{"id":7702,"date":"2014-09-18T16:30:41","date_gmt":"2014-09-18T20:30:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/live-immigrationreform.pantheonsite.io\/?p=7702"},"modified":"2018-12-28T14:43:35","modified_gmt":"2018-12-28T19:43:35","slug":"dhs-secretary-amnesty-background-checks-wouldnt-catch-terrorists","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.immigrationreform.com\/2014\/09\/18\/dhs-secretary-amnesty-background-checks-wouldnt-catch-terrorists\/","title":{"rendered":"DHS Secretary: Amnesty Background Checks Wouldn\u2019t Catch Terrorists"},"content":{"rendered":"

Proponents of amnesty often claim that it would <\/span>make the country safer<\/a> by bringing illegal aliens “out of the shadows” and helping law enforcement apprehend “the bad guys.”<\/span><\/p>\n

But this week, Jeh Johnson, Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, grudgingly acknowledged<\/a> that background checks conducted on those pursuing some form of amnesty wouldn’t identify known criminals and potential terrorists.<\/p>\n

During a hearing on “Worldwide Threats to the Homeland,<\/a>”\u00a0Rep. Lou Barletta (R-Pa.) questioned whether background checks conducted, as a component of any amnesty program, would effectively identify public safety or national security threats<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Barletta noted the 9\/11 Commission found that as many as 15 of the 19 hijackers behind the September 11th<\/sup> attacks violated existing immigration laws and could have been stopped.<\/p>\n

Using the example of Mahmud Abouhalima<\/a>, the terrorist convicted in the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center, Barletta pressed Johnson<\/a> on the issue. In 1986, Abouhalima was given amnesty as an agricultural worker despite working as a taxi driver in New York City.<\/p>\n

Barletta: “Do you believe that Mahmud Abouhalima would have come forward for a criminal background check in 1993?”<\/p>\n

Johnson: “Most criminals do not subject themselves to criminal background checks. I agree with that.\u201d<\/p>\n