Terror easy pass
Shoddy visa vetting for San Bern jihadi
The application for murderous San Bernardino jihadi Tashfeen Malik’s fiancée visa shows that her Americanborn husband gave the US government scant evidence to prove their relationship — but immigration officials gave it the thumbsup anyway.
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (RVa.) released the file Tuesday — days after he charged that immigration authorities failed to thoroughly vet her application.
The 21page file includes the application itself and just two sets of supporting documents intended to prove that Malik and her husband, Syed Rizwan Farook, had met facetoface within the prior two years, as the law requires, Fox News reported.
The documents were a statement from Farook saying they had first met in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, during the Hajj pilgrimage in 2013, as well as copies of their passports containing visas and stamps for the Saudi Arabia trip.
“In order to obtain a fiancée visa, it is required to demonstrate proof that the US citizen and foreign national have met in person,” Goodlatte said in a statement. “However, Malik’s immigration file does not show sufficient evi dence for this requirement.”
Armed with two semiautomatic assault rifles, a pair of 9mm pistols and a stash of pipe bombs, Malik and Farook killed 14 of Farook’s coworkers and wounded dozens of others in the Dec. 2 terror attack.
The couple had been radicalized for years prior to the California bloodbath, authorities said.
Goodlatte said the US officials even asked for more evidence to prove they had met — “but it was never provided and her visa was approved anyway.”
US Citizenship and Immigration Services spokesman Joseph R. Holstead defended how the case was handled.
“Tashfeen Malik was subjected to numerous background checks at all stages that the agency handled her case, and those background checks did not reveal any derogatory information about Malik,” he said.
Last week, lawmakers questioned FBI Director James Comey and other administration officials on the visa process — with Comey admitting he didn’t know if Malik had been interviewed.
Goodlatte said it’s “unacceptable” that the visa in this case was “sloppily approved,” and noted he’s working on a bill to strengthen visa processing.