Texas' Cornyn Takes On the Taliban

Texas' own Senator John Cornyn took a bold step in the right direction Tuesday with this letter [PDF file] to Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff:

Dear Secretary Chertoff:

I write to you regarding Sayed Rahmatullah Hashemi, the former Taliban spokesman currently attending Yale University on a student visa.

In 2005, Congress passed the REAL ID Act and expanded the terror-related grounds of inadmissibility. Under current law, an alien is inadmissible or removable on terror-related grounds if he is a representative of any designated or nondesignated terrorist organization. Further, an alien is inadmissible or removable if the alien endorses or espouses terrorist activity or persuades others to endorse or espouse terrorist activity or support a terrorist organization. The REAL ID is clear that the grounds of inadmissibility and removal apply regardless of when the conduct in question occurred.

Mr. Hashemi was an official spokesman for the Taliban, which gave safe haven and other material support to Al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden, and continued to do so even after the terrorist attacks of September 11th. Yet the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) admitted him into the United States on an F-1 student visa. I would like to know what steps the Department of Homeland Security is taking to determine whether Mr. Hashemi was properly admitted and whether the Department of Homeland Security will seek to deport Mr. Hashemi under one of the terror-related grounds of removal.

Way to go, Senator! (Click here to read the entire letter in PDF format. Also, Power Line Blog has more on the Yale Taliban issue.)

Now if we can just get Mr. Cornyn and his honorable compatriots in the United States Senate to take a similar stand on the millions of illegal aliens flooding our borders — including the narco-terrorists who have declared war on our southern border law enforcement officials — maybe we will have a chance to save this great country of ours.

Hat-tip: Rorschach