In this case, another category should be defined where the act was intentional, and the long-term eventual outcome was to commit an act of war against the United States, but this effect was not a direct threat to national security. In this case these acts would still be classified as crimes. In order to be classified as an act of terror, there must be an indication of purpose. The purpose must be a direct threat to national security; for example, flying planes into a building would be an act with a purpose to threat national security. Obtaining passports for those intending on flying planes into a building would also be considered to be an act of terror, because this act has a purpose, and is a direct contributor to the compromise of national security. However, committing forgery on papers to enter the United States would not be considered an act of terrorism, even if eventually that person would become involved in some type of plan to attack the United States. The rationale here would be that if the plan was already in motion, planned with others, or even in outline form, then this would...

If the person was forging paperwork to enter the United States illegally and had no current plan of attack but associated with those who did, then this should be considered a crime, not an act of war.
Conclusion

Thus, one can examine the actions taken by the United States against those that commit violent acts against the Untied States. It appears that in some cases, these acts are considered crimes and in other cases, they are considered to be acts of war. A review of the relevant cases indicates that modern terrorism consists of a combination of the two. The roles of each branch of government have changed the definitions as the study of these acts has evolved, but the existing legal categories do not properly address how to react to these incidents. Therefore, new categories that used the factor of intent and purpose to more fully define the categories would implement some order and consistency to the manner in which the judicial, executive and legislative branches treat acts of terror as either crimes or acts of war.…