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Home Front: WoT

All missing Egyptian students in custody

2006-08-14

The last two of the 11 Egyptian exchange students who failed to show up at their college program were apprehended Sunday in Richmond, Va., customs officials said.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested Mohamed Saleh Ahmed Maray, 20, and Mohamed Ibrahim Fouaad El Shenawy, 17, at an apartment building in Richmond on Sunday night. Virginia State Police and the Richmond Police helped locate the students.

Last Wednesday, one of the Egyptian students was arrested in Minneapolis and two were detained in Manville, N.J. On Thursday, two were arrested in Dundalk, Md., and one was arrested at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago. Three more were arrested Friday in Des Moines, Iowa.

The students were to attend a monthlong program at Montana State University in Bozeman, Mont. A group of 17 students arrived in New York on July 29. Six reported to Bozeman on time.

After Montana State repeatedly tried to contact the missing students, it notified Homeland Security Department officials and registered the Egyptians as no-shows in a system to track foreign students developed after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

None of the students is considered a terrorism risk

Not now - ship em outta here. What great efforts to deny the possibility they were up to no good...call it what it is, ya PC jerks

Posted by:Frank G

#25 I know a band that had a song called, "Somba Deez Dayz".

Posted by: Deacon Blues 2006-08-14 20:50

#24 I hear these boys were accepted to the University of GITMO. Their first class is 'Handcuffs and Shackles 101'

Posted by: airandee 2006-08-14 20:28

#23 Has ANYONE gotten around to finding out WHY they didn't report to the colleges?

Still waiting for an answer on that one, JitH. An informal notification needs to be sent to all Islamic countries letting them know that any violation of visa terms by entrants will result in both a permanent ban of the individual and a reduced quota of visas for that country when they are next issued.

Posted by: Zenster 2006-08-14 18:27

#22 Maybe they just wanted to escape their rat-hole countries and live the good life here. Personally, I wouldn't blame 'em. If they were just being dumb kids, it's too bad their idiot countrymen have spoiled things for them so badly that they're now #1 terror suspects, instead of just dumb kids.

Posted by: ex-lib 2006-08-14 17:28

#21 Honestly, Captain America! It's spelt deez, 'cause of the long e. ;-)

Posted by: trailing wife 2006-08-14 15:06

#20 stoodents dez daze need to be disciplined.

Posted by: Captain America 2006-08-14 12:51

#19 Several of the people they stayed with said the students were hoping to find jobs and stay here. it's possible that really is all there is to it.
We could of gave them a job right theree in Eqypt. Infiltrate Al Queda, and give us info. Be able to pay you better than you'd get just working here.
Besides, if that's all theree is, go through Mexico, like everyone else.

Posted by: plainslow 2006-08-14 12:13

#18 I donno, Jules. I believe my employer scrupously follows the requirements. We did have one guy who came back after the job was completed with a problem that was traced to letting someone use his Social Security card!

C'mon, amigo; I'll bring it right back!

Posted by: Bobby 2006-08-14 11:27

#17 Mrs. Bobby works with high school students from all over the country during the school year for a week in DC. Her favorites are the former-Soviet-Union kids and the Moslem kids (exhange students).

(As an aside, her family had several Japanese exchange students while she was growing up, yet her Father has never forgiven the Japanese for Pearl Harbor. I need to ask him about that apparent incogruity.)

First, they are all very bright and eager to learn. They know more about America than many of the American kids! (who are not all bright and eager - surprise, surprise!)

Second, when they go back after a year in an American high school, they almost all say their perception of the US has changed. Hard to imagine it got worse while they were here, isn't it? Many plan to stay in touch with their host families. (Sadly, almost none admitted their perception of Israel changed.)

Third - some of the kids maintain some contact with their week-long DC "teachers" (and maybe others)and participated in the recent "Orange Revolution" in the Ukraine.

They see democracy at work in the US for a year, then the week of workshops, seminars, and tours in DC sort of drives it home. I met some at their going-away banquet last May, and they were very excited about going home and delighted with what Mrs. Bobby had taught them in a week.

One of the basic principles of the exchange program is that "It's harder to hate someone you know". Maybe if I knew certain MA and CA Senators better.....

Posted by: Bobby 2006-08-14 11:23

#16 Bobby-they may have had the correct documentation, but the socials would not have cross checked, right?

