Report: Rand Paul calls for scrutiny of Muslims

Bill Theobald | USA TODAY

Breitbart News is reporting that GOP presidential candidate Rand Paul told one of its reporters backstage at a speech in Houston last night that the U.S. should provide extra scrutiny of people coming into the country from predominantly Muslim countries after the Chattanooga, Tenn., terrorist attack on Friday.

"I’m very concerned about immigration to this country from countries that have hotbeds of jihadism and hotbeds of this Islamism," Paul told Breitbart. "I think there does need to be heightened scrutiny. Nobody has a right to come to America, so this isn’t something that we can say ‘oh, their rights are being violated.’ It’s a privilege to come to America and we need to thoroughly screen those who are coming."

The alleged shooter in the Chattanooga incident -- which claimed the lives of five U.S. Marines -- was named Muhammad Youssef Abdulazeez. The 24-year-old was born in Kuwait and immigrated to the U.S.

Paul also cited an incident in his hometown of Bowling Green, Ky., where two Iraqi refugees who were placed in Kentucky tried to buy military grade missiles.

"I think we’re doing the wrong thing by just having this open door policy to bring in people without significant scrutiny. I’m for increasing scrutiny on people who come on student visas from the 25 countries that have significant jihadism. Also, any kind of permanent visas or green cards, we need to be very careful. I don’t think we’re being careful enough with who we let in," he said.

Paul, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, said he would ask that senators to look at reinstating the National Security Entry-Exit Registration System program.

Started in 2002 after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the DHS system recorded the arrival, stay and departure of people from countries chosen based on an analysis of possible national security threats. Registrants were also required to register when they left. The program was effectively eliminated in 2011.