Some terrorists, including two Al Qaeda affiliates who were living in Kentucky at the time of their indictment, have been able to enter the US legally through a resettlement program for “vulnerable” refugees.
The US Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP) is a joint venture between US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and the State Department. Together, the two agencies are responsible for determining which refugees are granted USRAP resettlement consideration. This is done by way of face to face interviews with the applicants. The majority of refugee referrals received are from the United Nations. In order to qualify for the program a refugee must:
- Have a substantiated fear of persecution based on religion, political viewpoint, race or nationality
- Have a continued need for protection
A myriad of serious issues exists in this program. USCIS Refugee Affairs Division Chief, Barbara Strack, testified at a congressional hearing focused on terrorist exploitation of refugee programs and the significant security vulnerabilities within her division. Strack told the House Subcommittee on Counterterrorism and Intelligence that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) “has been working closely with interagency partners to improve, refine, and streamline the security vetting regime for refugee applicants and for other immigration categories.”
What the agency would like to avoid are more incidents like the Kentucky case in which two Iraqi nationals, who were given refugee status under USRAP, were federally indicted for attempting to send weapons and money to Al Qaeda in Iraq. The two were also indicted for conspiracy to kill a US national abroad. Waad Ramadan Alwan and Mohanad Shareef Hammadi pleaded guilty to the charges and are scheduled to be sentenced early next year.
At the December 4 hearing on terrorist exploitation of refugee programs, it was revealed that the Kentucky case was not a one time glitch in the system. Chairman of the Subcommittee on Counterterrorism and Intelligence, Patrick Meehan (R-PA), voiced some concerns, testifying that the “threat posed by refugees with ties to Al Qaeda is much broader than was previously believed.” This is basically a reiteration of FBI Director Robert Mueller’s testimony, last year, before a House Intelligence Committee in which he admitted having ongoing concerns about individuals who may have been resettled here in the United States that have some association with al Qaeda in Iraq. In addition to that, immigration officials have given the FBI the names of roughly three hundred Iraqi refugees, for further investigation.
USRAP has assisted in the relocation of millions of refugees over the decades, but has come under scrutiny in recent years due to its vast size (USRAP admits approximately three times the number of refugees as the rest of the developed world, combined), ineffective security measures and the acquiescence of the US to the UN in determining who is admitted to the program. Additionally, accurate background checks are not easy to obtain for refugees admitted from countries without reliable government records.
According to an investigation, “common criminals, war criminals, international fugitives and terrorists have all used the USRAP and its related asylum provisions for entry into the United States.” It was also discovered that “bribery of UN officials is commonly reported among those attempting to secure refugee admission to the United States.”
CIS Fellow, Don Barnett, in his report titled “Refugee Resettlement – A System Badly in Need of Review” has outlined the main issues the resettlement program needs to address:
- The program is rife with fraud, profitable for hundreds of “non-profit” organizations, and is a potential channel for terrorism into American communities.
- Policy about who is admitted as a refugee to the United States has been surrendered to the UN and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that stand to benefit from the program.
- In recent years, up to 95 percent of the refugees coming to the United States were referred by the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) or were putative relatives of U.N.-selected refugees.
- Given the impact that refugee resettlement has on all other forms of immigration, both legal and illegal, the UN can be thought of as setting US immigration policy for future generations of Americans.
- Meaningful background checks are difficult to obtain for refugees admitted from countries without reliable government records. Common criminals, war criminals, international fugitives, and terrorists have all used the USRAP and its related asylum provisions for entry into the United States.
- Bribery of UN officials is commonly reported among those attempting to secure refugee admission to the United States.
- The US welfare system is a global magnet, which has been instrumentalized by the international refugee industry. The use of welfare, subsidized housing, Medicaid, and other programs is staggering. Including the cost of ongoing welfare, which is permanent for many refugees, easily raises the cost of the domestic resettlement program to ten times the official estimates of $1.1 billion annually.
- Official refugee admission numbers do not present the full picture. The initial admission leads to exploitation of the chain immigration system. Recent DNA testing revealed false claims of “family connections” as high as ninety percent in some groups. Refugee groups that were originally small and supposedly self contained have set off significant inflows of legal and illegal immigration.
- Currently the rate of background checks provided for refugees from certain countries and the denial rate based on those background checks is classified information. This data should be made public.
- UN News Service report found that Somalis are using United Nations refugee camps in Zambia as “stepping stones” to the United States. According to the story, the Somalis first settle in Zambian refugee camps and then slip into neighboring Zimbabwe and Namibia. From there, they “filter into South Africa before negotiating their way onto Mexico bound ships. Once in Mexico, they can easily walk into the USA as their final destination.
- The lack of secure official records from most refugee sending countries would mean we can’t be sure even about given names and ages.
- Risk assessment of some of these individuals is nearly impossible, especially if they aren’t already registered somewhere as suspect.
- The rejection rate based on failing the “background check” is classified information. We have no idea how many are screened out by this process from such countries as Somalia, Iraq, or Iran all among the top-five sending countries in recent years.
- With the enormous role granted the UN in our refugee program, corruption in the UNHCR must be a matter of the highest concern. A torrent of corruption is pouring in with the program.
