Obama administration fails to screen Syrian refugees’

[lostinblue 1,989]

Obama administration fails to screen Syrian refugees’ social media accounts

The Obama administration isn’t vetting the social media profiles of all Syrian refugees despite promises made last year after the San Bernardino terrorist attack, which exposed holes in the U.S. immigration screening process.

Concerns over refugee screening spurred Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback, a Republican, on Tuesday to cancel his state’s cooperation with federal authorities trying to resettle Syrians.

It was another blow to the administration’s attempts to reach President Obama’s goal of accepting 10,000 Syrians this fiscal year.

With a little more than five months left in the fiscal year, the government is 8,370 refugees short of its goal. Lawmakers on Capitol Hill say they fear the administration will reduce screening even more to speed up the process. To meet the president’s target, immigration officials would have to approve about 75 applications every workday for the rest of the fiscal year — nearly seven times the average so far.

“What is far more important than the arbitrary number of 10,000 is whether these refugees can be properly screened. If the answer is no, which is obviously the case given testimony by the FBI director and homeland security secretary, then we should not let a single one into the country,” said Rep. Vern Buchanan, Florida Republican.

“What is far more important than the arbitrary number of 10,000 is ... more >

Mr. Buchanan is sponsoring legislation that would force the Homeland Security Department to review social media accounts of anyone seeking entry to the U.S.

His bill has the backing of Rep. Devin Nunes, California Republican and chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, and Rep. Michael T. McCaul, Texas Republican and chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee.

The social media problem burst into view last year after one of the attackers in the San Bernardino, California, terrorist massacre was found to be an immigrant who had posted online of her desire to wage jihad. It turned out she had posted privately, not publicly, but the administration acknowledged that it should be screening social media messages.

Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Director Leon Rodriguez said in February that the administration was increasing its monitoring, including screening social media accounts of those applying as refugees from Syria.

A USCIS official, who asked not to be identified, confirmed Tuesday that the agency has not reached that point but insisted that other checks are “extraordinarily thorough and comprehensive.”

The official said the agency tries to find refugee applicants who are most likely to be risks and then attempts to scour their online accounts.

“USCIS conducts risk-based screening on publicly available social media postings in connection with applicants for certain immigration benefits, including certain refugee applicants. DHS also continues to run pilot programs and evaluate the results of these efforts to expand the appropriate use of social media as indicated,” the official said.

Last year, before several major attacks raised security questions, Mr. Obama pledged to increase the number of Syrian refugees in the U.S.

But his plans were undercut by his own top national security officials, including the director of the FBI, who said the government lacks the resources on the ground or the access to Syrian databases to vet applicants completely.

Homeland Security officials said they can check their own databases, but critics warn that it’s impossible to know what risks the applicants pose if they cannot verify refugees’ stories in Syria.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/apr/26/obama-administration-fails-to-screen-syrian-refuge/

[The Nature Boy 7,659]

And in other news Pearl Harbor got attacked by the Japanse

[-relo- 105]

I'm shocked

[smilesammich 10,727]

the only thing i learned from this article is that the governor of kansas is a pandering douche.

[Jacque67 7,328]

the only thing i learned from this article is that the governor of kansas is a pandering douche.

Oh and I learned about Pearl Harbour.

[smilesammich 10,727]

Oh and I learned about Pearl Harbour.

oh and i learned it's the potus admin's responsibility to screen syrian refugee fb/instagram/twitter/kik/and never forget foursquare, accounts. sounds like a job for the nsc.

[yuna628 9,820]

So an article saying that the administration fails to screen refugee's social media accounts and then after getting through the slog of that 'alarming' headline actually quotes a USCIS official that says they do screen the social media accounts of refugees who are at risk (code word for: suspicious).

This newspaper must be a goldmine for non-article articles.

[lostinblue 1,989]

So an article saying that the administration fails to screen refugee's social media accounts and then after getting through the slog of that 'alarming' headline actually quotes a USCIS official that says they do screen the social media accounts of refugees who are at risk (code word for: suspicious).

This newspaper must be a goldmine for non-article articles.

Because of PC today they never find anyone at risk ...

[Jacque67 7,328]

Is this a dating site?

[smilesammich 10,727]

Because of PC today they never find anyone at risk ...

i think everyone is best served if we choose to look at the facts of the case, not fear mongering and rw propaganda.

[yuna628 9,820]

Those two nutjobs weren't refugees, Lib. Different service center, different process, different.. well heck, you do know you're on an immigration forum right? You should know these things.

