It will be most interesting to who opposes this bill, and on what grounds. “Bill Would End Outrageous Loophole Allowing ISIL Fighters to Return to U.S.,” by Adam Kredo, Washington Free Beacon, August 28, 2014:
Americans who have travelled to foreign countries to train and fight with terror groups such as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS or ISIL) are not being barred from freely returning to America, where they post a substantial terror threat, according to a leading member of Congress.
U.S. intelligence agencies have been tracking Americans who travel abroad to join jihadist groups, but there is no law on the books restricting travel to countries posing a substantial terror threat, according to Rep. Frank Wolf (R., Va.). He is proposing a new law that would significantly restrict travel to Syria and other “nations of concern.”
Wolf, who originally introduced the bill earlier this year, is leading a new push to pass legislation that would imprison for up to 20 years Americans who travel to these countries following the reported deaths of at least two Americans who had travelled to Syria to fight alongside ISIL.
At least 300 Americans are believed to be fighting alongside ISIL, according to U.S. intelligence sources, who have reportedly expressed concern about these fighters returning to carry out terror attacks in America.
Wolf petitioned other members of Congress on Thursday to finally “do something to prevent Americans fighting with ISIS from freely returning to the U.S,” according to a copy of a letter sent across the Hill.
“Limited U.S. intelligence about their activities in the region effectively means our law enforcement can do nothing when they return home, despite concerns about their activities, contacts and training while in Syria,” Wolf writes. “I think most would agree we need to do more to prevent these terrorists from returning freely to the U.S.”
The United States is not doing enough to prevent radicalized Americans from travelling back-and-forth between countries dominated by Islamist radicals, Wolf said.
“The U.S. is not taking any substantial steps to discourage Americans from going over to fight—and these would-be fighters can see there is little price to pay for doing so,” the letter states. “This is an untenable situation that puts our country at greater risk of attack from a radicalized American who trains and fights with these groups and later returns home.”
While U.S. officials have claimed they are tracking suspect Americans abroad, Congressional sources working on the issue say this is “completely unrealistic.”
“Think of all the FBI resources needed to follow each suspect once they return to the U.S.,” the source said. “Countless hours of agent time diverted just to piece together what they were doing over there and how much of a threat they pose back home. Why wouldn’t we try to preemptively address it instead?”
The security and intelligence gap has already been exploited by radicalized Americans, Wolf warned, referring to the case of Moner Mohammad Abusalha, a Florida resident who was radicalized in Syria and travelled back to the United States to try and recruit his friends and family.
Abusalha ultimately fled Florida and returned to Syria, where he carried out a suicide bombing on a government building.
“Incredibly, he traveled to and from Syria with impunity—because there are no restrictions on Americans going there,” Wolf wrote to other lawmakers.
The law as it stands currently takes a passive approach to those who travel between America and countries such as Syria.
U.S. authorities do not have the power to detain an American returning from a country like Syria unless there is definitive evidence the individual has joined a terror group. This type of evidence is often difficult to fully secure given the limitations of the U.S. intelligence community, Wolf explained.
“Currently, unless the U.S. has solid evidence that they have joined one of these terrorist groups, the FBI can’t detain and arrest suspects upon their return,” he wrote.
Wolf’s bill, the International Conflicts of Concern Act, seeks to mitigate the terror threat by giving the president authority to restrict travel and material support to nations where radical terror organizations are based.
The bill has been endorsed by FBI Director James Comey, who recently discussed the “enormous challenge” of tracking Westerners who travel to nations such as Syria.
“So we’re very worried about people who travel there, travel out to the E.U. and then can come to the U.S. without a visa; or our citizens who travel back and forth directly,” Comey told the House Appropriations Committee in late March. “I hear about it from all of my colleagues in the E.U. in law enforcement and intelligence. So it’s an enormous challenge. And I like very much the idea behind the legislation.”
Syria continues to be the main country of concern due to the combination of al Qaeda forces, ISIL, and other extremist terror fronts existing there. Numerous reports have been published about Europeans and other Westerners training with these groups before returning to their homelands.
