Lessons for American Border Security

Washington, D.C., Nov. 05, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) --

The Center for Immigration Studies will host a panel discussion Wednesday, November 6, on how migration and terrorism have combined to be a destructive force in Europe and what America can learn from the European experience. The starting point for conversation will be a Center report documenting Europe's migrant terrorism experience, analyzing the U.S. threat, and proposing U.S. border security improvements. 

Todd Bensman, senior national security fellow at the Center, said, "What has happened in Europe – an outbreak of terrorist acts by asylum-seeking migrants who were systematically smuggled over its land borders – should finally be widely acknowledged as proof-of-concept that unguarded land borders and broken border management systems anywhere are vulnerable to a new terror travel tactic. The concept is no longer theoretical and warrants more thorough study so that lessons can be learned and applied to American border security and immigration policy."

When: Wednesday, November 6, 2019, at 9:30 a.m.

Where: National Press Club, Zenger Room, 529 14th St. NW, 13th Floor, Washington, D.C.

Stream: Facebook Live, YouTube Live

Participants:

TODD BENSMAN serves as the Center's Senior National Security Fellow. Prior to joining CIS, Bensman worked at the Texas Department of Public Safety's Intelligence and Counterterrorism Division. Bensman has more than 20 years of experience as an award-winning journalist covering national security topics, with particular focus on the Texas border.

JAMES G. CONWAY served as a special agent for the FBI focused on international terrorism for over 25 years. After 9/11, he was appointed Program Manager of Counterterrorism and Counter-intelligence in the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City. There, he established a national security program that focused, in part, on the threat of "special interest alien" migration from Muslim-majority countries across the U.S. southern border.

ROBIN SIMCOX currently serves as Margaret Thatcher Fellow for The Heritage Foundation, where he specializes in counterterrorism and national security. Simcox authored "The Asylum-Terror Nexus: How Europe Should Respond," a study of migrants who applied for asylum in Europe and went on to conduct terror attacks.

Marguerite Telford, Director of Communications
Center for Immigration Studies
202-466-8185
mrt@cis.org