes are more freely expressed," said Denny, who chairs the department of religious studies. "I'm very concerned about this." By contrast, his research has made him optimistic about Muslim immigrants in America and their ability to integrate into the society and make it richer. "Through my research of a dozen or more years, I have seen Muslim communities in America be tremendously valuable human resources," he said. The report found that Middle Eastern immigrants constitute one of the most educated immigrant groups. In 2000, 49% had at least a bachelor's degree, compared with 28% of natives. The median earnings for Middle Eastern men were $39,000, slightly higher than the average for native workers. And Middle Eastern immigrants were more likely to become citizens than other immigrants to the United States. Approximately 55% held American citizenship in 2000, compared with 38% of immigrants overall. ******** Study: Middle East Community Grows in U.S. WASHINGTON – Immigrants from the Middle East have become one of the fastest-growing groups in America, with numbers rising more than sevenfold during the last three decades, a private research group said Wednesday. The number of people from the Middle East grew to nearly 1.5 million in the 2000 census, compared with fewer than 200,000 in 1970, Steven A. Camarota said. Camarota compiled the study for the Center for Immigration Studies, a nonpartisan organization that favors more controls for immigration. Migration from the Middle East probably will reach 2.5 million by the end of the current decade, Camarota predicted. The numbers are important because they point to adjustments ahead for U.S. society, national security and Mideast foreign policy, he said. ''We need to discuss these issues in an intelligent way and not engage in scare-mongering, but nor should we duck the important issues,'' he told a briefing during which he presented a detailed statistical portrait, largely based on U.S. census data, of America's Middle Eastern immigrants. Given their growing numbers, their interest in Mideast politics and their relatively high 55 percent rate of citizenship, Camarota said that Middle Eastern immigrants will grow in influence. ''We are likely to see increased political pressures for changes in U.S. foreign policy towards the Arab-Israeli conflict,'' he said. At the same time, he said, high immigration rates already have ''overwhelmed'' U.S. visa officers, who conduct background checks to screen out potential security risks. Camarota also said that the expanding Mideast population in the United States ''makes it easier for militant Islamists'' to blend in and operate unnoticed. Author and specialist on the U.S. Muslim community Daniel Pipes said most immigrants from the Middle East come to escape persecution or for educational and economic reasons. However, some are extremists who seek to change the nature of the United States, Pipes said. ''Preventing militant Islam from reaching the United States is a very great priority for immigration policy,'' he said. ''This is our enemy. We must not let it into our house.'' Pipes charged that militants control several major Muslim organizations in the United States and cited groups such as the Council on American-Islamic Relations, a national advocacy group founded by a Palestinian. CAIR spokeswoman Hodan Hassan dismissed Pipes' allegation and said that the group has ''widespread support of the Muslim community.'' ''Are we anti-American?'' Hassan asked. CAIR calls for voter registration and asks members to make their voices heard, she said. ''I can't say that no one wants'' to transform America, Hassan said about Muslim immigrants. But she added, ''The vast majority'' come for a better life, just as other newcomers do. She also objected to a ''litmus'' test for screening out ''Islamists,'' as Muslim militants are called by some people. "If you're going to decide who can come in based on whether or not they are Islamist or whatever term," Hassan said, "I find that very, very disturbing." ******** Experts Eye Decline, Shift in Immigration The number of immigrants — at least illegal ones — entering the United States has apparently been declining since Sept. 11. But the number of immigrants from the Middle East is swelling, according to a study by Steven Camarota, research director at the Center for Immigration Studies in Washington. By 2010, the number of post-1965 immigrants and their children from that troubled region could reach 4 million. Most will be Muslim, well-educated, relatively affluent — and voters. "This is going to matter," says Mr. Camarota. Assuming that the Israeli-Palestinian dispute drags on, Washington politicians will face a gradually more powerful voting bloc that will likely be more sympathetic to the plight of the Palestinians. Usually supporting the Israeli side today are 6 million Jews in the US, a group whose numbers are thought to be stagnant. The overall Middle East immigrant population reached nearly 1.5 million in 2000, up from 200,000 in 1970. Many experts keep a close watch on the inflow of immigrants, which, beyond such political implications, has