Sen. Perdue Votes To Suspend Refugee Process

U.S. Senator David Perdue issued the statement below today voicing his support of the American Security Against Foreign Enemies (SAFE) Act. He holds that the Act would suspend the admission of Syrian and Iraqi refugees into the United States until the integrity of the vetting process is improved.

Sen. David Perdue:

“ISIS has called on its supporters to exploit refugee programs and unsecure borders to attack its enemies. This global call to action and resulting terrorist attacks have Georgians and Americans concerned about their safety and the security of our homeland. This bill helps guarantee that effective safeguards are in place to prevent radical terrorists from using the refugee program to their advantage. When we are facing such serious safety threats, it is disappointing Senate Democrats blocked this effort and put political interests ahead of national security.”

You can see the text of the Act and its summary after the break.

Bill summary:

American Security Against Foreign Enemies Act of 2015 or the American SAFE Act of 2015

(Sec. 2) This bill requires that, in addition to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) screening, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) shall take all actions necessary to ensure that each covered alien receives a background investigation before U.S. refugee admission.

A “covered alien” is any alien applying for U.S. refugee admission who:

• is a national or resident of Iraq or Syria,
• has no nationality and whose last habitual residence was in Iraq or Syria, or
• has been present in Iraq or Syria at any time on or after March 1, 2011.

A covered alien:

• may not be admitted as a refugee until the FBI certifies to DHS and the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) that he or she has received a background investigation sufficient to determine whether the alien is a U.S. security threat; and
• may only be admitted to the United States after DHS, with the unanimous concurrence of the FBI and the DNI, certifies to Congress that he or she is not such a threat.

The Inspector General of DHS shall conduct annual risk-based reviews of all certifications.

DHS shall report monthly to Congress on the total number of admission applications for which a certification was made and the number of covered aliens for whom such a certification was not made for the preceding month. The report shall include for each covered alien for whom a certification was not made the concurrence or nonconcurrence of each person whose concurrence was required by the certification.

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