Terror charges inflame refugee debate

[Common]

Federal terrorism charges lodged against two Iraqi refugees living in Texas and California added new fodder to a national debate over U.S. plans to accept thousands of refugees fleeing war-torn Syria and the violent Islamic State, which has sought to take its fight to Europe and much of the west.
Within hours after court documents were unsealed late Thursday, Republican lawmakers seized on the cases of Omar Faraj Al Hardan, 24, in Houston, and Aws Mohammed Younis al-Jayab, 23, in Sacramento, as new exhibits in their efforts to either subject Syrian and Iraqi refugees to unprecedented scrutiny or block their re-settlement in the United States altogether.
“While I commend the FBI for their hard work, these arrests heighten my concern that our refugee program is susceptible to exploitation by terrorists,” House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Michael McCaul, R-Texas said Friday.“The president has assured us that individuals from Iraq and Syria receive close scrutiny, but it is clearly not enough.''

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, said the additional vetting represented the "tallest of tasks'' for federal authorities.
"For the sake of national security, the president needs to heed the calls from the American people and rescind his proposal to admit thousands of Syrians through the Refugee Resettlement Program,” Grassley said in a statement Friday.


http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2016/01/08/terror-charges-inflame-refugee-debate/78512788/

[Peter1469]

What was Trump's suggestion again?

[waltky]

A true patriot...
:cool2:
Rep. Collins: Speeding Up Syrian Refugee Applications Is ‘A Threat to Our National Security’
April 13, 2016 – The Obama administration’s fast-tracking of Syrian refugee applications is “a threat to our national security,” Rep. Doug Collins (R-Ga.) said on Tuesday.


Collins was responding to reports that processing time for Syrian refugee applications has been cut to three months – down from the standard 18-24 months – as part of a “surge” aimed at reaching President Obama’s target of admitting 10,000 in fiscal year 2016. “Accelerating the timeline to admit and resettle refugees from countries that are hotbeds of terrorism is a threat to our national security,” he said in a statement. “Despite serious risks, the Obama administration decided being politically correct is more important than the safety of the American people.” “Abruptly dropping the amount of time it will take to vet people raises serious concerns that there will be a less comprehensive process that will not screen out those seeking to take advantage of our system.” Collins said in the light of recent terrorist attacks in Brussels and elsewhere, the U.S. needs to be more cautious than ever. “Now is not the time to make our vetting process less secure by rushing decisions.”

With less than six months of FY 2016 to go, fewer than 14 percent of the 10,000 Syrian refugees have been admitted. Against that background, the State Department launched a three-month “surge” operation in Amman, Jordan on February 1, according to U.S. Ambassador Alice Wells. Running through April 28, the program aims to achieve “President Obama’s directive to send 10,000 Syrian refugees to the United States by September 30, 2016, while also ensuring that every refugee accepted by the United States has been thoroughly screened and vetted through our rigorous security process,” Wells told journalists last week. Regional refugee coordinator Gina Kassem said officials in Amman were interviewing 600 applicants a day, and that the resettlement process has been reduced from the standard 18-24 months, to three months.

In response to queries about the significant time reduction, a State Department official rejected the notion that security screening would be compromised. “All applicants will still be subject to the same stringent security and medical requirements that apply to all applicants for U.S. refugee resettlement,” the official told CNSNews.com. “All other necessary procedures will remain unchanged.” “While this surge and other efforts will decrease the overall processing time for individual families, the average processing time worldwide remains 18-24 months,” the official said. “As we said, neither this surge nor any of our efforts to expand processing capacity curtail any aspects of the security, medical, or other screening.” The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS/ISIL) terrorist attacks in Paris last November stoked fresh fears that terrorist groups would use refugee admissions programs to infiltrate members into Western countries.

Prosecutors said two of the Paris attackers had evidently entered Europe through Greece, posing as refugees fleeing from the Syrian conflict. The French government warned European partners that “some terrorists are trying to get into our countries and commit criminal acts by mixing in with the flow of migrants and refugees.” Director of National Intelligence James Clapper would later tell a Senate committee that ISIS is indeed “taking advantage of the torrent of migrants [entering Europe] to insert operatives into that flow.” In a letter to Obama shortly after the Paris attack, Collins urged a suspension of all Syrian and Iraqi refugee admissions “until your Administration creates both a truly thorough vetting process to identify individuals who pose a security threat and an extensive monitoring process for all relocated refugees that ensures Americans are safe from potential threats.”

