Chicago terror suspect sought to bring people into United States

A Chicago businessman linked to a terror plot to attack a Danish newspaper that published controversial cartoons about the Prophet Muhammad spoke about ways to bring people into the United States under false pretenses, local media reported Tuesday.

According to a new federal government filing in the case, prosecutors seeking to keep Tahawwur Hussain Rana in custody said Rana communicated with a person affiliated with the Pakistani group Lashkar-e-Taiba about such arrangements.

Rana, the owner of an immigration business and a Grundy County meat processing plant, was arrested last month after raids connected to the terror investigation.

Rana allegedly e-mailed a Lashkar-e-Taiba associate in December2008 to give advice about using a "loophole" in American immigration policy.

"Whenever you find easy way to come to US immediately think there is a catch to it," Rana allegedly wrote. "Only one loophole is business, which they believe is OK and intelligence can play a role."

In a defense filing earlier Tuesday, a lawyer for Rana said as much as 1 million U.S. dollars could be posted for his release. Rana has been a lawful citizen of Canada and has lived in the U.S. for ten years without incident, according to that filing.

Source: Xinhua