Vetting immigrants | Power Line

“DHS suspends green card processing for refugees, asylees” reads the headline of a piece in The Hill newspaper. In this context, “DHS” means the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

The headline worked, I clicked on the story. But the article delivered less than the headline promised. The first sentence reads,

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said it is pausing review of green card applications for some refugees and asylees, leaving in limbo those who came to the U.S. after fleeing unrest.

Key word: “some,” as in the directive only applies to two narrow categories of applicants. A little further down comes the whopper,

While both groups are thoroughly vetted, DHS said it would press pause on those seeking to become lawful permanent residents for “additional screening.”

“Thoroughly vetted” says The Hill without providing any evidence or support, whatsoever. In fact, the very next sentence quotes DHS,

To better identify fraud, public safety or national security concerns, USCIS is placing a temporary pause on finalizing certain Adjustment of Status applications pending the completion of additional screening and vetting.

“Additional screening” of the “thoroughly vetted”? Why would that be needed? Either they are vetted or they are not.

What we’ve seen recently is that residency status, once granted, is nearly impossible to revoke, however grievous the circumstances. The Hill repeats the “thorough vetted” claim in the piece’s last sentence.

The Hill bases their report on a CBS New piece that does not contain any derivative of the word “thorough.”

I’ll be watching for what develops.