Last month the House Judiciary Committee approved in a 18-9 vote the Refugee Program Integrity Restoration Act, which sets a cap of 60,000 refugee admissions from all countries each year – down from the goals of 85,000 and 100,000 set by Obama for FY 2016 and FY 2017. The GOP-drafted legislation would also prevent the president from changing the number of refugee admissions without congressional approval, require regular screening for resettled refugees until they become lawful permanent residents, and prioritize religious minorities fleeing religious persecution. As of this week, of the 1,366 Syrian refugees admitted into the U.S. since the beginning of FY 2016, 97.3 per cent are Sunni Muslims, 1.9 percent are Shi’a and other Muslims, and 0.6 percent are Christians.

http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/patrick-goodenough/rep-collins-speeding-syrian-refugee-applications-threat-our-national

See also:

The West's Terrorist “Catch and Release” Program
April 13, 2016 - Virtually every suspect involved in recent Brussels bombing had been tracked, arrested, in custody – either by European security agencies or the agencies of their allies – but inexplicably released and allowed to carry out both the Brussels attack as well as the Paris attack that preceded it.


So obvious is this fact, that the Western media itself admits it, but simply dismisses the obvious and deeper implications such facts pose by claiming it is merely systemic incompetence. The Wall Street Journal would admit that the recently arrested “man in the hat” also known as Mohamed Abrini, was also arrested for suspected terrorist activity – allegedly scoping out potential targets in the UK – but also – like his collaborators – inexplicably released. His brother had been to Syria where he fought and died alongside the so-called “Islamic State” (ISIS), and Abrini himself too appears to have been in Syria.


https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kIYIkXig7CI/VwoNyqbSWUI/AAAAAAAANHs/U09nhNPQvdYcZGsE9VQAO7w0xDlPgmBRA/s640/bangkok-thailand-bomb-explosion.jpg

The Wall Street Journal’s article, “Brussels Suspect Mohamed Abrini: What We Know,” reports that:

After the U.K., Mr. Abrini traveled to Paris and then Brussels, where he was arrested but then released, according to the two people. But Belgian authorities passed the information about his U.K. trip, including images found on his phone, to the British, the sources said.

Abrini’s case of “catch and release” before carrying out a successful string of deadly attacks across Europe, is just the latest.

West’s ISIS Catch & Release Program (http://www.globalresearch.ca/the-wests-terrorist-catch-and-release-program/5519960)

[Peter1469]

We have a current thread that shows the regime is pushing through 10,000 in break neck speed time.

[William]

It is possible that one or two would-be terrorists may be patient enough to wait around in refugee camps for 18 - 24 months on the off chance of getting into Australia, the UK, the USA, or an European nation, but it would be much easier to get a tourist visa, fly there, and disappear.

[Peter1469]

It is possible that one or two would-be terrorists may be patient enough to wait around in refugee camps for 18 - 24 months on the off chance of getting into Australia, the UK, the USA, or an European nation, but it would be much easier to get a tourist visa, fly there, and disappear.

When ISIL captured Raqqa they gained control over two passport printers and 33000 blanks. Unless you know the number sequence of those blanks they are basically official Syrian passports.

[William]

When ISIL captured Raqqa they gained control over two passport printers and 33000 blanks. Unless you know the number sequence of those blanks they are basically official Syrian passports.

That just makes it easier to get a tourist visa 'legitimately', than to sit around in a refugee camp for a year or two. :smiley:

[Peter1469]

That just makes it easier to get a tourist visa 'legitimately', than to sit around in a refugee camp for a year or two. :smiley:

Yes it does. The FBI thinks around 500 of those passports are in the US now. Several thousand in Europe.

But we know that the camps have IS supporters and fighters in them. Even the FBI director told Congress this.

[zelmo1234]

It is possible that one or two would-be terrorists may be patient enough to wait around in refugee camps for 18 - 24 months on the off chance of getting into Australia, the UK, the USA, or an European nation, but it would be much easier to get a tourist visa, fly there, and disappear.

Of course it would, but then you would be on the radar, where if you come as a Refugee, then you can move about freely and will have the protection of the administration to plan your attack, Anyone that tries to investigate you will be called racist. So if you want to kill more than a few people it is far better to wait. Look how long they planned the 911 attacks

[MisterVeritis]

It is possible that one or two would-be terrorists may be patient enough to wait around in refugee camps for 18 - 24 months on the off chance of getting into Australia, the UK, the USA, or an European nation, but it would be much easier to get a tourist visa, fly there, and disappear.
When you come as part of Obama's Islamic Army, the American citizens will pay you well so that you have time to develop your murderous plots. If you come on a visa you must self-fund.