Edited April 27, 2016 by yuna628

[Rob L 3,811]

FBI Says San Bernardino Suspects Did Not Pledge to Wage Jihad on Social Media

By VICE News and Reuters

December 16, 2015 |

At a press conference in New York on Wednesday, FBI Director James Comey said that no evidence had been found to indicate that the couple who massacred 14 people in San Bernardino, California, on December 2 were members of a terrorist cell or had any contact with overseas militant groups. Most notably, he said that Syed Rizwan Farook, 28, and his 29-year-old wife, Tashfeen Malik, had expressed support for "jihad and martyrdom" in private communications but never did so on social media.

The statement appeared to relate to a report that appeared in the Los Angeles Times citing two unnamed federal law enforcement officials who said that Malik "sent at least two private messages on Facebook to a small group of Pakistani friends in 2012 and 2014, pledging her support for Islamic jihad and saying she hoped to join the fight one day." The messages were reportedly written in Urdu, a common language in Pakistan. One of the officials was quoted as saying the messages were "her private communications."

"We have found no evidence of a posting on social media by either of them at that period of time or thereafter reflecting their commitment to jihad or to martyrdom," Comey said. "I've seen some reporting on that. That's a garble. Alright? The investigation continues, but we have not found that kind of thing. These communications are private, direct messages, not social media messages."

Comey's reference to "that period of time or thereafter" also seemed to cast doubt on whether Malik had declared loyalty to the Islamic State on Facebook on the morning that she and Farook killed 14 people who were attending an employee holiday party at a state-run facility for individuals with developmental disabilities. The FBI said afterward that the post is still being investigated.

A report first appeared on CNN and later circulated elsewhere citing unnamed US officials who said that Malik had pledged allegiance to the Islamic State using a Facebook account that was registered under a different name. The sources did not say how they knew for certain that Malik made the post.

A Facebook spokesperson confirmed that the post was made around the time of the mass shooting. A source close to the investigation told Wired that the pledge was posted at 11:15am on Wednesday, just minutes after the first shots were fired, on an account belonging to Larki Zaat — a name that was presumed to be an alias of Malik.

Comments made by David Bowdich, the assistant director of the FBI's Los Angeles office, following the attack appeared to lend credence to this account.

"I know it was in a general timeline where that post was made, and yes, there was a pledge of allegiance," Bowdich told a news conference on December, though it was uncertain whether the comments were posted by Malik herself or someone else who had access to the Facebook account.

US government sources said that Malik and Farook might have been inspired by IS, but noted that there was no evidence the attack was directed by the militant group or that the organization even knew who they were. The party the couple attacked was for workers with the San Bernardino County Department of Public Health, which also employed Farook. The two died hours later in a shootout with police.

Related: Trump Refuses to Take Back Debunked Claim About Muslims 'Cheering' After 9/11

Laura Eimiller, a spokeswoman with the FBI's Los Angeles office, told VICE News onWednesday that she believed Comey's comments about social media referred to "the time period before the shooting, and describing how direct private messages between the subjects would not have been apparent to a wider audience."

"The reported Facebook post on day of shooting remains under investigation," Eimiller said.

Eimiller did not directly respond to questions about Bowdich's comments about the alleged post on Facebook. The FBI also rejected a VICE News request for a copy of the post.

Comey had previously said that the pair had been discussing martyrdom online a year before they met in person and married.

"They were actually radicalized before they started... dating each other online, and as early as the end of 2013 they were talking to each other about jihad and martyrdom before they became engaged," Comey said at a hearing of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Days after the attack, IS declared in an online radio broadcast that the couple, whose deadly attack is being investigated by the FBI as an "act of terrorism," were its followers.

A US government source confirmed to Reuters that Farook might have been plotting an attack as early as 2011. The new information diminished the likelihood of early theories that Malik, an immigrant from Pakistan, had radicalized her husband, who was a US citizen.

The allegations of an Islamic State link to the couple have played a part in presidential candidate Donald Trump's call for Muslims to be banned from immigrating to the US, and law enforcement officials' controversial requests for more power to use surveillance and electronic communications monitoring as part of their counter-terrorism efforts. Critics say that the government's powers of surveillance already encroach on Americans' civil liberties and should be curtailed, not expanded.

This article has been updated.

TOPICS: san bernardino, americas, united states, california, crime & drugs, james comey, fbi,tashfeen malik, syed rizwan farook, islamic state, social media, facebook

Because of PC today they never find anyone at risk ...

[ready4ONE 5,400]

Oh no. Facts getting in the way of a good anti-refugee thread! Including facts to be found directly in the OP! Quick! Somebody needs to get out the negative comments on Black people to save the thread!