Immigration security

Ex-DHS head: We can’t vet Syrian refugees

The former head of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) says the U.S. does not have the capabilities to vet Syrian refugees seeking asylum in the country.

 

“Particularly from certain parts of the world, I’m just not sure that we’ve got the background information — they talk about screening, they talk about being able to review everybody in a timely way, and it may take a year or two,” Tom Ridge told John Catsimatidis on “The Cats Roundtable” on New York’s AM-970 on Sunday. 

 

“I’m just not confident that they’ve got sufficient information from law enforcement, the intelligence community to do effective screening,” he added. 

 

“So, a pause for refugees from that part of the world is very appropriate at this time.”

 

Ridge said the refugee crisis is the result of the global community’s “failure” to deal with the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS).