There are countless scenarios in which Islamic jihadists can enter the United States, and it’s virtually impossible for law enforcement to identify every person who may have visited Syria and has returned to America, New York Rep. Peter King said Monday on "America’s Forum" on
Newsmax TV.
"I do know that all our law enforcement intelligence agencies can look at every possibility that ISIS can use to bring in agents into the United States, and it could be through Mexico, Canada and even people coming back to the U.S. who we don't know were in Syria in the first place," he said.
"I can guarantee you we don't have any way of knowing everyone that's gone to Syria, because [they] can travel to France, Spain or wherever in Europe, work their way down to Turkey, get trained in Syria and then just retrace their steps back into the U.S."
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"This is an ongoing issue, it's a real problem, not just a problem, but a threat to the U.S. and we certainly have to assume that the more we carry out the attacks against ISIS, which we should, the more likely they are going to try to find a way to retaliate here in the U.S.
The arrests last week of six Bosnian immigrants from
Missouri, New York and Illinois, on charges of sending money and military equipment to aid overseas terrorists, including members of ISIS and al-Qaida in Iraq, shows that our visa program and legalization process need to be reviewed, said King.
"We have to be much more selective and careful going into the backgrounds of people such as this, including Iraqi refugees coming into the country," said King, noting that the roots of radical Islam date to Bosnia in the mid-1990s.
"Anyone coming from an area in the world where there has been Islamic terrorism and Islamic strongholds, they need to be looked at extra carefully."
The suspects communicated on Facebook, transferred funds through PayPal and Western Union, and shipped boxes of military gear through the U.S. Postal Service,
according to the Huffington Post, which cited the federal indictment.
Quoting the indictment, the news site reports: "The defendants are accused of donating money themselves and, in some cases, collecting funds from others in the U.S. and sending the donations overseas. It says two of the defendants, a husband and wife in St. Louis, used some of the money to buy U.S. military uniforms, firearms accessories, tactical gear and other equipment from local businesses and ship it to intermediaries in Turkey and Saudi Arabia who forwarded the supplies to fighters in Syria and Iraq."
Because of the extreme dangers presented by radical Islam, Republicans, including himself, King said, want to resolve the budget impasse with President Barack Obama, who has vowed to veto any budget that undermines his executive amnesty order. If the parties don’t come to an agreement by the end of the month, the Department of Homeland Security risks a shutdown.
"The president's unilateral executive order, which many of us believe was unconstitutional, bad policy and a direct slap at Congress, brought about this entire crisis," said King. "I hope it can be resolved.
"My main concern would be grants to go to the areas that are targets of terrorism. The president has to come in and negotiate. This is going to be a rough month coming up.
"The president has to stop this constant creating [of] phony arguments and trying to bring everything to the edge. [House Speaker] John Boehner and [Senate Majority Leader] Mitch McConnell would be willing to work with him, trying to find a way forward, but again it seems to be his way or the highway and that's what got us into this issue in the first place."
The Republican-controlled Congress must "try to find means of funding to cut off, but we can't do it in a way that puts the country at risk," King said. "I don't want to be as irresponsible as he is."
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