September 21, 2016
By Brendan Kirby
Mass resettlement of Somalis in U.S. far exceeds Syrians and has already led to domestic terror
President Obama’s initiative to admit 10,000 refugees from Syria this year has generated fierce debate on Capitol Hill, but since 9/11, the United States has taken in almost 10 times as many Somali refugees.
According to statistics from the Department of Homeland Security, the country has resettled 8,619 refugees from the impoverished, war-torn African nation in the fiscal year that ends this month. That brings the total since fiscal year 2002 to 97,046. Most are law-abiding residents, but some have turned against their new country, including the man accused of stabbing 10 people at a Minnesota mall on Saturday.
Ian Smith, an investigative associate with the Immigration Reform Law Institute, said the limitations in screening refugees from Syria apply to Somalia. Both nations are mired in civil war. Both have barely functioning governments that make extensive background checks difficult or impossible. Both have large populations of Muslims, a portion of whom adhere to an extreme interpretation of Islam.
“The threats should be at least as concerning,” he said. … Read the full story by Brendan Kirby.
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