Analysts at the agency in charge of implementing President Trump’s travel ban have disputed that people from the seven countries targeted in his executive order pose any particular threat to the U.S.
A Department of Homeland Security draft intelligence report published by the Associated Press says that citizenship in the countries is “unlikely to be a reliable indicator” that someone could carry out a terrorist attack.
Trump’s January order, currently stayed by a federal appeals court, was titled “Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry into the United States.”
Among its most controversial sections was a 90-day ban on issuing visas or allowing citizens of Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen to enter the country.
Beyond criticism that the order violates the freedom of religion by acting as a de-facto “Muslim ban,” opponents also pointed the fact that the ban skipped countries such as Saudi Arabia, which was home to most of the 9/11 hijackers but has also housed Trump business interests.
The draft DHS report said that more than half of the 82 people involved in U.S. terrorism since 2011 have been native-born American citizens, and that only Somalia, with three people, and Iraq, with two, were among the top seven countries for those from abroad.
Pakistan was the top country with five people, with Bangladesh, Cuba, Ethiopia and Uzbekistan each on the list with two.
The report also noted that while international terrorist groups such as Al Qaeda operate in Iraq, Syria and Yemen, terror groups in Iran, Libya, Somalia and Sudan are “regionally focused.”
A DHS spokeswoman did not dispute the authenticity of the document, but said that it is “a commentary from a single intelligence source versus an official, robust document with thorough interagency sourcing.”
“The … report does not include data from other intelligence community sources. It is incomplete,” the spokeswoman said.
White House spokesman Michael Short said he believes “the intel community is combining resources to put together a comprehensive report using all available sources, not just open sources, and which is driven by data, not politics.”
After the original order was blocked, Trump said that a new executive action is being drafted and could be announced soon.
With News Wire Services.
