9/11: Learn from it, don’t turn it into a slogan

I read the Press coverage of the 9/11 remembrance and Sheriff Bob Norris’s comments about what contributed to the attacks.

I agree with part of what he said. Part.

Our immigration system failed before September 11, 2001. The bipartisan 9/11 Commission made that clear. Some hijackers violated immigration laws, and there were missed opportunities to identify them.

But we need to be careful about turning those facts into something broader than the historical record supports.

The 9/11 hijackers did not sneak across an open border. They didn’t pay coyotes to smuggle them across the Rio Grande. They obtained visas and entered through legal ports of entry — 33 times in total.

The 9/11 Commission addressed this directly: “None of the 9/11 attackers entered or tried to enter our country this way.” Instead, they exploited our legal entry systems.

Immigration enforcement failed. But so did the CIA and FBI. Intelligence wasn’t adequately shared. Watchlists failed. Suspicious travel documents weren’t caught. Airport security failed.

There was plenty of failure to go around.

That’s why Sheriff Norris’s statement that “Not putting America first also contributed to 9/11” troubles me.

“America First” carries a political meaning today, and we all know it. It risks turning the lessons of September 11 into an argument about today’s immigration politics.

We can debate illegal immigration and border security. We should. But let’s do it based on today’s facts, not by reshaping what happened 25 years ago.

Remember what happened. Learn from it. And don’t turn it into a political slogan.

KEVIN BECK

Coeur d’Alene