Officials said the immigrants were sought as translators and analysts in
Arabic, Farsi and Pashtu. They said some of the most promising recruits
would be offered to become operational officers and directed to infiltrate
Al Qaida cells.
On May 16, the U.S. intelligence community, with 100,000 employees,
invited more than a dozen immigrant representatives to win their support for
the recruitment drive. But officials and immigrant representatives said many
new arrivals in the United States feared deportation as well as retaliation
by their native countries.
"We are going to ask you to open up your communities to us," U.S.
Assistant National Intelligence Director Ronald Sanders told the community
leaders.
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Bassem Youssef.
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Officials said the U.S. intelligence community has been hampered by a
shortage of translators and analysts in languages used by Al Qaida. They
said many American-born personnel were often stumped by slang, references to
the Koran and dialects.
"FBI managers rely exclusively on translation services," Bassem Youssef,
unit chief of the FBI's Communications Analysis Unit, told a House Judiciary
subcommittee on May 21.
In contrast, the children of immigrants were said to be suitable for
fast-track language instruction. Officials said children of immigrants could
learn their parents' language within 16 weeks. Those without close immigrant
relatives would need at least 63 weeks.
In 2008, the U.S. intelligence community shelved a ban on
first-generation Americans with direct family ties abroad. But officials
said the screening of immigrant recruits could take several years.
National Intelligence Director Michael McConnell has proposed that the
security clearance process be limited to 60 days. McConnell stressed to
immigrant representatives that the intelligence community was becoming more
sensitive to Islam.
"We try not to refer to 'jihad' as something that's bad," McConnell
said.