Cruz, Sessions Excoriate Administration Immigration Stonewall as Another 41 Terrorists Are Identified Inside U.S.
“The American people are entitled to information on the immigration history of terrorists seeking to harm them.”
WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) sent a letter today to the Secretary of Homeland Security, the Secretary of State, and the Attorney General demanding the immigration history of 113 individuals recently implicated in Islamic terrorism inside the United States. Sens. Cruz and Sessions first demanded information on the immigration histories of 72 of these terrorists five months ago, but the Administration has failed to provide the requested info, continuing to stonewall the request, even after a follow-up letter was sent subsequent to the San Bernardino terrorist attack. The senators have asked the departments to fill out this chart on the terrorists’ immigration backgrounds.
Read the letter in its entirety here and below:
January 11, 2016
The Honorable Loretta Lynch
Attorney General
U.S. Department of Justice
Washington, D.C. 20530
The Honorable Jeh Johnson
Secretary
U.S. Department of Homeland Security
Washington, D.C. 20528
The Honorable John Kerry
Secretary
U.S. Department of State
Washington, D.C. 20520
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
BACKGROUND:
Sen. Ted Cruz is Chairman of the Subcommittee on Oversight, Agency Action, Federal Rights and Federal Courts, and Sen. Jeff Sessions is Chairman of the Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Immigration and the National Interest.
The original letter from Sens. Cruz and Sessions is available here. View their subsequent follow-up statement here. View the December 3 statement here.
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