Canada's Immigration Laws Draw New Scrutiny

T O R O N T O,   Sept. 26 -- It's the world's longest undefended border, and someone wanting to do harm to the United States would have little trouble getting across it.

U.S. and Canadian officials say members of terrorist groups have taken advantage of Canada's loose immigration laws to enter Canada, then slip into the United States.

"Canada is regarded, not incorrectly, by terrorist organizations as a launching pad for operations against the U.S.," said David Harris, a former official with the Canadian Security Intelligence Service.

Canadian intelligence officials acknowledge that there are 50 known terrorist organizations — including Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda — with members inside Canada.

But only since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on targets in New York and Washington have Canadian citizens realized how often the country's open policy toward immigration has been abused.

"We knew these people were in Canada. We knew they might well be involved in planning operations beyond Canadian borders and we did fundamentally nothing about that," said Wesley Wark of the University of Toronto.

Little Fear of Being Pursued

Every year nearly 30,000 foreigners who arrive in Canada claim refugee status. They can remain in the country for years while the courts decide their cases. Many who are turned down stay anyway, with little fear of being pursued.

Ahmed Ressam lived in Montreal for years, even though he was facing a deportation order. He was arrested by U.S. officials in 1999.

Ressam, an Algerian convicted of terrorism last month for trying to bring a carload of explosives into the United States from Canada, allegedly was part of a plot to blow up Los Angeles International Airport.

A more recent case involves Nabil Al-Marabh, linked by investigators to two of the suspects in the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center. In June, Al-Marabh was caught trying to enter the United States with a fake passport. Criminal charges were filed against him and he was released by Canadian authorities.