Rep. Mike McCaul: ISIS Killers 'Gain Access' to US Via Refugee Program
Monday, 07 Dec 2015 04:44 PM
U.S. intelligence officials have learned that ISIS terrorists are using President Barack Obama's effort to welcome thousands of Syrian refugees into the United States as a way to enter the country themselves, House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Michael McCaul says.
"I can reveal today that the United States government has information to indicate that individuals tied to terrorist groups in Syria have already attempted to gain access to our country through the U.S. refugee program," the Texas Republican said in a speech at the National Defense University,the Washington Examiner reports.
"That was very courageous for them to come forward with this to tell me about this personally given the political debate on the Hill with the Syrian refugee bill," McCaul stated in reference to a briefing he says he received from intelligence sources.
McCaul asserts that the threat from ISIS dwarfs previous Islamic terrorist attempts against America, saying the group is "now more dangerous than al Qaida ever was under Osama bin Laden," The Hill reports.
"I believe the state of our homeland is increasingly not secure," McCaul continued.
"I believe 2015 will be seen as a watershed year in this long war — the year when our enemies gained an upper hand and when the spread of terror once again awoke the West."
McCaul warned that the war has indeed come to America.
"Our own city streets are now the front lines," McCaul said, the Washington Free Beacon reports.
"Indeed, San Bernardino was not an isolated event. Terrorists are on the offensive, working to deploy operatives to our shores and to radicalize our citizens to commit acts of violence."
McCaul, said the FBI is investigating "nearly 1,000 homegrown terror cases" across the nation and that most can be traced to Islamic radicals, the Free Beacon reports.
"Already, federal authorities have arrested over 70 ISIS supporters in our country," he said.
ISIS-affiliated terrorists have been tied to 19 "terrorist plots or attacks here at home," McCaul said, the Free Beacon reports.
"These include plans to murder tourists on Florida beaches, to set off pipe bombs on Capitol Hill, to detonate explosives at New York City landmarks, and to live-stream an attack at an American college campus."
"This is one of the greatest counterterrorism challenges of the 21st century," McCaul said, the Examiner reports.
"It is one of the biggest fears that keeps me up at night."
"I can reveal today that the United States government has information to indicate that individuals tied to terrorist groups in Syria have already attempted to gain access to our country through the U.S. refugee program," the Texas Republican said in a speech at the National Defense University,the Washington Examiner reports.
McCaul asserts that the threat from ISIS dwarfs previous Islamic terrorist attempts against America, saying the group is "now more dangerous than al Qaida ever was under Osama bin Laden," The Hill reports.
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"I believe the state of our homeland is increasingly not secure," McCaul continued.
McCaul warned that the war has indeed come to America.
"Our own city streets are now the front lines," McCaul said, the Washington Free Beacon reports.
"Indeed, San Bernardino was not an isolated event. Terrorists are on the offensive, working to deploy operatives to our shores and to radicalize our citizens to commit acts of violence."
McCaul, said the FBI is investigating "nearly 1,000 homegrown terror cases" across the nation and that most can be traced to Islamic radicals, the Free Beacon reports.
"Already, federal authorities have arrested over 70 ISIS supporters in our country," he said.
"These include plans to murder tourists on Florida beaches, to set off pipe bombs on Capitol Hill, to detonate explosives at New York City landmarks, and to live-stream an attack at an American college campus."
"This is one of the greatest counterterrorism challenges of the 21st century," McCaul said, the Examiner reports.
"It is one of the biggest fears that keeps me up at night."
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