Two Football Stadiums
A new Census report counts illegal aliens from the Middle East.

By John J. Miller, national political reporter
January 23, 2002 8:35 a.m.

he number of illegal aliens from Middle Eastern countries now living in the United States could fill two football stadiums, according to a new Census Bureau report. Demographers who have studied the 2000 Census say there may be 115,000 people from the Middle East currently residing here.

"It is difficult to overstate the implications of this new report for the security of our nation," says Steven A. Camarota, Director of Research at the Center for Immigration Studies, which studied the census numbers. "While the vast majority of illegals from the Middle East are not terrorists, the fact that tens of thousands of people from that region and millions more from the rest of the world can settle in the United States illegally means that terrorists who wish to do so face few obstacles. We can't protect ourselves from terrorism without dealing with illegal immigration."

The report estimates that the 2000 Census counted a total of more than 8.7 million illegal aliens. It suggests the actual figure may be higher due to an undercount of 15 percent, which would mean the real number of illegal aliens living in the United States two years ago was more than 10.2 million.

The Center for Immigration Studies notes that illegal aliens from the Middle East have been involved in terrorist activity: "Not only were at least three of the September 11th hijackers illegal aliens, a number of past terrorists have also been illegal aliens from the Middle East, including Gazi Ibrahim Abu Mezer, who tried to bomb the New York subway system in 1997, and Mohammed Salameh, who took part in the first attack on the World Trade Center in 1993."