Some Refugees Allowed Into U.S. Based on Their Testimony Alone

Senior Homeland Security official León Rodríguez admitted Thursday that some refugees are allowed into the United States based solely on their testimony to authorities.

Sen. Ted Cruz (R., Texas) grilled Rodríguez on the Obama administration’s refugee resettlement program during a Senate Judiciary immigration subcommittee hearing. Cruz and other lawmakers highlighted issues with the current refugee vetting process.

Cruz began his questioning by reading part of a DHS memorandum on the vetting process for refugees, Townhall reported. The memorandum states that the “refugee program is particularly vulnerable of fraud due to loose evidentiary requirements where at times the testimony of an applicant alone is sufficient for approval.”

When Cruz finished reading, Rodríguez, director of Citizenship and Immigration Services at DHS, fired back against the memorandum, arguing the document was written by an individual who lacked knowledge of the vetting process.

“What I am telling you is that I would not give that document a whole lot of credit because whoever that person was did not do the homework to learn about our process,” Rodríguez said.

Cruz then pushed Rodríguez on whether it was true or false that testimony of the applicant can solely be sufficient for approval into the United States.

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