Posted by: Jules in the Hinterlands 2006-08-14 11:18

#15 Final Score : FBI-11, Egyptian Students-0

Box Score:

Posted by: BigEd 2006-08-14 11:17

#14 No. What I'm saying is that one of our construction sites was raided by INS a few weeks ago. 50 were questioned, 40 released, 10 deported. I can assure you that the 10 deported had the correct documentation, and that it was on file in the office.

So blaming the "employers" for the immigration problem overlooks the trade in fake ID's.

Posted by: Bobby 2006-08-14 11:00

#13 ELarson, I came up with an alternative scheme that would leverage the existing Mastercard/Visa software/hardware infrastructure.

The Employer takes individual's ZIP code of residence and their SSN, phones in to an 800 number associated with the government, and punches in the 5 digit zip code and the SSN, and his own SSN (if an individual) or the IRS assigned employer id. The two numbers are combined, stretched to 16 digits, and sent to the computers along with the area code of the caller. If the computer locates the ZIP+SSN, it's a valid ZIP+SSN, because the IRS/SSA would enter the combination into the database when the individual registers or files a tax return. The computer then extracts the ZIP code, compares it with the employers zip code as found in the IRS database using the employer id, and determines if the zip code is within 75 miles of the caller's zip-code (This allows for a long commute). If so, it's a PASS, AND the SSN is temporarily added to the employer's prospective employee data base. He then has a week to send in the paperwork if he hires.

For individuals, they type in their SSN, and the person is assigned to them temporarily.

There may be some loopholes in this system, but the advantage is that the government can create a system by replicating the existing Mastercard system and tweaking the code and database contents. Extra checks and penalties can be incrementally added on later, but the first cut ought to uncover the first 90% of scofflaws.

Meh. The Govt. would then probably still do NOTHING, but now because there would be too many leads...

Posted by: Ptah 2006-08-14 10:57

#12 I had once figured that the system needs to take a name, a birthdate and a social security number as proferred by the prospective employee. The system would spit out MATCH or NO MATCH, figuring that at least a valid SSN that belonged, say, to an anchor baby wouldn't be useful.

Unfortunately, there was this story showing how the Social Security Administration has been issuing SSNs to those unable to work under the category of "non-working". Of course if the card isn't shown to the employer, how would he know whether it is the Working or Non Working type?

I suppose the proposed match/non-match system needs to change to "can work" or "can't work" (for a variety of possible reasons, which the system probably wouldn't be able to tell... 'because of the privacy').

Posted by: eLarson 2006-08-14 10:20

#11 Why would they need work visas? It is well-known that the United States does not enforce its own immigration laws.

Posted by: gromky 2006-08-14 10:16

#10 Goes to show that we need to shake up the way we allow non-nationals to work in the US. Massive penalties for employers who hire them "under the table? A mandatory national database check to clear such workers? Is that too heavy-handed or unfeasible an attempt to try to block potential jihadis from entering the US? What do you all think?

Posted by: Jules in the Hinterlands 2006-08-14 09:53

#9 They work, but under the table. We had a engineering student do a co-op with our company a few years back. He was working in a motel on the side during eves and weekends.

Posted by: Pappy 2006-08-14 09:47

#8 Bobby-are you saying that students coming to the US on student visas are free to work in the US? I understand your point about false documents, but even if they had them on file, it wouldn't change their visa category.

Posted by: Jules in the Hinterlands 2006-08-14 09:38

#7 IIUC correctly they didn't. They possibly figured that here, as in Egypt, there's the official reality and the actual reality.

Posted by: lotp 2006-08-14 09:37

#6 Who needs a work visa? Just get yourself some fake documents for your employer to put in the file and you're good to go.

Posted by: Bobby 2006-08-14 09:32

#5 Did they have work visas?

Posted by: Jules in the Hinterlands 2006-08-14 09:26

#4 Several of the people they stayed with said the students were hoping to find jobs and stay here. it's possible that really is all there is to it.

Posted by: lotp 2006-08-14 09:22

#3 Has ANYONE gotten around to finding out WHY they didn't report to the colleges? I've not seen one word about it in the news for any of these students.

Posted by: Jules in the Hinterlands 2006-08-14 09:10

#2 The god of the LLL, PC, is aiding the enemy and literally killing us. What stupidity and foolishness.

Posted by: JohnQC 2006-08-14 08:35

#1 probally just needed "Mapquest"

Posted by: plainslow 2006-08-14 08:34

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