The DHS and DOJ released a report today showing that 402 of the 549 people convicted of international terrorism in the U.S. between Sept. 11, 2001 and Dec. 31, 2016 were foreign-born. Of those 402, 148 managed to obtain U.S. citizenship. Within the same time period ICE removed about 1,716 aliens who posed national security concerns.
The report surfaces while Pres. Trump continuously states that any deal on DACA must include an end to Chain Migration and the Visa Lottery, avenues through which convicted terrorists, including last month’s NYC subway bomber have used as a means of entry into the U.S.
“This report reveals an indisputable sobering reality — our immigration system has undermined our national security and public safety,” Attorney General Jeff Sessions said.
“And the information in this report is only the tip of the iceberg: we currently have terrorism-related investigations against thousands of people in the United States, including hundreds of people who came here as refugees. Our law enforcement professionals do amazing work, but it is simply not reasonable to keep asking them to risk their lives to enforce the law while we admit thousands every year without sufficient knowledge about their backgrounds. The pillars of President Trump’s immigration policy—securing our porous borders, moving to a merit-based immigration system that ends the use of diversity visas and chain migration, and enforcing our nation’s laws—will make their jobs easier and make the United States a safer place.”
The agencies conducted the report as one of the actions directed by Pres. Trump’s Executive Order 13780, Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorists Entry into the United States.
