The Dept of Homeland Security (DHS) in a memo have admitted that it’s nearly impossible for them to prevent terrorists from using the refugee program to gain entrance to the United States. This is especially true since the DHS accepts the refugees word for it. That’s insane.
From the memo:
“Refugee fraud is easy to commit, yet not easy to investigate.”
Reps. Jason Chaffetz and Bob Goodlatte said in a letter to the DHS:
“The president’s decision to increase overall refugee resettlement — and specifically that of Syrian refugees — ignores warnings from his own national security officials that Syrians cannot be adequately vetted to ensure terrorists are not admitted. Revelations about fraud, security gaps, and lack of oversight have demonstrated that the program is creating national security risks.”
From The Washington Times:
“I have never seen this document before,” ICE Director Sarah Saldana said when shown the memo by Mr. Chaffetz at a hearing Thursday.
The refugee system has always been tricky. Applicants have often quickly fled dangerous conditions and don’t have identity documents with them. They also aren’t being sponsored by someone else, lacking the business or family relationships that help officers in other immigration cases.
Administration officials say they put refugee applicants through the strictest screening of any category of migrants, and said their officers are trained to spot fraud in would-be refugees’ stories.
Mr. Goodlatte, chairman of the Judiciary Committee, had Ms. Saldana before his panel Thursday to testify on her agency’s handling of a number of thorny issues.
She said Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson is getting ready to punish countries that refuse to take back their illegal immigrants, with the first target being Gambia.
Federal law says that when countries refuse to take back their deportees, the Homeland Security secretary is to notify the State Department, which will then refuse to issue visas to that country. The Obama administration and, before it, the Bush administration, have been reluctant to use that power, saying it could disrupt diplomatic relations.