There has been a lot of verbiage flung around Washington in recent weeks concerning the idea that the government can “vet” shady characters from the Muslim world. The Trump administration declared a time-out to sort through how the government can identify jihadists among the mobs of immigrants and refugees who regard it as their right to visit and live in the United States.

Today’s report about a dangerous Iraqi soldier admitted to the United States and then released shows that screening procedures have a long way to go. Plus, hundreds of other refugees are being investigated by the FBI for terrorism. What’s wrong with this picture? And why isn’t there a photo of the escaped Iraqi soldier?

 

Here’s a brief video report:

HEATHER CHILDERS: Senator Ron Johnson wants to know why a Texas Joint Terrorism Task Force couldn’t pursue the case of an Iraqi refugee who entered this country under a fake name when it is believed that he fought against US troops in Iraq. National correspondent William La Jeuneese has more on this breaking story. William, this just makes you shake your head.

WILLIAM LA JEUNESSE: You know how the administration claims this travel ban is necessary because of the inability to properly vet people from certain Middle Eastern countries. Well now comes this terrorism investigation that illustrates that point, so the chairman of the Senate Homeland Security Committee Ron Johnson of Wisconsin has written this letter to the Attorney General asking about a man who entered the US as an Iraqi refugee who later became the subject of an investigation by the Joint Terrorism Task Force in San Antonio. Now according to the letter, and I’m quoting, “This individual allegedly fought against American troops as an insurgent in Iraq and at some point entered the country as a refugee under a false alias.” So the vetting didn’t work. The JTTF then tracked down the Navy SEAL who captured this man for a positive ID who said the Iraqi boasted at the time of killing US troops.

Ultimately he was released and made his way here to the US under a false name. Well now here is the second shocking part of the story: when the US attorney for the western district of Texas sought to prosecute this refugee, it got turned down by an attorney at the main Justice Department because, we are told, it would make Hillary look bad and confirm what candidate Donald Trump was saying was accurate. Now that Iraqi is gone and they don’t know where he is. Johnson said the case demonstrates the risks involved with getting people with little documented history in these countries where there is no paper trail. The Homeland Security Department, as you know Heather, recently said nearly a third of the 1000 FBI domestic terrorism cases involved those admitted to the US as refugees.

Notice that last bit? Hundreds of refugees are being investigated by the FBI for terrorism, yet we are supposed to open our borders up even further. Details on that item: 300 refugees subjects of FBI terror investigations, U.S. officials say, March 6, 2017

Why must the US accept any refugees or immigrants from Muslim nations at all? As a group they are clearly a national security threat. During WWII the US did not have immigration from Germany or Japan, yet now the big Washington brains still pretend we are not at war with Islam — while Islam is at war with us. This level of denial is criminal. Bad things will happen because of this insanity.

Back to the immediate subject, here is a longer explanation:

Lawmakers probe claim DOJ aided Iraqi terror suspect days before November election, Fox News, March 8, 2017

Federal lawmakers are investigating the possibility that senior Department of Justice officials interfered in a terrorism probe involving a refugee just prior to the November election in an effort to deny campaign momentum to Donald Trump, Fox News has learned.

The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee has launched a formal inquiry into the San Antonio, Texas, case, in which a terror suspect’s pending arrest was allegedly spiked just over a week before the election. Trump had run on a tough-on-terror platform and had been critical of President Obama’s refugee policy.

“When [Joint Terrorism Task Force]-San Antonio and the U.S. Attorney’s office for the Western District of Texas sought to prosecute this refugee, the local law enforcement and prosecutors allegedly ‘met resistance’ from officials within the National Security Division’s Counter Terrorism section in Washington DC,” Committee chairman Ron Johnson, R-Wis., said in a March 6 letter to U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

“The ‘resistance’ allegedly occurred a few weeks before the 2016 election, and local authorities believed the lack of progress in this case was handled inadequately,” Johnson wrote.

The suspect, an Iraqi man who had entered the U.S. under a false name, is now at large. His real name was not released.

Fox News has learned the JTTF confirmed through U.S. Special Forces who encountered the suspect during operations that he had participated in attacks against American troops as an insurgent.

At some point, the Iraqi entered the U.S. through the refugee program. His activities in the U.S. triggered an investigation by JTTF members, who planned to charge him with visa fraud while they investigated possible further charges.

Johnson said the case demonstrates the challenge of vetting people with little documented history in countries where there’s no paper trail.

Fox News was independently able to confirm the details of the investigation. Neither officials from the U.S. Department of Justice, the U.S. attorney’s office in Western Texas nor the JOint Terrorism Task Force could be reached for comment.

U.S. officials said earlier this week that nearly a third of the FBI’S 1,000 ongoing domestic terrorism investigations involve those admitted to the U.S. as refugees.

Claude Arnold, a former U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations, said the refugee program is vulnerable to abuse by terrorists seeking to enter the U.S. to harm Americans.

“Refugees are admitted to the U.S. based on the story they tell of persecution, and they are not required to produce identity documentation or other types of documentation,” Arnold said. “If the person seeking entry is a persecutor, he would have specificity in his story that matches information obtained by U.S. Customs and Immigration Services personnel adjudicating the events.”

In the case of terrorists in Iraq, ISIS has taken over whole cities, raising the likelihood of identity theft and document forging , Arnold said.

“That creates great potential for an ISIS fighter to assume a false identity and engineer a refugee claim,” Arnold said.

Iraq is not included in the recent travel ban instituted by President Trump because the Iraqi government has assured the U.S. that information will be provided to properly vet refugees.

“In the case of Iraq, when we had troops on the ground, we were able to get intelligence on bad actors,” Arnold said. “Now we rely on the Iraqi government to not only obtain the intelligence, but also to relay it to us.”

In perhaps the most glaring example of Iraqi terrorists getting into the U.S, two Iraqi refugees living in Bowling Green, Ky., were convicted in 2013 of plotting to help Al Qaeda. The men were also hit with additional charges after their fingerprints matched ones found on IEDs used in Iraq to kill U.S. soldiers.

Arnold said it is important not to let politics get in the way of security and justice.

“Letting the terrorists in to the country through the refugee program can result in citizens and residents being harmed. We cannot afford to make that mistake,” Arnold said.