THE Clinton administration has made the crisis created by the wave of Chinese illegal immigrants flooding into the United States a matter of national security.
The White House has ordered the National Security Council, an agency with sweeping powers, to take control of efforts to stem the flow and, as the crisis deepens, a senior law enforcement official revealed that an AWAC surveillance plane was on call to help track the illegal influx.
A senior Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) official confirmed US$500,000 (HK$3.86 million) had been transferred to INS investigations, the group overseeing anti-smuggling units worldwide.
''This has become a national security issue,'' an INS official said. ''The National Security Council is now co-ordinating'' the government response.
Measures will include increased surveillance of suspect vessels overseas and along US coasts, tightened law enforcement by detaining all arrivals unless they are minors or in need of medical treatment, working with Asian governments to monitor and discourage the refitting and use of freighters and fishing trawlers for smuggling operations, and the review of laws and procedures on exclusion and deportation.
The moves come as Washington is groping for a strategy to cope with 20, perhaps 40, more ships on the high seas only a week after a decrepit freighter crammed with illegals ran aground in New York.
