“There is no excuse for not using every resource at our disposal to fully vet individuals before they come to the United States”.
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The Department of Homeland Security has confirmed that it is specifically reviewing its policies on when officials can examine would-be immigrants’ social media posts as part of the vetting process when applying for certain visas.
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“Had they checked out Tashfeen Malik, maybe those people in San Bernardino would be alive”.
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A motorcade with President Barack Obama leaves his vacation home for a golf course on December 19, 2015 in Kailua, Hawaii. The White House press pool witnessed a triumphant moment in President Obama’s ongoing golf game while on vacation on Oahu.
Citing a person familiar with the plan, the US daily Wall Street Journal reported that the move represented a new focus on the use of social media in the wake of the San Bernardino shooting carnage in southern California.
On the day of the shooting, Ms. Malik acknowledged her allegiance to the Islamic State terrorist group on a Facebook. That official, John Cohen, is a national security consultant for the network; he attributed the policy to concerns over bad publicity associated with spying on Americans. It is impossible to conduct an exhaustive investigation and scour the social media accounts of each of them, law enforcement officials say.
In 2014, Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson, fearing a civil liberties backlash, refused to end a secret government policy prohibiting immigration officials from reviewing social media messages of all foreign citizens applying for US visas, according to a former senior department official.
As it turns out, looking at the social media presence of Visa applicants is forbidden because doing so may violate the civil liberties of visa applicants.
“To the extent that people are making statements on social media, that’s something we need to look at”, said Brian Levin, director of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at Cal State San Bernardino. The pilot programs that are used now do not consider all social media posts.
USA officials have said their investigation has yet to turn up evidence that foreign militants directed Farook or Malik when they stormed a holiday gathering of Farook’s co-workers and opened fire with assault-style rifles.
Tashfeen Malik and Syed Farook are pictured passing through Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport in this July 27, 2014 handout photo.
While the pair both messaged their support for terrorists ISIS during their rampage, neither are thought to have been in direct contact with the group, but were simply inspired by their atrocities.
A White House spokesman said Monday that President Obama will look closely at recommendations from the Department of Homeland Security and State Department to tighten security gaps.
“I don’t think there are any indications that there was public use of social media that was missed, and we are looking into other questions about how they may have communicated to each other that avoided our detection”, said Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., after being briefed by law enforcement late last week.
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ABC and The Times didn’t note which social media platforms Malik was thought have posted on.
