Questions Asked in US Over Vetting Process for Refugees
Still from the Department of Homeland Security's video. (Photo: © Screenshot DHS)
U.S. Senator Jeff Sessions (R-AL) published a list of 12 vetted refugees who were later arrested in connection with Islamist terrorism, despite passing government checks.
“This list — which only covers 2015 and not the many jihadis from prior years — illustrates just how incapable our government is of vetting refugees or predicting post-entry radicalization.” a Hill aide told Breitbart News.
President Barack Obama has come under personal attack for the way in which he explained the government’s Syrian refugee’s policy. “He’s a father. I don’t understand why he can’t look into the camera and say, ‘If you’ve got kids traveling home for the holidays, I understand you might be afraid to put them on an airplane. You don’t have to be and here’s why’” said a former White House communications director under George W. Bush, Nicole Wallace.
The administration issued 680,000 visas to immigrants from Muslim majority countries over the past five years and wants to issue 100,000 to refugees from Syria.
So far Washington plans on absorbing 10,000 Syrian refugees this year. Last week the governors of 27 states came out to publicly oppose the settlement of Syrian refugees in their states.
A recent poll, conducted by McLaughlin & Associates on behalf of a right-wing organization, indicated 84 percent of likely 2016 voters considered immigration from the Middle East to be "dangerous" for America.
Others argue the process is already extremely rigorous. Arnesa Buljusmic-Kustura 26, from Bosnia, recounted the vetting process she went through in order to gain refugee status in the United States in a widely publicized series of 50 tweets. She is now the executive director of the Bosniak American Association of Iowa.
“I know these people, what they’re going through, how they are when they actually get to America” she said of the refugees. “These are good people, they’re hard-working people. They just want a chance to survive.”
The Department of Homeland Security sought to assuage worries with the release of an animated video explaining the vetting process through which refugees are allowed into the country.
“It’s important to remember, we’re focused on admitting the most vulnerable Syrians -- this means mostly women, children and families," Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson said. "Second, anyone who applies for and is approved for refugee status in the United States, including Syrians, must first go through a rigorous security screening process.”
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