Nov. 18, 2015, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today issued the following statement blasting a discussion draft House of Representatives proposal to require some additional FBI scrutiny for refugees from the war in Syria and Iraq that was exposed by Conservativereview.com:
“This seems like a cynical joke rather than a serious effort to beef up security. Rather than thoroughly vet and restrict the hundreds of thousands of visas issued out of North Africa, the Middle East and Asia, and have a real discussion about the wisdom of the geographic allocation of our legal immigration system, Congress is papering over these larger issues with a knee-jerk small approach focusing upon 10,000 Syrian refugees expected in the next year. They must be kidding.
“Even if they make it harder to qualify as a refugee, the fact is our borders — thanks to our open-ended visa program — are still wide open. The enemy will just apply for employment, student, or basic travel visas. The 9/11 hijackers were all on legal visas, not pretending to be refugees seeking asylum.
“That is why if Congress is truly serious about this issue they will restrict travel on the basis of region where the enemy is traveling out of until this situation is sorted, the war has ended, and the enemy is eliminated. Having open-ended immigration from countries you are at war with is exceptionally unwise. In the meantime, the enemy, after fighting in Syria, Iraq and elsewhere, with blood fresh on their hands, are sneaking into the West and hiding in expat communities. Those who are already here and home-grown terrorists are a separate issue subject to the FBI, counterterrorism officials and local law enforcement. What Congress can do now, to limit this threat, is close off travel from areas the enemy is known to originate and travel from.
“That is the big discussion that we need to have in our nation. Do we want to follow the suicidal immigration policies that find Europe beset by no-go zones inhabited by immigrants who follow Sharia Law and have no intention of assimilating, or do we want to follow our nation’s immigration laws and control who gets the privilege of entering the United States? That is the real choice Congress faces.”
Attachments:
Immigrant Visas Issued (by Foreign State of Chargeability or Place of Birth) Fiscal Year 2014, The U.S. Department of State at http://travel.state.gov/content/dam/visas/Statistics/AnnualReports/FY2014AnnualReport/FY14AnnualReport-TableIII.pdf
H.R. Discussion draft, “To require that refugees admitted to the United States due to the Syrian Civil War shall be subject to review to identify security threats to the United States,” at https://www.conservativereview.com/~/media/files/conservative-review/articles-supporting-documents/hudson_american_safe_act_2015_discussion_draft.pdf
Interview Availability: Please contact Americans for Limited Government at 703-383-0880 ext. 106 or at media@limitgov.org to arrange an interview with ALG experts including ALG President Rick Manning.
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