Texas Governor Greg Abbott tweeted out a reassuring message about the federal government’s anti-terrorism screening process Monday night. He quoted one of the questions in the K-1 fiancé visa application form.
Abbott tweeted “Actual question asked of Visa applicants shows system is absurd: ‘Do you seek to engage in terrorist activities’ while in U.S.?” The governor appeared less than impressed with the federal government’s screening process.
One of the other questions on the visa used to screen people like the San Bernardino shooter, Tashfeen Malik, is “Have you ever or do you intend to provide money to terrorism groups?”
This information was revealed by Department of Homeland Security whistleblower Phillip Haney during an appearance on Fox News Channel’s “Justice” program, Breitbart TV reported earlier in December.
The application reveals a naiveté on the part of the State Department that it might believe someone would actually answer those questions honestly if they were actually planning terrorist activities or if they had supported terrorist organizations. Or, perhaps there is some consolation in the fact that if they kill hundreds of Americans, we can always charge them with lying on a federal form.
The questions serve to increase the public’s lack of confidence in the federal government’s ability to screen would be terrorists from people seeking to enter the U.S. as immigrants. While these questions are raised on a form screening people engaged to marry an American, one must wonder what questions are being asked of the Syrian refugees flooding into the U.S. and Texas.
“These questions are ineffective,” Haney told host Judge Jeanine Pirro. “The way to really develop a case is to ask people, where are they born, what are their family members’ names, their father, their mother, where did they go to school, what organizations are they part of? That’s how you develop a case. That’s how you do what we call ‘connecting the dots.’”
Admiration officials have repeatedly talked about the flaws in the refugee screening process. In November, Breitbart Texas’ Lana Shadwick reported on a video released by U.S. Representative Lamar Smith. The video reveals testimony before a House Homeland Security Committee panel where FBI Director James B. Comey, U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Jeh Johnson, and Nicholas J. Rasmussen, Director of the National Counter-terrorism Center, discussed their concerns about the program.
Rasmussen told the panel, “We have certainly seen terrorist groups talk about, think about, exactly what you are describing, Mr. Smith. Trying to use available programs to get people not only into the United States, but into western European countries as well. So we know that they aspire to do that.” This testimony came before the terrorist attacks in Paris.
Secretary Johnson reassured the panel about the process by saying every alleged refugee is interviewed and they complete an application form. Once can conclude the form probably has questions like the ones discussed above. Smith responded “so you are sorta having to take their word for it.”
Bob Price serves as associate editor and senior political news contributor for Breitbart Texas and is a member of the original Breitbart Texas team. Follow him on Twitter@BobPriceBBTX.
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