a direct, major impact on the workforce, the housing market, and the economy. The US has a population of 285 million, of which about 32 million, or 11 percent, are foreign born. Naturalized citizens number about 12.5 million, or 40 percent of those who are foreign born. In the 1991-2000 decade, legal immigrants numbered 9.1 million. The Census Bureau also estimates the illegal-alien population in the US to be about 8.7 million. Researchers at Northeastern University put the number as high as 11 million. The illegal-alien population has been rising 400,000 to 500,000 a year. This year, Camarota guesses, illegal entries may drop by 100,000 to 200,000 people. An Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) spokesman, Russ Bergeron, agrees that "undocumented entries" are down. But he doesn't put a number on that. One factor is the weaker US economy. There are fewer jobs for illegals. The word gets back to Mexico and elsewhere fast. Another element is a major effort in Washington to clean up Social Security records. Those of undocumented workers often do not square with the agency's files, and some may be losing their jobs as a result. Also, fewer foreigners are trying to enter the country legally. That number is down about 16 percent since September from the same period a year before. Some of those admitted legally to attend school or work overstay their visas illegally. Further, more of those trying to get in using false documents or other means are rejected. "More of them are caught," says Mr. Bergeron. In June, for instance, the number of inadmissibles was 60,493, up 8 percent from June in 2001. At the Southwestern border, the number of those caught trying to sneak into the US between October and June was down 30 percent from the same months in 2001, to 702,328. Mr. Bergeron suspects stepped up INS border controls are discouraging illegals from trying to enter. Yet Rep. Tom Tancredo (R) of Colorado, back last week from a three-day tour of the Arizona border with Mexico, says some areas are so overrun with illegal immigrant traffic that US troops are needed to augment the Border Patrol. Mr. Tancredo, head of the Immigration Reform Caucus in the House, was told that more OTMs (other than Mexicans), including some from the Middle East, are being spotted by border patrols. Most Middle East immigrants have entered the US legally. Only about 150,000 are illegals, Camarota estimates. And most of those just overstayed their visas. They didn't try to dash across the border. That pattern may be changing a bit as immigrants face stricter inspections at legal ports of entry. This bothers Tancredo. Lax border controls, he says, worsen the danger to the nation from potential terrorists. Though Tancredo's Immigration Reform Caucus has grown from 16 to 64 members since Sept. 11, neither the Republican nor the Democrat leadership is willing to take strong measures to restrain immigration, even against illegals. It's political. Democrats hope to win the allegiance of the burgeoning number of voters of Latin American origin. Last month, House minority leader Richard Gephardt (D) of Missouri announced a bill that would grant legal status to millions of undocumented immigrants who have lived in the US for at least five years and worked for two years. Tancredo calls the bill "a perfect example of pandering to the Hispanic voting bloc." The bill, he adds, tries to "one-up" the Bush administration's proposal of a guest-worker system with eventual legal residency for millions of illegals. Tancredo maintains Republicans are catering to those businesspeople in such areas as restaurants, meat packers, and landscaping firms that often employ a large number of illegals. In the past two years of the Clinton administration and under the Bush White House, the INS has not made a serious effort to prevent employers from hiring illegal immigrants. Raids are out. "Everybody knows it's a joke," says Paul Donnelly, a consultant on immigration policy in Hyattsville, Md. If the number of illegals does slip, as Camarota predicts, it could force some firms to pay enough for their often tough, undesirable jobs to attract American-born citizens. Instead of $7 an hour, a meat packer might have to pay $15. Despite Sept. 11, people from such nations as Iran, Pakistan, Iraq, Egypt, Turkey, and Lebanon are still keen to enter the US with its prosperity and freedom. Each year, the US awards 50,000 green cards to those who win a drawing in a visa lottery. Last time, 1.5 million from the Middle East region applied. ******** Rising Mideast Immigration May Force Big
