Ben Carson Calls for ‘Moratorium’ on ‘Suspicious’ Foreign Nationals

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During a fundraiser in Orange County, California 2016 Presidential hopeful Ben Carson weighed in on the San Bernardino terror attack suggesting a “moratorium” on bringing “suspicious” foreign nationals to the United States.

“We’re going to put a moratorium on bringing people in here who are suspicious,” Carson told CBSLA. “I would just say, right now, we’re going to halt this until we can put in place something that actually works.”

Syed Farook was a U.S.-born Muslim that brought his Pakistani passport holding wife-to-be Tashfeen Malik back to the U.S. on a K-1 fiancé visa. The two were married and just six months ago had a child together.

Carson was further questioned on how he would prevent homegrown terrorism should he come out on top in November. “I think what we need to do is to monitor the Internet. We need to monitor social media. I don’t see anything wrong with trying to disrupt their communication. Being able to target them. Being able to target their servers.”

On Friday’s “Sean Hannity Show,” Carson said that if Malik passed extensive background checks, as reports indicate, then that should, “end the conversation” on Syrian refugees. “It hasn’t, because obviously, they have an agenda. If that doesn’t end the conversation, they have an agenda, and that agenda has nothing with protection of the American people.”

An account from one of Farook’s neighbors revealed that the would-be attacker had aroused their suspicion, but that out of fear for being accused of racial profiling, they did not alert law enforcement.

Carson encouraged the “see something, say something” mantra saying, “The greatest defense will be the American people.”

When asked how he would deal with ISIS, Carson deferred to seeking the advice of military experts. He did say, “I think we certainly need to combat them. We have to do it in ways that actually works.”

Fellow GOP Presidential candidate Donald Trump called Carson’s position on immigration “very, very weak” during an October interview on CNN’s AC360. Trump went on to state that Carson “believes in amnesty strongly.”

Follow Michelle Moons on Twitter @MichelleDiana

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