| Topic: |
Religions > Atheism |
| User: |
"Fred Stone" |
| Date: |
14 Mar 2006 08:07:30 PM |
| Object: |
Allah and Man at Yale |
http://cornyn.senate.gov/doc_archive/Chertoff-Hashemi.pdf
Dear Secretary Chertoff:
I write to you regarding Sayed Rahmatullah Hashemi, the former Taliban
spokesman currently attending Yale University on a student visa.
In 2005, Congress passed the REAL ID Act and expanded the terror-related
grounds of inadmissibility. Under current law, an alien is inadmissible
or removable on terror-related grounds if he is a representative of any
designated or nondesignated terrorist organization. Further, an alien is
inadmissible or removable if the alien endorses or espouses terrorist
activity or persuades others to endorse or espouse terrorist activity or
support a terrorist organization. The REAL ID is clear that the grounds
of inadmissibility and removal apply regardless of when the conduct in
question occurred.
Mr. Hashemi was an official spokesman for the Taliban, which gave safe
haven and other material support to Al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden, and
continued to do so even after the terrorist attacks of September 11th.
Yet the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) admitted him into the
United States on an F-1 student visa. I would like to know what steps
the Department of Homeland Security is taking to determine whether Mr.
Hashemi was properly admitted and whether the Department of Homeland
Security will seek to deport Mr. Hashemi under one of the terror-related
grounds of removal.
I am also concerned about the Department of Homeland Security’s role in
reviewing Mr. Hashemi’s student visa application prior to its issuance.
The report of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the
United States concluded that the key officials responsible for
determining alien admissions (consular officers abroad and immigration
inspectors in the United States) were not considered full partners in
counterterrorism efforts prior to September 11, 2001, and as a result,
opportunities to intercept the September 11 terrorists were missed.
Congress subsequently passed the Homeland Security Act, and section 428
allows DHS to assign staff to consular posts abroad to advise consular
officers, review visa applications, and conduct investigations. Yet it
is not clear that DHS officials were afforded an opportunity to review
Mr. Hashemi’s visa application prior to its issuance. Please provide an
update on the progress DHS is making in assigning officers to the
consulate in Islamabad and whether those officers are fully integrated
into the visa screening process.
Thank you for your attention to this matter.
Sincerely,
JOHN CORNYN
United States Senator
--
Fred Stone
aa# 1369
"Tolerance becomes a crime when applied to evil." - Thomas Mann
.
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