Iraqi refugees arrested

Authorities arrested two Iraqi refugees on terrorism-related charges Thursday, in a move that undercuts President Barack Obama’s plans to bring 10,000 Syrian refugees to the U.S. this year, according to the Washington Times.

Prosecutors said Aws Mohammed Younis Al-Jayab, a Palestinian born in Iraq who came to the U.S. as a refugee from Syria in October 2012, later traveled back to Syria to train with terrorists, then lied to immigration officials about it later.

Even as he arrived in the U.S., he was plotting to join the fight with terrorists in Syria, according to government documents that said he talked about having killed Syrian security officers.

Investigators also indicted Omar Faraj Saeed Al Hardan, a Palestinian man born in Iraq, on three counts of attempting to provide material support to the so-called Islamic State.

Mr. Al Hardan came to the U.S. as a refugee in 2009, and was granted a green card, signifying permanent status and a path to citizenship, in 2011. Authorities say he lied on his citizenship application in saying he had no associations with terrorists, when in fact he had received machine gun training from Daesh.

The revelations are a major blow to Mr. Obama, who had insisted the Iraqi refugee program was a success and it proved the U.S. could properly screen out would-be bad actors from the Syrian refugee population as well.

Source: MENA