“The president could also add additional countries of concern should this conflict spill over into other countries, like we have seen in Iraq,” where ISIL also has taken hold, Wolf said.
The bill would still permit travel to Syria and similar nations for “humanitarian aid workers, journalists and other groups cleared by the U.S. government.”
“It’s very hard to track them and very hard to have a conviction,” Wolf told the Free Beacon earlier this year. “They’re bringing back the terrorist activity and training.”
pongidae rex says
Presumably they are traveling to Islamist war zones to learn firsthand the tenets of their religion. Maybe even be lucky enough to perform a few beheadings, crucifictions and summary executions of infidels. What is wrong with that? Isn’t that freedom of religion? Islam is a religion, right?
sriram says
Islam is not a ‘religion. It is a political system meant to slowly disrupt harmony and peace of a society. It is wearing a coat of religion.
Pathfinder0100 says
That was sarcasm pongidae rex
Champ says
Frank Wolf for President 2016!
Beagle says
“It will be most interesting to who opposes this bill, and on what grounds.”
Keith Ellison, Andre Carson, Dick Durbin to name three. The grounds will be fascinating. I could see the entire Democrat Party, but for the red and purple state candidates, opposing it and letting the media do their work for them. That’s the great thing about being a Democrat. Yell racism, repeat.
Kathy Brown says
Beagle, I must correct you. It’s not Dick ‘Durbin’. It’s Dick ‘Turban’.
Huck Folder says
Dick Turpin
CornHolio says
It’ll be a difficult bill to pass legal muster in the courts, and it WILL be challenged there, when a US citizen is prevented from returning to his “home and native land”.
Their best bet is not to simply ban travel there, as there will be too many gray areas for lawyers to argue around: journalists, military, defense contractors, tourists, businessmen, etc. Better to frame it as requiring an “exit-and-return permit” of some sort, now required for travel to any zone designated as “hostile” or something.
If the American jihadist fails to process this permit, as providing proof of his legitimate reasons for going to or having been in one of these places, then he would NOT lose his citizenship (this would create a legal firestorm), but rather he would simply be held up in border limbo, unable to return without his “emergency travel permit” properly filled out.
But even if the lawyers eventually do wrangle these turds’ return plane tickets, at the very least their trips will alert the authorities as to these Americans’ identities and loyalties, and they can then be kept an eye on.
You know this ISIS “block party” might end up being a boon to Western security. Greg Gutfeld of Fox’s The Five said yesterday that ISIS’s global recruitment might be creating a giant “Roach Hotel” in that area.
Scott Allen says
I’m going to contact my representative here to encourage a positive outcome of this bill.
Myxlplik says
A step in the right direction, and surely if Americans traveling back and forth to these “countries of concern” is to be limited, then immigration restrictions and general travel restrictions for natives of these lands is also a concern. Like say, for example, Pakistan, Somalia, or Saudi Arabia for instance.
voegelinian says
Let me guess, the good Congressman has a telltale “(R)” after his name…
…Rep. Frank Wolf (R., Va.). He is proposing a new law that would significantly restrict travel to Syria and other “nations of concern.”
Yep.
And… yep.
Richie says
I thought its states in the Constitution that fighting for a foreign army can result in an American losing their citizenship. Strip them of citizenship, and kill them as enemies on the battlefield
Richie says
Since Obama thinks the Islamic State has nothing to do with Islam, maybe he also thinks jihad has nothing to do with Islam
pdxnag says
It is all in how you interpret current law.
Ben Lerner had a little piece on the issue, citing http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/8/1481 :
Shouldn’t fighting for ISIS disqualify you as a US Citizen?
http://www.centerforsecuritypolicy.org/2014/08/28/shouldnt-fighting-for-isis-disqualify-you-as-a-us-citizen/
I just sent him an email:
I think that citizenship in the Islamic Ummah is at least as strong a renunciation of citizenship in the U.S. or any free state as someone who becomes a citizen of France. It does not even require taking up arms. It is merely a pledge of loyalty, and that is sufficient.
