WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama continues to stonewall a five-month-old request by Senators Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) and Ted Cruz (R-Tx.) for the administration to reveal the immigration histories of over 100 individuals currently in the United States who have been implicated in terrorism.
Sessions and Cruz have now for the third time written a letter to high ranking Obama administration officials asking for “basic information regarding the immigration histories of… individuals in the United States who have been identified as having an affiliation with Islamic terrorism.”
“The American people are entitled to information on the immigration history of terrorists seeking to harm them,” the pair wrote to Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson, Secretary of State John Kerry, and Attorney General Loretta Lynch.
The Obama administration has ignored the letters since the first one went out last August.
The initial letter indicated that Sessions and Cruz had “identified at least 72 individuals in the United States who, over the last year: have engaged in or attempted to engage in acts of terrorism; conspired or attempted to conspire to provide material support to a terrorist organization; engaged in criminal conduct inspired by terrorist ideology; or who have been sentenced for any of the foregoing.”
Since then, the number has ballooned to 113, at least 14 of whom were initially admitted to the United States as refugees, according to Sessions.
In December, Sessions’ and Cruz’s second letter sought the immigration history of the couple now known as the the San Bernardino terrorists.
Syed Rizwan Farook and his wife Tashfeen Malik killed 14 people and wounded 21 more at the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino before being killed by police.
Farook is believed to have been radicalized and was in touch with other Islamists known to have been involved in terrorism. Farook also recently traveled to Pakistan and visited Mecca in 2013 on the Hajj, an annual pilgrimage to Mecca that Muslims are required to do at least once in their lifetimes. Malik is a native of Pakistan who came to the U.S. in 2014 on a “fiancée visa.” She later became a permanent resident.
The Obama administration ignored the senators’ request for more information then, as well.
The latest letter reads as follows:
Dear Attorney General Lynch, Secretary Johnson, and Secretary Kerry:
On August 12 and December 3, we sent letters requesting that you provide basic information regarding the immigration histories of 72 individuals in the United States who have been identified as having an affiliation with Islamic terrorism. It has now been approximately five months since we sent our first letter, and we still do not have the requested information – despite the occurrence of a terrorist attack in San Bernardino carried out by a Muslim migrant and the child of Muslim migrants.
We have now identified an additional 41 individuals, bringing the total to 113 individuals who have been implicated in Islamic terrorism in some manner since early 2014. Of these 113 individuals, at least 14 were initially admitted to the United States as refugees. Many more came through other immigration programs. A number of immigrant terrorists were even approved for citizenship. Others are the U.S.-born children of foreign migrants whose presence in the country would not be possible but for the immigration of their parents.
The resources spent every year investigating the countless number of immigrant terrorist suspects in the United States are astronomical. And yet, as this costly and dangerous status quo continues, the U.S. continues to admit approximately 680,000 migrants from Muslim countries every five years.
The American people are entitled to information on the immigration history of terrorists seeking to harm them.
Therefore, please complete the attached chart – which has been updated since August – in addition to responding to our previous letters. Additionally, for any similar cases that arise between the date of this letter and the date of your reply, please include the pertinent information for those cases in the attached chart, and please provide a complete, unredacted copy of the Alien File for any non-citizen or naturalized citizen.
We appreciate your prompt attention to this matter. Please contact our staffs if you have any questions regarding this request.
Very truly yours,
Jeff Sessions
United States Senator
Ted Cruz
United States Senator
Don’t miss out! Subscribe today to have Alabama’s leading headlines delivered to your inbox.