Thread: Republicans: Refugee Arrests Underscore Terrorists Can Infiltrate Obama’s Resettlemen

Republicans: Refugee Arrests Underscore Terrorists Can Infiltrate Obama’s Resettlement Effort

by CAROLINE MAY
8 Jan 2016

Republicans are reinvigorating their warnings that terrorists are able to infiltrate the U.S. via Obama’s refugee resettlement efforts following the arrests to two Middle Eastern refugees on terrorism-related charges.

“It is disturbing, though not surprising, that terrorists have succeeded in exploiting our refugee system to come to the U.S. and aid ISIS. These groups have been open about their intentions to infiltrate the tens of thousands of Middle East refugees this administration is determined to bring to our shores,” Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX) said Friday, reiterating his call for a temporary halt of all refugee resettlement until the U.S. can verify that all “gaps” in the screening are sealed.

On Thursday two refugees born in Iraq and admitted to the U.S. as refugees were arrested on terror charges in California and Texas.

Aws Mohammed Younis Al-Jayab, who was living in Sacramento, CA, has been charged with traveling to Syria to fight alongside terrorists. Omar Faraj Saeed Al Hardan, who was living in Houston Texas, has been charged with attempting to provide material support to ISIS. Both men have also been charged with lying to immigration officials.

The arrests of the alleged terrorist refugees come as the Obama administration continues its plan to dramatically increase the number of refugees from terrorist hotspots that it admits to the U.S., despite warnings from top security officials and Republicans.

“We’ve been warned by Obama’s own DHS, DNI and FBI directors that we cannot properly vet these folks – and ISIS is now delivering on their promise to exploit the program,” Rep. Brian Babin (R-TX) said Friday. “This serves as yet another wakeup call to anyone who has doubts about the real and imminent threat we face from Obama’s dangerous and reckless refugee policies. We must act now. Further delay is not an option.”

Babin has been calling for a suspension of the refugee resettlement program.

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte praised law enforcement for intercepting the alleged terrorists but said the incident “underscores” the need to revamp the security of the vetting process. He called on Obama to “pause” the administration’s plan to resettle high volumes of Syrian and Iraqi refugees in the U.S. this year.

“The primary duty of the federal government is to keep Americans safe,” he said, adding that his committee is working on additional legislation to strengthen the vetting process for all visa applicants and refugees.

In November the House passed legislation aimed at tightening the refugee vetting system. The president has threatened to veto the bill.

Friday House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX) called on the Senate to pass the security billl, saying the recent arrests “heighten my concern that our refugee program is susceptible to exploitation by terrorists.”

“The president has assured us that individuals from Iraq and Syria receive close scrutiny, but it is clearly not enough,” McCaul said. “We need to act, which is why today I call upon the Senate to take up my bill to overhaul the security vetting of Iraqi and Syrian refugees. We cannot delay while more potential jihadists slip through the cracks. Terrorist groups like ISIS have vowed to use these programs to infiltrate the West, and now it is clearer than ever that we should take them at their word.”

http://www.breitbart.com/big-governm...lement-effort/

** 2 "refugees" from Iraq** - related post
http://www.alipac.us/f12/refugees-ar...gation-327160/

Feds Say Terrorism-Related Arrests Made in 2 States
by Pete Williams, Andrew Blankstein, Shelby Hansen and Erik Ortiz
1/8/16
Federal authorities have arrested two men accused of having ties to ISIS on terrorism-related charges in California and Texas, including a refugee from Syria who is charged with lying to federal investigators about his travels to the civil war in that country.

There was no plot to carry out attacks within the United States, one law enforcement official told NBC News on Thursday, while another federal official added that there was never any real danger to Americans.

video here: Terrorism related arrests of Iraqi refugees made in 2 US states 1:41

A criminal complaint unsealed Thursday accuses Aws Mohammed Younis Al-Jayab, 23, of Sacramento, of traveling to Syria to fight and then lying to investigators about it.

Prosecutors say he assisted a group that allied with ISIS.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Attorney's Office based in Houston, Texas, said late Thursday that Omar Faraj Saeed Al Hardan, 24, of Houston, was indicted Wednesday on three charges that he tried to provide material support to extremists.
Read the Criminal Complaint Against Al-Jayab
Read the Criminal Complaint Against Al Hardan

Both men are Palestinians born in Iraq, authorities said. The complaint in federal court in Sacramento said Al-Jayab came to the United States from Syria as a refugee in October 2012. Court documents suggest he was already allied with terror groups when he arrived. But there's no suggestion that al Hardan was radicalized when he came to the U.S. six years ago as a 17-year-old refugee.

There is no indication from prosecutors that Al Hardan was a threat in the United States, but his arrest sparked immediate criticism of the Obama administration's refugee policies from Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott. DESMOND BOYLAN / AFP - Getty Images
"This is precisely why I called for a halt to refugees entering the U.S. from countries substantially controlled by terrorists," Abbott said in a statement. "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."

While living in Arizona and Wisconsin, Al-Jayab communicated on social media about his intent to return to Syria to fight for terrorist organizations and discussed his previous experience fighting against the regime in Syria, starting shortly after he turned 16.

When he was interviewed by citizenship officials, he lied about his travels and ties, the complaint alleges.

Related: ISIS Brain Trust Works on Missiles, Remote-Control Bombs: Video
In 2013, investigators say Al-Jayab wrote online that he was "eager to see blood." He left the United States in November of that year, but he came to Sacramento in January 2014, the FBI said in a 20-page affidavit.

Social media and other accounts say that as soon as he arrived in the United States in 2012, he began saying he wanted to return to Syria to "work," which the FBI says is believed to be a reference "to assisting in and supporting violent jihad."

((he passed o's vetting system))

Authorities said he eventually fought with various terrorist organizations, including Ansar al-Islam, which in 2014 merged with ISIS after Al-Jayab had returned to the United States.

video clip, DEC. 5: Chilling New ISIS Video Features New 'Jihadi John' — and Little Boy 1:43

But Al-Jayab also criticized ISIS in several messages for killing Muslims.

"If it weren't for the State's bloodletting, I would have been the first one to join it," he said, according to the FBI, although he later described fighting alongside the group.

The documents did not indicate how Al-Jayab and Al Hardan are connected.

However, the affidavit says Al-Jayab communicated with an unnamed individual living in Texas in April 2013 to see if he could receive training in various weapons. Federal authorities tell NBC News that individual was Al Hardan.

A few days later, Al-Jayab described, during earlier fighting, emptying seven ammunition magazines from his assault rifle during a battle and executing three Syrian government soldiers.

"Seven magazines in one breath ... Just shooting, spraying, spraying," Al-Jayab wrote to someone online, investigators added.

One Iraqi refugee who knew Al-Jayab told NBC affiliate KCRA that he was surprised by the arrest.

"Maybe he would get angry at times but he would never say anything related to terrorism. He was a nice decent person to me," the refugee said.

Ben Galloway of the federal defender's office is Al-Jayab's attorney. He did not return telephone and emailed messages Thursday to The Associated Press.

The U.S. Attorney's Office in Sacramento said Al-Jayab was arrested Thursday morning in Sacramento.

Federal officials say three separate arrests in Milwaukee on Thursday grew out of the Sacramento investigation but are not related to national security.

The suspects in Wisconsin are relatives of the man arrested in Sacramento, said Lauren Horwood, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney's Office in Sacramento.

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/...states-n492546