Today, Congressman Ken Calvert (CA-42) reintroduced the Secure Accountability for Emigres and Refugees (SAFER) Act, H.R. 441. The SAFER Act would add requirements to the Syrian and Iraqi refugee security vetting process.
“I continue to believe we should halt the Syrian and Iraqi refugee programs until we take further steps to increase the security vetting process,” said Rep. Calvert. “Specifically, I believe we should include a polygraph examination, collect and analyze biometric data and DNA samples, and ensure social media activity is scrutinized. America continues to have the most welcoming legal immigrations system in the world, but it is dangerous and irresponsible to not include these critical steps to our vetting process.”
The SAFER Act would define the requirements to fully vet Syrian and Iraqi refugees before they can be admitted into the United States:
All Syrian and Iraqi refugees regardless of background or religious affiliation must pass a certified polygraph examination. A polygraph will be essential in determining whether a refugee is truly coming to the United States to escape oppression or if they are coming here with possibly violent intentions. It is also necessary since for many refugees we only have their word to rely on as to who they are, where they are from and why they are coming here. There are no corresponding government databases to verify their claims nor is there the ability to conduct a sufficient background check due to the conflicts in the region and displacement of entire communities.
All Syrian and Iraqi refugees regardless of background or religious affiliation must agree to provide biometric data and have that data compared to known databases in order to validate they have no known history of terrorist activities.
All Syrian and Iraqi refugees regardless of background or religious affiliation must agree to provide DNA samples and have those samples compared to known databases in order to validate they have no known history of terrorist activities.
All Syrian and Iraqi refugees will be subject to a background check that includes an investigation of all online activity, including posts to social media.
