DHS: TRACKING 'MISSING' REFUGEE VIOLATES 'CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS'
Syrian man headed to Washington, D.C., disappears, fails to 'check in'
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Syrian refugees (Photo: United Nations News Center)
A Syrian refugee recently resettled in Louisiana has gone missing, and state officials were surprised to find out that federal Homeland Security agents do not track the whereabouts of foreign refugees out of respect for their “constitutional rights.”
The refugee was resettled in the Baton Rouge area in June by Catholic Charities, a subcontractor that resettles thousands of refugees in the U.S. every year for the federal government and United Nations. The Catholic group, along with others with Lutheran, Episcopal, evangelical and Jewish affiliations, gets paid by the head with taxpayer money for every refugee they bring to the U.S.
But when this particular Syrian refugee turned up missing about a week ago, the Louisiana State Police confirmed he was headed to Washington, D.C., to unite with family, WBRZ TV in Baton Rouge reported.
Once in Washington, the refugee was apparently supposed to “check in” with authorities there, according to state officials. But he never did.
There is nothing illegal about this because the State Department, which oversees the program, does not require any sort of monitoring or tracking of refugees.
Sen. David Vitter, R-LA, who wants to defund the refugee program, told the Hayride he spoke with the Department of Homeland Security Nov. 19 and they confirmed to him that they do not, in fact, know where the refugee is. This admission came despite a report two days earlier by WBRZ that the missing refugee was merely a “rumor.”
Watch local report by WBRZ regarding missing Syrian refugee
Homeland Security said the refugee could not be "kept up with" because of his constitutional rights, a spokesman for Vitter told the Hayride.
Vitter said security is being sacrificed on the altar of political correctness.
"This is political correctness gone insane – wildly dangerous policy,” said Vitter in a statement to the Hayride. "Thank you Barack Obama and John Bel Edwards."
FBI Director James Comey has warned in congressional hearings that his agency has no ability to screen refugees from Syria before they get here, because Syria is a failed state with no reliable law enforcement data.
'Accommodating the Syrians'
Edwards, who is running as the Democratic opponent to Vitter in the state’s gubernatorial election this Saturday, originally said via Facebook he would work with the Obama administration in "accommodating" Syrian refugees in the state, although he later backtracked and said he would be in favor of a temporary "pause" in the refugee resettlements.
"They aren't tracking where any of the refugees go," refugee watchdog Ann Corcoran told WND. "That's one of the first things I learned when I started following this nine years ago. They told me, 'This is America, and they can up and move wherever they want,' but they might not get all their welfare goodies, their startup money at least."
Each refugee receives startup cash of approximately $1,100 to get settled in housing, and this money could be left on the table if they move before receiving it and don't check in at their new location, Corcoran said.
"But I do think there is something very suspicious about this case, especially when ISIS has said earlier in the week that they're targeting the D.C. area," she said.
Health issues also a concern
And the problems of refugees gone AWOL extend beyond the risks to national security.
Corcoran, who authors the Refugee Resettlement Watch blog, said another problem has to do with health concerns.
"Some of the refugees have to start on certain medical treatments for, say tuberculosis, and there's no way to tell if they are continuing their medical regime when they leave and don't check in at their new home," she said.
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal is one of 32 governors who have said they don't want Syrian refugees while nearly 100 mayors of cities across the U.S. have told Obama in a letter they want more of them to be sent to their cities.
Despite a majority of Americans opposing the Syrian refugee program (53 percent), President Obama has made the policy a priority and derided his opponents as "fear mongers" who are against helping widows and orphans. He said it was "shameful" that conservatives would place a "religious test" on the refugees and accept only Christians from Syria and Iraq. This despite the fact that Obama appears to have a religious test of his own – accepting almost exclusively Muslims from Syria – more than 97 percent. Of the nearly 2,200 Syrians taken by the U.S. so far, only 53 have been Christians, who are the most savagely persecuted minority in the Middle East according to independent trackers like Open Doors and 21st Century Wilberforce Initiative.
This is not the first time authorities have wanted to know the location of a potentially dangerous Muslim refugee.
There was a case in 2007 in which the FBI was looking for several Iraqis resettled in Tennessee.
"And the authorities, our FBI, wanted the resettlement agency to tell them where the Iraqis were and the agency – Church World Service – not only refused but filed a lawsuit along with ACLU and CAIR blocking the FBI from finding out the location of these Iraqis," Corcoran said. "The contractor told the government they didn't want to reveal the location, refusing to give information to the point of filing a lawsuit."
It appears that Muslim refugees have the same rights as Americans on day one of their arrival in the U.S., even if they are arriving from a jihadist stronghold like Syria.
"This happens all the time," Corcoran said. "Here's what the contractors will tell you: 'In America we can move about, you can pick up and move, and so can a refugee. This is America, we let people move, without notifying the authorities.'"
Copyright 2015 WND
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