Jeff Sessions, Richard Shelby: Ryan’s Omnibus Will Admit Hundreds of Thousands of Migrants from Jihadi Regions

As the government’s funding deadline approaches, Senior Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Richard Shelby and Senate Judiciary Subcommittee Chairman Jeff Sessions warn that unless changes are made, “The omnibus [spending bill] would put the U.S. on a path to approve admission for hundreds of thousands of migrants from a broad range of countries with jihadists movements.”

As we near a vote on the year-end government funding bill, we believe it is essential that Congress take strong steps to restore the security and financial integrity of our immigration system.   In recent months, we have seen immigrants in the United States implicated in terrorist activity hailing from countries including Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Somalia, Sudan, Ghana and Saudi Arabia, to name a few.   The risk is not limited to Syrian migration, but encompasses a wide-range of countries and the ever-present threat of post-entry radicalization.

Congress must cancel the President’s blank refugee check and put Congress back in charge of the program.  We cannot allow the President to unilaterally decide how many refugees he wishes to admit, nor continue to force taxpayers to pick up the tab for the tens of billions of unpaid-for welfare and entitlement costs.  The omnibus would put the U.S. on a path to approve admission for hundreds of thousands of migrants from a broad range of countries with jihadists movements over the next 12 months, on top of all the other autopilot annual immigration – absent language to reduce the numbers.

The Senators assert that, as elected representatives, it is Congress’ “constitutional dut[y] to protect our nation and to establish uniform rules of immigration that safeguard the national interest.”

“We cannot continue to fund the operation of immigration policies and programs that hurt our own constituents,” the Senators write.

The Senators outlined several appropriations proposals related to immigration that would prioritize the interests of American people, such as:

• “A provision to deny the expenditure of grant funds in the omnibus legislation for Sanctuary Cities
• A provision to deny the expenditure of funds to issue visas to countries that refuse to repatriate criminal aliens
• A provision to prevent the expenditure of any funds on immigration programs that waive in-person interviews
• A provision to withhold refugee resettlement funds until Congress passes a joint resolution to authorize refugee resettlement, ending the President’s unilateral refugee power”