Emigres

Everyone agrees that those applying to come to America must be vetted but there is a problem with those coming from Syria. ISIS has taken control of the printing press. The 17-page Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Intelligence Report, issued to law enforcement last week, says ISIS likely has been able to print legitimate-looking Syrian passports since taking over the city of Deir ez-Zour last summer, home to a passport office with “boxes of blank passports” and a passport printing machine. Another passport office was located in Raqqa, Syria, which has long been ISIS’s de facto capital. News reports show that Syrian refugees are leaving the country with little more than the clothes on their backs and many have no papers so it is extremely difficult to vet these people. There is a lengthy process to vet most emigres but this has been by-passed for this group. Based on the above it appears that Syrians with proper passports may be a greater risk than those with none.