Topic: Newsmax
An Oct. 17 Newsmax article by David Patten promoted an ad campaign by the anti-Obama National Republican Trust PAC that will highlight Barack Obama allegedly "embrac[ing] the idea of giving driver’s licenses to any illegal immigrant who wanted one." The article is illustrated by a shot of 9/11 hijacker Mohamed Atta's Florida driver's license and notes, "In the aftermath of 9/11, authorities reported that the 19 terrorists involved in the attacks had obtained 13 driver’s licenses, plus 21 federal or state-issued ID cards."
But Atta didn't enter the United States illegally; he arrived on a tourist visa, which he later applied to have changed to a student visa (during which time his tourist visa expired, meaning that he was technically in the U.S. illegally at the time of the attacks). That student visa application was approved in 2002.
Indeed, all of the 9/11 hijackers entered the U.S. legally on visas, though several had overstayed time limits, making them technically illegal at the time of the attacks.
