Chertoff warns of EU terrorists

European terrorists are trying to enter the United States with European Union passports, and there is no guarantee officials will catch them every time, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said.

In his last scheduled appearance before the House Homeland Security Committee, Chertoff said that the more time and space Al Qaeda and its allies have to recruit, train, experiment and plan, the more problems the U.S. and Europe will face down the road.

“The terrorists are deliberately focusing on people who have legitimate Western European passports, who don’t appear to have records as terrorists,” Chertoff said. “I have a good degree of confidence we can catch people coming in. But I have to tell you . . . there’s no guarantee. And they are working very hard to slip by us.”

Chertoff and other intelligence officials have delivered similar warnings before, and he offered no new information about specific threats or an imminent attack.