Mark Krikorian is the Executive Director of the Center for Immigration Studies and a visiting fellow at the Nixon Center. An expert on U.S immigration issues, Mark is a frequent guest addressing immigration reform issues on Fox News, PBS, BBC, C-Span and is a National Review Online Contributor.

Mark, as a new citizen from Australia, it is an honor for me to become an American citizen and something I have had to work patiently towards for many years. Prior to 9/11 I was a big proponent of an open door policy with the Statue of Liberty reaching out as a beacon of hope to the world. Then tragically, terrorists flew planes into our buildings causing causalities and destruction only comparable to the Japanese bombing Pearl Harbor. War was declared on America.

In times of war, policy has to change to address the threat. Some of our nations leaders are still big proponents of maintaining a more open door policy as al Qaeda operatives penetrate our borders to become sleeper cells. I will sum my view up best with a question I posed to one of our great leaders who is unfortunately, still a big proponent of an open door policy, "Sir, would you let al Qaeda park a fleet of naval ships in our port?" He said "Of course not!" I responded "Sir, the al Qaeda do not come in naval ships, but as operatives with merely a suitcase and an often forged passport. In this new war, the operatives are the fleet. So with over 10 million illegal immigrants in the U.S, why aren't we addressing our border control and immigration reform more thoroughly?"

Mark you are a well acclaimed expert on immigration... in fact I was really impacted by the segment you were in on the O'Reilly Factor last night and look forward to your response to some additional questions on the issue.

Please click on player below to listen to this audio interview with Mark Krikorian.