ICYMI: Sen. Cruz Op-Ed in The Washington Times: “Why the Terrorist Refugee Infiltration Prevention Act of 2015 Is Necessary”
WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) yesterday penned an op-ed for The Washington Times, emphasizing the need for his Terrorist Refugee Infiltration Prevention Act of 2015 (S. 2302). This bill would protect American citizens by immediately barring refugees to the United States from countries that contain territory controlled by a foreign terrorist organization.
Read Sen. Cruz’s op-ed in its entirety here. Excerpts from the op-ed can be found below:
Why the Terrorist Refugee Infiltration Prevention Act of 2015 Is Necessary
The Washington Times
By: Sen. Ted Cruz
Nov. 19, 2015
The self-proclaimed Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, or ISIS, has emerged as the new face of the radical terror that has bedeviled the West in recent decades. As the American people are now painfully aware in the wake of ISIS’s murderous rampage in Paris last Friday, they have apparently now directly threatened both Washington and New York. Their attacks and threats serve as reminders that ISIS can and, given time and opportunity, will strike the West again.
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Given the existential nature and scope of the threat posed by radical Islamic terrorism, the limitations on our ability to screen the flood of refugees, and the obligations of our government to provide for the safety and security of all Americans, we simply cannot accept refugees from countries that have a significant terrorist presence until the terrorist threat has been eliminated.
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This is why I have introduced the Terrorist Refugee Infiltration Prevention Act of 2015. This constitutionally sound, common-sense measure would immediately bar any refugee who is from any country that contains territory controlled in substantial part by ISIS, al Qaeda, or any other designated foreign terrorist organization ascribing to the radical, totalitarian Islamism dedicated to the destruction of the United States and our allies, and whose proponents find anyone who does not share their faith—from couples dining in cafes to Jews shopping in a kosher market to satirical cartoonists—equally offensive. The bill specifically names Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Syria, and Yemen as countries from which refugees cannot be accepted, and empowers the State Department to identify and designate additional countries as potential sources of terror.
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After the horror of Paris, it would be downright reckless not to take basic steps to protect ourselves from the threat of terrorist infiltration. It takes just one jihadist to cause enormous damage and take countless lives. This is a small, first step toward protecting America, and I will never apologize for defending this nation.
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