Border Security Gaps Worry U.S. Officials

July 30, 2004 -- The U.S. government has become increasingly concerned that al Qaeda might try to exploit security gaps at the nation's borders, especially the Mexican border, ABC News has learned.

Concerns about border security were highlighted on July 19, when officials at McAllen-Miller International Airport in southern Texas arrested a woman suspected of having ties to al Qaeda.

Farida Goolam Mohamed, who had an airplane ticket to New York, was stopped when a Border Patrol agent noticed several pages of her South African passport had been removed. Officials also said her clothing was dirty and muddy, suggesting she might have recently crossed the nearby Rio Grande, the river separating Mexico and Texas.

The arrest is one reason why U.S. officials are increasingly concerned al Qaeda may try to smuggle terrorists into the United States from Mexico.

"Al Qaeda has recognized that one of our vulnerabilities is our [in]ability to completely seal and control access through Mexico," said ABC News consultant Jerry Hauer, former director of New York City's Office of Emergency Management.

Border Crossings Are Vulnerable, Experts Say

The 2,000-mile-long border with Mexico is virtually impossible to defend, officials said. And sources tell ABC News there is new intelligence that al Qaeda wants to smuggle terrorists across it.

It's well known that many Central Americans have been illegally coming across the U.S.-Mexican border. Now the U.S. government estimates that a quarter-million illegal aliens — not only from Central America, but also Africa and the Middle East — have been coming across the southern border each year.

Last month, customs officers at Miami's airport arrested an Egyptian national on charges of smuggling people from the Middle East through Central America into Mexico, and then into the United States.