More than two million lawful permanent residents, asylees and refugees from majority Muslim nations have been admitted to the U.S. since radical Islamic terrorists attacked America on September 11, 2001.
According Department of Homeland Security data compiled and released Monday by Republicans on the Senate Subcommittee on Immigration and the National Interest, from 2001 to 2013 the U.S. admitted more than 1.5 million lawful permanent residents from majority Muslims nations to the U.S.
During that same timeframe the U.S. resettled 387,938 refugees from majority Muslim countries as well as 76,728 asylees from those same nations.
Additionally, the Subcommittee highlighted that in 2013— the most recent data compiled— more than 117,000 lawful permanents residents and 40,000 refugees and asylees from majority Muslim countries came to the U.S. Meaning that, should immigration policy reman the same, within the coming five years the U.S. will admit more than half a million more migrants from Muslim countries.
As the Subcommittee has noted, the U.S. accepts a million lawful permanent residents and 100,000 refugees and asylum seekers annually. If the current rate of immigration continues, the U.S. is slated to add the population of Los Angeles every three years — on top of the all time high 42 million foreign-born residents already in the U.S.
In the wake of the terrorist attacks in Paris, Republican lawmakers have been expressing renewed concerns about the Obama administration’s plan to resettle thousands of Syrian refugees in the U.S.
Opponents of the plan point to the lack of information the government has to vet the Syrian refugees, the high cost of resettlement, and reports that at least one of the Paris attackers infiltrated the country as a Syrian refugee.
Monday President Obama chastised Republicans opposed to resettling thousands of Syrian refugees into the U.S. due to the national security threat presented by Muslim extremists.
“The people who are fleeing Syria are the most harmed by terrorism,” Obama argued, adding “we do not close our hearts to these victims of such violence, and somehow start equating the issue of refugees with the issue of terrorism”
As lawmakers express concern that the Obama administration’s plan to resettle thousands of Syrian refugees in the U.S. represents a national security threat, an oversight request pressing the Obama administration for the immigration histories of terrorists already in the U.S. has gone unanswered.
In August, Sen Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Immigration and the National Interest and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Oversight, Agency Action, Federal Rights and Federal Courts called on the heads of DHS, the Justice Department and the State Department to provide a detailed immigration history of 72 individuals involved with or sentenced for terrorist activity last year.
Many of those individuals, the senators have already identified as foreign-born.
The deadline for the agencies to respond — September 4 — came and went weeks ago. The senators have yet to receive a response.
The subcommittee aide who confirmed that none of the three agencies replied noted to Breibart News that the failure of the agencies to comply with the request is just another reason for Congress to block the Obama administration’s plan to resettle Syrian Refugees in the U.S. unilaterally.
A DHS spokeswomen declined to comment on the matter emailing “We’ll respond directly to the Members.” The State Department and Justice Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
UPDATE:
A State Department spokesperson responded to Breitbart News’ inquiry after publication of this story. The spokesperson disputed the claim that the department had not responded, saying the it answered on September 1. The committee aide responded that while the State Department did receive a one of the letters, it did not include — and does not have access to — the information needed for the senators’ central concerns.
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