Al Gore's recent speech in Saudi Arabia had him apologizing for what he called abuses in the post 9/11 detention of illegal aliens with suspected ties to terrorism. He also claims that the Administration is "playing into al-Qaida's hands " by routinely blocking Saudi visas. Which is odd, when you consider that the this Administration, and the previous one actually played into al-Qaida's hands by routinely granting Saudi visas.

Since I actually wrote a column calling for these so-called abuses, [Why No “Ashcroft Raids”?, October 31, 2001] I should point out to the former Vice-President that illegal immigration is illegal, and that the people he refers to as being "indiscriminately rounded up, often on minor charges of overstaying a visa or not having a green card in proper order" were criminals.

Michelle Malkin has been all over Gore, and she refers to her 2003 column [Squawking About Illegal Aliens Rights – Silence About Americans’ Lives] where she wrote

What's more outrageous: that paperwork oversights and overloaded caseworkers led the FBI to hold this detainee for a little longer than necessary, or that hundreds of thousands of such deportation fugitives are considered by Post editorial writers and their ilk as "run-of-the-mill immigration cases" who should be left alone?

The media elite may remain stubbornly oblivious to the dire consequences of winking at violations of immigration laws. The families of the murdered Sept. 11 victims can't afford that academic luxury.

Someone should remind the Vice-President that it's not the illegals and visa overstayer who are detained who kill people, it's the ones who aren't.