US Refugee Vetting Process ‘Wholly Inadequate’

Advocacy group Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) Media Director Ira Mehlman said that 31 US governors oppose President Barack Obama’s plan to resettle 10,000 Syrian and Iraqi refugees in the United States in 2016 as do the overwhelming majority of Americans.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — The vetting process used to investigate Syrian and other refugees seeking to enter and stay in the United States is deficient, advocacy group Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) Media Director Ira Mehlman told Sputnik on Friday.

"The vetting process that is in place is wholly inadequate to safeguard homeland security," Mehlman said. "The so-called ‘rigorous" vetting process is the same one that missed glaring red flags that should have led to Tafsheen Malik being denied entry to the United States."

On December 2, Tashfeen Malik and her husband Syed Rizwan Farook shot and killed 14 people in San Bernardino, California. Malik entered the United States on a fiancée visa.

Tashfeen Malik, (L), and Syed Farook are pictured passing through Chicago's O'Hare International Airport in this July 27, 2014

© AP Photo / US Customs and Border Protection

Mehlman noted that 31 US governors oppose President Barack Obama’s plan to resettle 10,000 Syrian and Iraqi refugees in the United States in 2016 as do the overwhelming majority of Americans.

"Governors and local government officials can take the issue before the court of public opinion, thereby pressuring Congress to cut off funding for resettlement programs."

President Barack Obama has called for the United States to resettle 10,000 Syrian refugees in 2016. The decision has provoked widespread criticism by lawmakers and state governors, who argue against letting the refugees in the United States for security reasons.