Chairman McCaul Statement on Senate Consideration of Bill to Enhance Refugee Screening

Statement

House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Michael McCaul released the following statement in response to Senate plans to take up the American Security Against Foreign Enemies (SAFE) Act of 2015, which would enhance counterterrorism screening of Syrian and Iraqi refugees:

"I am pleased to see the Senate is bringing up the SAFE Act, which passed the House with a bipartisan, veto-proof majority last year for a reason: terrorists have exploited--and continue to try to exploit--the refugee process, and we need to stop them before it's too late. ISIS has vowed to send its operatives into the West posing as refugees, and it has done so to kill civilians on the streets of Paris. We have been informed by our intelligence community that individuals linked to terrorism in Syria have already attempted to enter our country through the refugee program, and just this month the FBI arrested two Iraqi refugees inside the United States with ISIS ties. This bill is not designed to end America's proud tradition of helping civilians fleeing war-torn countries--instead, it would allow legitimate Iraqi or Syrian refugees to be admitted while stopping jihadists and foreign fighters from slipping through the cracks."

-- Chairman Michael McCaul

Background

The American SAFE Act requires enhanced security screening of all refugees from Iraq and Syria to prevent terrorist infiltration into an important humanitarian program. A summary of the legislation is available here and full text of H.R. 4038 is available, here. The bill was initially drafted in response to top U.S. security officials' concerns about the vetting process.

Recent indicators of terrorist targeting of refugee flows

January

Two ISIS-tied Iraqi refugees arrested in California and Texas on terror-related charges (two other Iraqi refugees, tied to al-Qaeda, were arrested in Kentucky in 2011)

ISIS terrorist posing as a Syrian refugee conducted suicide bombing in Istanbul

Terrorist who attacked Paris police station in name of ISIS found to have been living in German refugee shelter
December

Two associates of the Paris attackers arrested in Austria; believed to have entered Europe posing as refugees

House Homeland Security Committee releases information from intelligence community that "…individuals with ties to terrorist groups in Syria [have attempted] to gain entry to the U.S. through the U.S. refugee program."
November:

At least two ISIS operatives posed as Syrian refugees to enter Europe; participated in the Paris terrorist attack which killed 130 people

For additional data, see the Committee's November report: Syrian Refugee Flows: Security Risks and Counterterrorism Challenges

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