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President Obama’s Department of Homeland Security (DHS) really excelled at its job of making everyone feel secure in the United States last year by letting in more than 1,500 people with terrorist ties into the country. Happy day!
According to a recent DHS report to Congress, the department granted waivers to 1,519 individuals who otherwise wouldn’t have been admitted into the United States because of their connections to terrorist organizations, per a lengthy provision in the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 (specifically Section 212(d)(3)(B) of the law, which you can read here).
Of these 1,519 fine upstanding people, 806 were processed as refugees, 19 as asylees, 614 were processed for permanent lawful resident status and 34 were processed for temporary protected status.
DHS also broke down their reasons for admitting these people into the United States. We’ll let the report speak for itself:
- 627 were processed for an applicant’s provision of material support, while under duress, to an undesignated terrorist organization as defined at INA section 212(a)(3)(B)(vi)(III), 8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(3)(B)(vi)(III) (Tier III terrorist organization), under the Secretary of Homeland Security’s February 26, 2007 exercise of authority relating to Tier III organizations,
- 189 were processed for an applicant’s provision of material support, while under duress, to a designated terrorist organization as defined under INA section 212(a)(3)(B)(vi)(I)- (II), 8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(3)(B)(vi)(I)-(II) (Tier I or II terrorist organization), under the Secretary’s April 27, 2007 exercise of authority relating to Tier I and Tier II organizations,
- 9 were processed for an applicant’s receipt of military-type training, while under duress, from a terrorist organization, under the Secretary’s January 7, 2011 exercise of authority relating to Tier I, Tier II and Tier III organizations,
- 28 were processed for an applicant’s provision of voluntary medical care to members of a terrorist organization in the course of their professional responsibilities without assisting in the violent activities of an organization or individual, under the Secretary’s October 13, 2011 exercise of authority relating to Tier I, Tier II and Tier III organizations,
- 37 were processed for certain qualified aliens with existing immigration benefits under the Limited General Exemption who: provided material support to, solicited funds for, solicited individuals for membership in or received military-type training from certain qualified Tier III terrorist organizations, under the Secretary’s August 10, 2012 exercise of authority relating to certain Tier III organizations;and
- 628 were processed for applicants who had certain activities or affiliations with specific groups which the Secretary of Homeland Security, in consultation with the Secretary of State and the Attorney General, has approved for consideration of an exemption.
The vast majority of exemptions were granted to people who were tied to or had been involved in ethnic disputes, including various liberation armies and militarized political groups.
But don’t worry! Officials over at DHS assure us that they’ve thoroughly vetted these people with terrorist connections. No worries. From the report:
Exemptions allow certain refugees and other aliens the opportunity to receive a benefit or protection following the successful completion of a thorough vetting process. USCIS procedures require that all applicants’ names and fingerprints be checked against a broad array of records of individuals known to be security threats, including the terrorist watch list, and those of law enforcement concern. In addition to rigorous background vetting, including checks coordinated across several government agencies, the Secretary of Homeland Security’s discretionary authority is only applied on a case-by-case basis after careful review of all factors and all security checks have cleared.