Goodlatte Statement at Markup of the Visa Integrity and Security Act

Chairman Goodlatte: During a Judiciary Committee hearing late last year, a State Department Assistant Secretary testified that “Applicants to the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program are currently subject to the highest level of security checks of any category of traveler to the United States.” And while that is good to know, it begs the question as to why, especially in this age when terrorist threats are growing exponentially, we are not vetting all foreign nationals seeking to enter the United States using the “highest level of security checks” possible. I am sure that in response to such a question, the Administration would likely say that they have to balance the potential risk with the potential rewards.  And that given the limited number of resources available to them combined with the enormous volume of people seeking entry to the United States, they must use those resources in a way so as not to unnecessarily delay those seeking entry to the United States for legitimate purposes. But Congress has an obligation to the American people to help make sure that the Administration is doing its best to properly vet those seeking entry to the U.S.  And over the years, it seems that this Administration has been seeking shortcuts rather than security. Of course, the 9/11 hijackers are the preeminent example of fraud perpetrated during the immigration process.  Fraud that allowed them to murder over 3,000 Americans. After the September 11, 2001 attacks we tightened visa processing.  Congress created the Visa Security Program – starting with DHS units in the U.S. Embassy and consulate in Jeddah and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.  We put in place the in-person interview requirement with a consular officer for the vast majority of individuals seeking entry to the United States. Over the years we have continued to use our oversight role to keep tabs on how the federal government is handling visa processing.  It is in that vein that as Chairman of the Judiciary Committee, I have requested numerous alien files from the Administration during the past few years.  My staff and I review them to see how applications are adjudicated and whether we believe they are approved correctly. The most notorious such alien file, of course, was that of Tashfeen Malik, who together with her husband, murdered 14 Americans and seriously injured 22 more in a terrorist attack at the husband’s place of employment in San Bernardino, California, last December. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services approved Malik for a fiancé visa.  She used that visa to enter the United States where she married her U.S. citizen fiancée and subsequently became a conditional lawful permanent resident.  We learned from her alien file that USCIS did not even follow its own protocol set out in current regulations in approving Malik’s visa. I congratulate the Gentleman from Virginia, Mr. Forbes, for introducing H.R. 5203, the Visa Integrity and Security Act.  Some of its provisions are a direct result of lessons learned from Malik’s case.  For instance, despite the fact that current regulations require a certified English translation to accompany any document containing a foreign language submitted as part of an immigration benefit application, Malik’s file contained no such translation, yet the visa was still approved. And DHS admitted, after initial reports that Malik may have made terrorist-related posts to social media websites, that DHS prevents their adjudicators from conducting a simple search for publicly available posts by those who seek U.S. visas.  So this bill requires DHS to take that common sense step as well. H.R. 5203 contains many other much needed reforms to strengthen our security measures for processing visas. There is no doubt that many foreign nationals want to do us harm.  And there is no doubt that many will continue to seek to exploit our immigration process in order to do so. We must be vigilant.  We must have common sense practices and procedures in place to protect ourselves from harm. H.R. 5203 requires such procedures and I urge my colleagues to support the bill. For more on today’s markup, click here. ###