T
he arrest of two Iraq-born refugees on terror-related charges has
recharged Capitol Hill calls for the Obama administration to pull back
on plans to welcome thousands more refugees from Middle East warzones.
“It is disturbing, though not surprising, that
terrorists have succeeded in exploiting our refugee system to come to
the U.S. and aid ISIS,” Rep. Lamar Smith, R-Texas, said Friday.
Officials announced the arrests on Thursday, in California and Texas; it’s unclear if they’re related.
One of the criminal complaints accused 23-year-old
Aws Mohammed Younis Al-Jayab, of Sacramento, Calif., of traveling to
Syria to fight alongside terrorist organizations and lying to government
investigators about it. He originally came to the U.S. from Syria in
2012. Investigators said he discussed plans to return, and wrote that he
was "eager to see blood."
Almost simultaneously in Houston, authorities
announced the arrest of Omar Faraj Saeed Al Hardan, 24, on charges of
attempting to provide material support to ISIS.
Republicans, in Washington and on the campaign trail,
seized on the arrests to renew their push for immediate security
changes to minimize the risk of ISIS and other fighters exploiting the
expanded refugee program.
“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 in a statement. He touted House-passed
legislation that would require top security officials to certify to
Congress that every refugee accepted is not a security threat.
Smith proposed going further, and temporarily halting
“all admission and resettlement of refugees until we can verify that
every single ‘gap’ in our security screening has been addressed.”
Smith also is pushing legislation to protect states
that refuse to participate in the resettlement program, and to halt the
resettlement entirely until the administration submits reports on safety
and costs to Congress.
On the campaign trail, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz was quick to cite the arrests in calling for changes.
Speaking in Iowa, he called for a retroactive review
of all refugees who have come to the United States from what he calls
"high-risk countries."
“We need to systematically examine the national security threats,” the Republican presidential candidate said.
White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest, while
saying he could not discuss the specifics of the two latest
terror-related cases, on Friday defended the refugee program as secure.
“No one’s allowed to short-circuit this system,”
Earnest said, adding that refugees are subject to the “most rigorous
screening” of anyone entering the U.S. He said this includes a “careful
review of biographic and biometric information,” in-person interviews
and other steps.
The Paris and San Bernardino terror attacks last year
already had complicated the administration’s plans to take in more
refugees, particularly from Syria.
Obama wants to accept at least 10,000 Syrian refugees
into the U.S. in 2016 – the decision followed mounting international
pressure for the U.S. to do more to shoulder the burden of the refugee
crisis that has spilled into countries like Lebanon and Jordan, and
nations across Europe. Heart-breaking images of children and families
struggling to flee the violence in Syria fueled those calls – but U.S.
lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have voiced concerns about whether
the government can properly vet applicants, particularly from war-torn
Syria where effective background checks are difficult to conduct.
Officials at the state level also have tried to fight
back against the administration’s plans, and revived their concerns
after the two latest arrests.
"This is precisely why I called for a halt to
refugees entering the U.S. from countries substantially controlled by
terrorists," Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said. "I once again urge the
President to halt the resettlement of these refugees in the United
States until there is an effective vetting process that will ensure
refugees do not compromise the safety of Americans and Texans."
According to the complaint, Al-Jayab traveled to
Syria from Chicago via Turkey in November 2013. He remained in Syria
until the following January and fought alongside several terror groups,
including Ansar al-Islam, which merged with ISIS in 2014 after Al-Jayab
had returned to the United States. He settled in Sacramento following
his return to the U.S.
U.S. Attorney Benjamin Wagner said in a statement
that while Al-Jayab posed a potential safety threat, “there is no
indication that he planned any acts of terrorism in this country.”
In the Texas case, the indictment of Hardan states
that beginning in May 2014, Hardan "did unlawfully and knowingly attempt
to provide material support and resources ... training, expert advice
and assistance, to a foreign terrorist organization, namely the Islamic
State of Iraq."
The indictment claims that Hardan, who arrived in the
U.S. in 2009 and became a legal permanent resident in 2011, concealed
his association with ISIS on his citizenship application in August 2014
and lied about receiving machine gun training when he was interviewed by
Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.