As New Yorkers stepped out, on a cold winter morning, at approximate 7.20 am, to start their day in busy Manhattan, a Bangladeshi born, 27 year old man, living in Brooklyn, who had been granted the privilege of a “chain migration” visa, allowing him to reside permanently in the United Sates of America, attempted to create a terror attack on a nation that had opened its doors to him with welcome arms.
Fortunately, the terror attack failed. Authorities state, the Radical Jihad who was travelling through NYC, Port Authority Bus Terminal, subway station, 42nd Street, had a home-made pipe bomb, secured to his waist with Velcro, and zip ties. It detonated prematurely, whilst on his way to Times Square, with a plan, to kill as many people as possible, in the populated vicinity, during the festivities of Christmas.
Luckily, due to the malfunction of the improvised bomb, the suspect only incurred injury upon himself, such as lacerations and burns. These were not serious enough to cause death. Reports state, three other people, in his proximity, suffered minor afflictions, such as severe headaches and ringing noises to their ears.
In a world, where terrorism of this sort is on the rise, one must ask, “how is this ever going to be controlled”? What can be done to stop these random deadly acts of terror from happening on such a regular basis? It is well known that the USA, is a target of such violence, so what must the Department of Homeland Security, improve upon, to safeguard and secure the people of its continent?
Governor of New York, Andrew Cuomo, pointed at the role of technology to deter terrorism, and the prevention of online radicalization. In a statement, the Governor ponders, “ Internet service providers have a degree of information” and continued, “they know what websites to go to”. His suggestion that large technology companies may be able to find easy access into information that leads to the jihadist movement, thus preventing the influence of religious propaganda and violence into the minds of young men.
From a law enforcement perspective, cyber security related to this form of terror, is seemingly a difficult agenda for such technology companies to infiltrate. It is not so easy to access complicated encrypted sites. Seemingly there are over 50 billion devices in the world. The result of shutting down existing terrorist driven sites will not deter the attackers, but force them to discover other methods of communication. According to USA law, there is also the question of civil liberties.
Surveillance efforts have to run deep and the Department of Homeland Security, will need to direct their energies to further extreme vetting of individuals, before allowing them to enter the USA. The jihadist ideology is acutely problematic from a security standpoint.
As a solution to this serious terrorist problem, President Donald J. Trump, has threatened to “crack down”, on “chain migration”, and “diversity lottery”, (foreigners who enter the USA, on H1-B visa, or via family members), replacing the infrastructure of immigration, with a “merit based” system, similar to that which is implemented in Australia and Canada.
The “merit based’ system selects people to enter into the USA, that are “ the best and brightest”, in fact, complimentary to the economic growth of America, while also being suitable candidates, who are willing to integrate peacefully, within the proximity of US National Security.
