San Bernardino, CA Mass Shooting

In last night’s speech the Presisent mentioned tightening up visa screening as something that needs to be done. I’d guess that could be done by executives action rather than legislation.

I would say the confusion follows because he really doesn’t know what he’s talking about. If you haven’t thought things through, you can’t really commit to or explain anything. Just hyperbole and hype, but no substance. And if you aren’t listening to and thinking about the question, but answering off the cuff, it can sound pretty confusing to those trying to interpret.

http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-pol-ca-obama-visa-waiver-speech-mistake-k1-tashfeen-malik-htmlstory.html

This is a joke.

“Are you now or have you ever been a member of a terrorist organization” - answer Yes or No.

“Do you intend to commit terrorist acts in the U. S.” - answer Yes or No.

I would like her file to be published. I’d bet it would show a very lax background check.

I would like to see a united effort from Congress that zeroes in on strengthening screening from all types of visa applicants. If it means more hiring and more money, fine. Make it a priority. And make it bipartisan.

“If it means more hiring and more money, fine.”

With a current national debt of $18,152,809,942,589 there isn’t going to be much enthusiasm in Congress to increase expenditures in any area.

Today is a BIG day in our family for several reasons, but this news made me so happy; this is the community we are downsizing to after the first of the year! So proud to almost be a member of it. My current community would never go for this.

I think we need people with brains at the Immigration Services or whatever they are called now.
Oh, and the so called Green Card lottery needs to be eliminated. Period. 50K winners and their families are being admitted every year through this nonsense. Vetting? What vetting? They randomly won.

Actually, BunsenBurner, they are vetted throughout the process. I know a family from Central Europe that went through it. All in all it took a couple of years from the time you sign up for the lottery to the time you can move to the States. The family had their education verified, their employment verified, their criminal history verified, their travel history verified, underwent a very thorough medical screening, had to get additional vaccinations… that’s just the stuff I remember them telling me about. There was a lot more. All along you can be refused entry. It’s not like you win and hop on a plane.

They can find the money. There are wasteful defense spending projects that could be cut in favor of beefing up screening.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2015/10/30/surveillance-balloon-program.html

^^^They didn’t “randomly” win. They were a self-selected group that applied, and waited in line. A long time. A small portion of this group was let in.

If there have been roughly 500,000 green card holders admitted since 9/11, there have been very few problems indeed. Why? Because they worked awfully hard to get here. These folks–who are doctors, lawyers, professors, musicians, teachers, grocery clerks, researchers–add so much to our quality of life as a country, it seems to defy logic to simply stop an entire program because of a fear that one of the 500,000 may become a terrorist.

It used to be that way, katliamom. There was also a requirement that the winners would not be a public burden (bank statements, affidavits of support). The most recent winners had almost none of the vetting you describe. It took 6 months from the winning to getting into the US for one such person. The employer was in shock when the person resigned - nobody contacted the place to verify their employment. But they should have been contacted!

These lottery spots should be used to speed up the entry of the relatives of the US citizens who have to wait years - because of the backlog - for their petitions to be approved. Here is another thought: maybe the manpower used on vetting these winners should be shifted on processing the real refugees…

This was an interesting experiment to see how trained concealed carry subjects did in an active shooter crisis. It didn’t go very well.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8QjZY3WiO9s

BunsenBurner, This family came here a few months ago, so it IS a current procedure. And I fail to see how someone can come here within 6 months when the lottery is done a year in advance! (You sign up for the lottery in 2015 for the 2016 “drawing”. And then the vetting begins. IF the embassy decides you’re even eligible for the vetting.)

And I have a very hard time believing your anecdote, although I assume nothing’s impossible. Still, if it’s true, that’s an aberration.

The visa lottery system is arduous, and, frankly, I highly doubt there’s anything “random” about it. The screeners at embassies are savvy, they speak the local languages, they’re surprisingly adept at spotting bad apples. Go on any online visa forum and read what people go through.

“The employer was in shock when the person resigned - nobody contacted the place to verify their employment. But they should have been contacted!”

This sounds more like the H-1B program than the DV lottery program.

midwestdad, don’t you think employment verification should be part of the vetting process if the application requests it and the person states that they have worked as such and such for so and so for so many years?

What I am saying is that if we don’t have resources to process applications of the relatives and refugees, redirect the $$ to where there is a real need.

“And I have a very hard time believing your anecdote, although I assume nothing’s impossible. Still, if it’s true, that’s an aberration.”

Please feel free to believe what you want, but I know the “anecdote” very well. Personally. :slight_smile: And it was a very recent case.

The H-1B visas are another joke.

I find it fascinating the things we choose to fear. Each year, there are 2.1 million visits to the ER for assaults, 14,000 homicides of which 11,000 are due to firearms and our major focus has been ISIS. As of yesterday, there are almost 2800 shooting victims in Chicago this year alone. Am I the only person perplexed by the level of attention that ISIS has garnered? I am not advocating that we ignore this foreign threat to our nation but we have a much greater problem with our homegrown culture of violence that is not getting addressed.

BunsenBurner, employment verification is a requirement to even ENTER the lottery.

The person who told you the story of the visa lottery is either misinformed or you misunderstood. The system doesn’t work in the way you describe it.