Policy Shifts If democracy is the rule of the people, doesn't it matter who the people are? A new report on immigration from the Middle East finds that the Mideast immigrant population in the U.S. has grown nearly eight fold from 1970 to 2000. The report projects the same population will almost double again by 2010. That's not including children born in the U.S. to Mideast immigrants. All told, the Mideast immigrant community will grow to 3.4 million by 2010 from 2 million in 2000. Such growth could make securing the homeland a whole lot of harder, says the report's author, Steven Camarota of the Center for Immigration Studies. It could also alter U.S. support for Israel, he says. The immigration system "has a logic and a momentum all its own, creating social forces and trends that really would have been entirely unexpected just a generation ago," Camarota said. "One of the consequences is that we're likely to see increased political pressure for changes in U.S. foreign policy toward the Arab-Israeli conflict," he said. "Opinion polls indicate that Middle Eastern immigrants are very dissatisfied with U.S. policy toward the Arab-Israeli conflict and would like to see less unequivocal support for Israel and much more support for the Palestinian cause," he said. With the growth has come a dramatic shift in the religious makeup of Mideast immigrants. In 1970, just 15% of Mideast immigrants were Muslim. In 2000, 73% were. Peter Skerry, professor of government at Claremont McKenna College, sees little cause for alarm. "There's been a definite tendency to talk about Muslims and Muslim immigrants in the United States as some kind of giant cultural hairball that somehow we won't want to be able to digest. . . . I think that's not the case," Skerry said. "It's quite evident that Islam in the United States is moving in new directions, moving in multiple directions and becoming more and more diverse and more and more fragmented," he said. Daniel Pipes, director of the Middle East Forum, is less sanguine. "Militant Islam is a threat, is a challenge to the United States. Its ambitions are very great. They're not limited to foreign policy, but seek also to change the very nature of the United States," Pipes said. Camarota says Mideast immigrants are among the best-educated immigrant groups in the U.S. In 2000, 49% had at least a bachelor's degree vs. 28% of natives. The median income for Mideast immigrant men was $39,000 in 2000. It was $38,000 for natives. One in five Mideast immigrants and their children live in poverty vs. one in 10 natives. Twenty-three percent used at least one major welfare program in 2000 vs. 15% of natives. The Immigration and Naturalization Service estimates that 10% of Mideast immigrants are here illegally -- about 150,000 in all. Many in the Middle East still want to come here. Some 1.5 million Middle Easterners applied for the State Department's recent "visa lottery," which randomly awards 50,000 green cards to winners worldwide. California has more Mideast immigrants, 400,000, than any other state. The fastest growing Mideast immigrant community is in Northern Virginia, across the river from Washington, D.C. Camarota reports a 180% increase in Mideast immigrants in Virginia from 1990to 2000. Mideast immigrants seek citizenship at higher rates than other immigrants do. Some 55% are U.S. citizens compared with 38% of all immigrants. Pipes says many come with "Islamist ambitions." "Where there are differences between Islam and American ways, the militants want to change America and make it Islamic," Pipes said. That was obvious — before Sept. 11 — from the green-and-white bumper stickers in Northern Virginia that said, "Islam: Ours Today, Yours Tomorrow." "We should also be looking very closely at persons' politics and ideology," Pipes said. "It's imperative we not let in people who hate this country and who would do it harm." Visa applicants are screened for health, wealth and criminal records. But federal law forbids the State Department from keeping out people on the basis of "beliefs, statements or associations." Visitors can be excluded for foreign policy reasons, as when officials from Taiwan are denied visas so as not to offend China. But that excuse is rarely used. "The tool is there," said Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, "but it's very small, it's very narrow and the State Department has to aggressively use that loophole. That's not happening." Camarota says the authority to exclude militants would be little use with immigration at current levels. Consular officials are simply overwhelmed and don't have time to review visa applicants carefully. "The current numbers of people that we are allowing into the country makes that impossible," he said. "If we took in fewer people, we could devote greater resources to investigating the background of each individual allowed in, and it would also mean fewer people to keep track of within the United States." Large immigrant communities help terrorists blend in. They also slow assimilation, enabling immigrants to hang on to their ways.But reducing immigration from the Middle East isn't likely if the Middle East is singled out. "There is no way Congress will exclude one part of the world from green cards to the United States. It's too far from the spirit of modern America," Camarota said. "If we're going to have a lottery, it's going to include the Middle East." His solution? Reduce immigration from everywhere. "The system is overwhelmed by the numbers," he said. "The only way I can see out of that is to bring those numbers down to something much more manageable."
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