It is the Muslims themselves who view themselves first as a citizen of the Islamic Ummah, above all else. They claim exclusive sovereignty and legal authority over the entire planet. Just because it is not confined to some territory that does not overlap with the U.S. is not a reason to wholly ignore their broad claims, precisely for being so broad.
But of course this covers all Muslims. This truth might seem troubling to some but it reflects the reality we face regarding the enemy within. It is a voluntary choice that they make of their own free will.
Jay says
WTH? I thought that was already as understood as breathing. They actually need to pass a law for a no brainer like that?
DavidE says
Disqualify the families from welfare benefits too. Why should U.S. taxpayers have to support the 9 children of a dead Jihadi? Or better yet, deport those children.
BW022 says
This bill actually makes no sense. It seems redundant and impractical.
“Limited U.S. intelligence about their activities in the region effectively means our law enforcement can do nothing when they return home, despite concerns about their activities, contacts and training while in Syria,”
So… how do you have any idea that they were in Syria or fighting with ISIS? How would you know to stop them and how would you know not to just stop random people.
If you are coming home from a trip to Jordan, Turkey, or heck… Mexico, or Canada… what recourse is there if some USCIS official just says “We think you were fighting with ISIS.” Obviously, there must be some court case where evidence would need to be presented, or any American can simply be charged or denied entry back into the US without any proof.
If they do have proof that you were in Syria/Iraq and fighting… then they could charge you under existing terrorism charges.
CornHolio says
I’m afraid you’re right. This bill is unworkable. How can the US prove you were fighting with ISIS? Just because you took a trip to the area, and you fit the demographic? Scumbag shysters would have a field day fighting that in court.
And even if it was possible to simply label anyone taking a trip to Iraq or Syria as a potential traitor, than all the jihadis would have to do is buy their plane tickets in America to an intermediate destination like Spain or France, and then book passage from there.
PeterB says
Not really, any photos, videos or witnesses of the person being there would prove it. Any international customs tracking information, credit card use, cell phone use, or GPS locations of his gadgets can help prove where he was. Also any friends, acquaintances or family here in America might have known or figured out his plans and will tell authorities of his terrorism. Also, if he lives, he will have international customs questioning his activity in ISIS controlled areas.
Plus, the odds are that between the time they leave and the time they TRY to come back, they will brag or say something to someone. Or they will post some sort of youtube, twitter or facebook documentation because what is joining ISIS worth if your muzzie-buddies that you are so much more muslim than they are.
CornHolio says
Sure, If the jihadist gift-wraps his itinerary for DHS like that, then he’ll be caught. But it would be very easy to avoid detection, now that the US intelligence community is publicizing what they intend to do. All the traitors would have to do is stay quiet about their plans, tell the travel agent they plan to visit friends or study or vacation in Europe, buy a RETURN ticket to Marseilles or Lisbon or Vienna, and then at any point on their “vacation”, just buy a ticket to Syria or anywhere else.
No American spies are going to be tailing every potential ISIS convert as they travel around Europe and the middle east, on the chance that he might walk into an ISIS recruitment center. Not a chance. In any case, the agents would stick out like sore thumbs.
I’m sure the ISIS recruiters have already updated their websites or mailing lists with this simple foolproof strategy.
Shirl says
I think the bill should go even further. I think their entire family should be sent back with them as co-conspirators and all their assets forfeited and used in the ongoing fight against terrorism.
1101 says
Has anyone mentioned the ACLU???
PeterB says
Joining the Islamic State is to openly commit the multiple crimes of participating in terrorism, treason being an accomplice to or committing murder, assisting in torture, genocide, ethnic cleansing, mayhem , and gross moral turpitude.
High treason is participating in a war against ones own country! The Islamic State is at war with Israel and the USA by their own declaration. Not to mention the glorification and ritual of killing Americans.
Anyone who abandons his duty as an American citizen and joins a foreign terrorist group, should lose his US citizenship and have his passport permanently invalidated.
jus wundrin says
We need legislation for this? What happened to common sense?