Ashcroft Urges Stricter Laws to Jail Alien Suspects Longer

Price, Joyce Howard, The Washington Times (Washington, DC)

Byline: Joyce Howard Price

Attorney General John Ashcroft says that new terrorist attacks on the United States are likely, and that Congress needs to pass legislation that keeps illegal aliens with ties to terrorists in jail.

"We've arrested and detained almost 500 people [since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks], and we do that for people who are out of [immigration] status - they've violated the law. We need the ability to keep them in jail and not have them bonded out," Mr. Ashcroft said in an interview yesterday on CNN's "Late Edition."

He made the same argument in an appearance on CBS' "Face the Nation," saying that illegal aliens "who have links to those who are part of a terrorist network . . . pose an increased risk."

"We've got to find a way to keep them in jail . . . we don't want them on the streets," Mr. Ashcroft said.

But members of Congress on both sides of the aisle say …

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Publication information: Article title: Ashcroft Urges Stricter Laws to Jail Alien Suspects Longer. Contributors: Price, Joyce Howard - Author. Newspaper title: The Washington Times (Washington, DC). Publication date: October 1, 2001. Page number: 1. © 2009 The Washington Times LLC. COPYRIGHT 2001 Gale Group.

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