The terrorist, Ahmed Ressam, had been in Canada illegally since 1994. Despite being arrested several times for theft, Ressam remained because Canada stopped deporting Algerians in 1997.
Experts say there are several hundred Algerian gangster-terrorists in Montreal alone.
According to the head of the CSIS, the nature of our society and the related policies concerning refugees and immigrants makes us particularly vulnerable to terrorist influence and activities. The Ressam incident revived Congressional debate over Section 110 of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996, which requires the INS to develop a system for recording the exits and entrances of foreigners. Under pressure from Canada and some northern border states, the Senate voted three times to repeal Section 110, but the House has refused to allow it. Implementation of the exit-entry system, originally slated to be in place in 1998, has been delayed until March 2001. If any Americans are harmed because of the failure to implement Section 110, said Dan Stein, executive director of the Federation for American Immigration Reform, let it be on the heads of INS Commissioner Doris Meissner, who chose not to act on 110, hoping Congress would repeal it, and of Senator Spencer Abraham, who has lead the charge for its delay and repeal.