Last week, 289 members of the U.S. House of Representatives voted for a bill to prevent Syrian and Iraqi refugees fleeing persecution and torture from being resettled in the United States. They also voted to load unnecessary and burdensome requirements onto three of the nation’s top security and intelligence officials, interfering with their primary mission of keeping America safe. And by bending to anti-Muslim rhetoric and lending support to the quixotic efforts of more than two dozen governors who have vowed to block the resettlement of Syrian refugees in their states, the bill also plays into the hands of the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham, or ISIS, and furthers the group’s recruitment strategy.
Many members may not know this is what they voted for when they supported H.R. 4038, the Orwellian-named American Security Against Foreign Enemies (SAFE) Act. That is because the bill was rushed to a vote less than two days after introduction, and was sold as a measured response to the horrific terrorist attacks in Paris, France — merely a brief “pause” in Syrian refugee resettlement efforts.
But make no mistake, the bill shuts down the refugee resettlement program for Syrian and Iraqi refugees, and for any other refugee who may have passed through one of those countries in the past four years.
Make no mistake, the bill shuts down the refugee resettlement program for Syrian and Iraqi refugees
The bill does this by setting up a procedure that is designed to fail. Right now, before a refugee ever steps foot in the United States she has already cleared an extensive, multi-layered background and security check process. For the 1 percent of refugees worldwide who are even referred by the United Nations Refugee Agency for resettlement, it takes an average of 18–24 months to complete the process. And because the process already includes additional checks for Syrian refugees, it typically takes even longer. On the eve of the House vote, former Secretaries of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff and Janet Napolitano wrote to the President to express their view that the current vetting process is “thorough and robust” and that it “will allow us to safely admit the most vulnerable refugees while protecting the American people.”
Under H.R. 4038, the Secretary of Homeland Security, the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Director of National Intelligence would have to personally review each refugee application and certify for 12 congressional committees that the applicant poses no threat to the United States. Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX), Chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee and the lead sponsor of the bill is clear that the authority may not be delegated: “If they are certifying themselves — rather than some underling — that this individual does not pose a threat to national security, that’s a strong standard. . . . They own it. It’s their responsibility.”
The administration recently announced plans to resettle at least 10,000 Syrian refugees in the next fiscal year and previously announced plans to resettle 15,000 Iraqi refugees, many of whom are facing persecution because they or their loved ones worked for the U.S. government or an entity affiliated with the U.S. Assuming each of these top officials works 250 days a year, they would each have to personally review 100 refugee applications per day, or 500 applications per week, in order to make the necessary certifications to Congress, leaving little or no time for any other work.
…they would each have to personally review 100 refugee applications per day, or 500 applications per week
Because the bill provides no additional resources to improve intelligence gathering or the already robust background and security check process that now exists, and it also creates no new vetting requirements, this onerous new certification process is designed to do one thing and one thing only: stop Syrian and Iraqi refugee resettlement entirely. But in doing so, it also distracts from the many and varied critically important responsibilities that these top officials must attend to each and every day.
Of course people are frightened after ISIS’ recent attacks in Paris. Together with the bombings in Beirut and the downing of the Russian airliner in Egypt, the group appears to be expanding its reach and is certainly flexing its muscles. But having the right response to the situation is far more important than just having any response at all. Especially when having the wrong response — like the response advanced last week by the House of Representatives — can endanger our national security and abandon our core values.
Tom Jawetz is the Vice President of Immigration Policy at the Center for American Progress Action Fund.