The politically correct horror show that is the Obama Administration continues to unspool, even to a point where no less than MSNBC is blowing up an exclusive report that proves once and for all that the administration rejected a proposal to vet the social media accounts of visa applicants. This would include the savage jihadist who butchered 14 innocent people in San Bernardino earlier this month.
Top officials at the Department of Homeland Security considered a specific policy to strengthen security screenings for foreign visa applicants’ social media accounts, but the proposal was ultimately rejected, according to an internal department memo obtained by MSNBC.
While the U.S. visa screening process does not include formal vetting of social media accounts, the memo proposed the Obama administration “authorize” customs officials to “access social networking sites” to vet applicants. Such vetting could help catch applicants bent on fraud, crime or “national security” risks, the memo stated.
The federal government considered that policy, according to a former senior official in the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), but officials rejected it in 2011.
Tafsheen Malik, the San Bernardino terrorist in question, came to American in July of 2014 — three years after the most common sense of all common sense proposals was proposed.
According to the New York Times, Malik “made little effort to hide” and “talked openly on social media about her views on violent jihad.”
None uncovered what Ms. Malik had made little effort to hide — that she talked openly on social media about her views on violent jihad.
She said she supported it. And she said she wanted to be a part of it.
American law enforcement officials said they recently discovered those old — and previously unreported — postings as they pieced together the lives of Ms. Malik and her husband, Syed Rizwan Farook, trying to understand how they pulled off the deadliest terrorist attack on American soil since Sept. 11, 2001.
Had the authorities found the posts years ago, they might have kept her out of the country. But immigration officials do not routinely review social media as part of their background checks, and there is a debate inside the Department of Homeland Security over whether it is even appropriate to do so.
Apparently, the 2011 proposal to vet social media platforms was scuttled by the Obama Administration due to “privacy concerns,” which is beyond absurd. Forget that foreigners are not protected by the 4th Amendment. Social media accounts are “social,” they are created specifically for public consumption. There is absolutely no expectation of privacy on social media. In fact, the expectation is the exact opposite.
What was it, just three weeks ago that the DC Media was accusing those of us concerned about Syrian refugees of racism because our concerns about vetting were red herrings to disguise our Islamophobia?
Follow John Nolte on Twitter @NolteNC
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.