Aliens hiding in plain sight

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Part one of three

SALINAS, Calif. -- For years, Carlos lived in fear as he migrated from one farm to another, pursuing the cash that the picking of seasonal fruits and vegetables provided here in the fertile Salinas Valley. But as time passed, so did his anxiety.

"We were always watching out for the Border Patrol, and we were always afraid," said the 34-year-old Mexican national, chopping lettuce with 20 others. "But not anymore. We're out here everyday, and nobody ever bothers us."

Carlos, who came to America in 1996, is one of the estimated 8 million to 12 million illegal aliens living and working in the United States, who have no real fear of ever being detained or deported. And there's a good reason: No one's looking for them.

"If they can get by us -- and a lot of them do -- they know they can go underground, find a job and disappear -- particularly in the several cities and towns across the country that have large Hispanic populations," said a veteran Border Patrol supervisor in Arizona.

"We get one chance at them, and if they elude us, they're gone."

A monthlong investigation by The Washington Times, which included interviews with immigration-enforcement officers from Washington state, California, Arizona, Texas and Florida, found that the vast majority of illegal aliens flooding into America -- an estimated 1 million a year -- draw little attention once they pass through the "border region," which extends about 60 miles into the United States.

A total of 2,300 federal agents are assigned the task of detecting, detaining and deporting the millions of foreign nationals illegally in this country, who -- besides draining billions of taxpayer dollars a year -- pose a potential terrorist risk in the post-September 11 world.

Nearly half of the 48 al Qaeda terrorists tied to violent acts in the United States between 1993 and 2001 committed significant immigration-law violations prior to those events but were never detained or deported, federal records show.

"Strict enforcement of immigration law ... is one of the most effective means we have of reducing the threat from foreign-born terrorists," said Steven A. Camarota, director of research at the Washington, D.C.-based Center for Immigration Studies.