In an article that reads like something from The Onion, Congressman Louie Gohmert (R-TX) claims to have uncovered a terrorist plot to breed baby jihadists in the U.S.:

Republican Rep. Louie Gohmert, speaking on the House floor last week, cited as his source a “retired FBI agent.” He said the agent explained to him that foreign terror groups are looking to “game our system” by sending pregnant women to the United States to give birth to terrorists-in-training, who would have the added advantage of U.S. citizenship. Of course, the plot wouldn’t come to fruition for decades.

“It appeared they would have young women, who became pregnant, would get them into the United States to have a baby. They wouldn’t even have to pay anything for the baby,” Gohmert said. “And then they would return back where they could be raised and coddled as future terrorists. And then one day, 20, 30 years down the road, they can be sent in to help destroy our way of life.”

This is one of the most creative (not to mention ridiculous) conspiracies I’ve ever heard, but obviously there are numerous problems with it, the most notable being, how exactly is it known that such children would grow up to be terrorists? It’s true that many children can be raised and/or brainwashed to believe certain things, but it’s by no means a given that a child will adopt his parents’ political views wholesale. And even if he is convinced that America is evil, it’s quite another to strap a bomb to one’s chest (or fly planes into buildings, etc.).

Of course, an even bigger question might be, if these women are terrorists and they’re already in the United States, why wouldn’t they go ahead and launch an attack of their own, instead of simply coming here, giving birth, and returning home with the hope that in 20-30 years their little bundle of joy might kill someone? Seems to me if you already have a terrorist on the ground in the U.S., it would be smarter to go ahead and use them to launch an attack today, instead of waiting several decades for their children (who may not even become terrorists) to do so.

I don’t think Gohmert thought this through.