Questioning from Sen. Sessions reveals U.S. government doesn’t screen refugees for extremism

Earlier this month, the President announced that he planned to admit 110,000 Syrian refugees into the country in FY 2017. Now, a Senate hearing led by Jeff Sessions has revealed that the Administration does not screen possible refugee resettlers for certain extremist views.

On Wednesday, Senator Sessions asked Simon Henshaw, deputy assistant secretary at the Bureau of Population, about whether refugees are screened for beliefs that could be a threat to Americans. Honor killings and female genital mutilation were among specific concerns mentioned.

Henshaw affirmed that respect for the law is expected by the federal government, though he didn’t know if refugees are asked directly whether or not they would fully comply with U.S. laws if brought into the country.

“On all questions, we make it clear to refugees that we are a nation of laws and that they need to comply with our laws,” Henshaw said.

Henshaw balked when Sessions noted that the Department of Justice reported 27 honor killings in the United States last year.

“I have no evidence that there were any honor killings among the refugee population resettled in the U.S.,” he said.

“Well it’s from the same cultural background,” Sessions replied. “And we certainly have evidence that they’ve been charged – at least 40- with terrorist acts. So you’re not perfect in your admission.”

The Senator has advocated for a strategy that would create “safe zones” for refugees and their families in the Middle East. He says that it’s a compassionate solution that eliminates many risks associated with U.S. resettlement.

“According to the Administration, we either permanently resettle hundreds of thousands of refugees in the United States, or we do nothing,” Sessions said in an earlier statement. “The Obama Administration presses forward with plans to admit hundreds of thousands of largely unvettable refugees from areas of the world that are producing terrorists and extremists. We must reject this false dichotomy.”