Shocker, not.
Keep this in mind: The Obama administration assures governors that refugees who come to the United States in its resettlement program undergo a “rigorous security vetting process,” particularly if they are fleeing from Syria.
And yet: An Iraqi refugee, Aws Mohammed Younis Al-Jayab, was arrested in Sacramento by federal agents on a charge that he lied to immigration authorities over his ties to terror groups and travel to Syria. He is being held in the Sacramento County jail without bail.
Apparently he fought in Syria before returning to the United States in 2014. The allegations in the complaint state that Al-Jayab traveled to Syria to take up arms with terrorist organizations and concealed that conduct from immigration authorities.
The Sacramento Bee reports that Al-Jayab, 23, an Iraqi-born Palestinian, was named in a criminal complaint filed Wednesday in federal court in Sacramento and unsealed late Thursday as word of his arrest began to spread. He is to appear in federal court on Friday at 2 p.m.
“Aws Mohammed Younis Al-Jayab allegedly traveled overseas to fight alongside terrorist organizations and lied to U.S. authorities about his activities,” U.S. Assistant Attorney General John Carlin said in a statement. “The National Security Division’s highest priority is protecting the nation from terrorism, and we will continue to hold accountable those who seek to join or aid the cause of terrorism, whether at home or abroad.”
Word of the complaint came amid reports of terror-related investigations in Milwaukee and Houston and the announcement of another Iraqi refugee being arrested in the Texas city. U.S. Attorney Ben Wagner said, “While he represented a potential safety threat, there is no indication that he planned any acts of terrorism in this country.”
The criminal complaint and 18-page supporting FBI affidavit say Al-Jayab emigrated from Syria to the United States in October 2012, where he initially lived in Tucson, Ariz., and then moved to Milwaukee before traveling overseas. While he was living in Milwaukee, Al-Jayab allegedly began communicating with individuals in Syria about traveling there and about his past experience fighting overseas, the complaint says. “America will not isolate me from my Islamic duty,” Al-Jayab allegedly wrote on April 8, 2013, to one acquaintance. “Only death will do us part. My only wish is to see you and start the action.”
Al-Jayab was interviewed several times by the FBI. And shockingly, he never admitted to ties with any terrorist organization.
Investigators say Al-Jayab received about $4,500 from an auto insurance claim in November 2013 and bought an airline ticket from Chicago to Istanbul, Turkey, from which he crossed the border into Syria. While he was overseas, he allegedly communicated with associates and relatives about traveling to Syria to join up with terror groups to fight with them. Then in January 2014, Al-Jayab returned to the United States on a flight from London to Los Angeles and, later, Sacramento, the criminal complaint states. Upon entering the country in California, the complaint states, Al-Jayab listed only Jordan and the United Kingdom on a customs form listing where he had traveled. Al-Jayab was interviewed again in October 2014 and told authorities he had gone to Turkey to visit his grandmother but said he had not provided any assistance to terror groups, the complaint states.
Read the rest of the story here.
Don’t you feel safe?
