I wrote about the Al Nouri case in the beginning of February.

After engaging in terrorism in Iraq, an Al Qaeda leader came to America as a refugee and applied for Social Security disability benefits because his “injuries” in Iraq had made it too hard for him to work. Only 2 years after being the Emir of an Al Qaeda group, Al-Nouri had traded the deserts of Al-Anbar for the deserts of the Southwest. How was an Al Qaeda leader able to move to the United States? Easy. He claimed to be a refugee from Al Qaeda. A quarter of refugees that year were Iraqis. The Al Qaeda leader was one of 13,823 Iraqi refugees. The huge increase from 1,608 in 2007, made any real screening of the Iraqis all but impossible. And, worse still, Iraqis, like Al-Nouri, were in the top 3 refugee groups and their claims were processed 'in-country'. "In-country processing", as noted by the Center of American Progress, makes "the process less onerous and cumbersome for Iraqis seeking asylum by allowing for in-country visa processing, making screening less restrictive." And what migrants from Al-Qaeda’s stronghold needed was less restrictive screenings. The less restrictive screenings were one of Senator Ted Kennedy’s final immigration gifts to America. The Refugee Crisis in Iraq Act was introduced by Ted Kennedy, backed by Grover Norquist, and co-sponsored by Joe Biden, Pat Leahy, Chuck Hagel, Dick Durbin, Bob Menendez and Barack Obama.

I touched on the Al Nouri case again yesterday in my piece on the interpreter scam, speculating that he might have come with an SIV visa.

As a measure of how bad the vetting is, Ali Yousif Ahmed Al-Nouri, the Emir of an Al Qaeda group in Fallujah, entered this country as a refugee and applied for disability. He then went to work as a military contractor on a California base, teaching soldiers deploying to Iraq about the local culture. That’s the typical sort of task that many SIV visas are provided for which require little more than English skills. Was an Al Qaeda Emir employed by the US military in Iraq? Did Al-Nouri come here on an SIV visa? The answer is he probably did, but no one seems to be especially willing to ask or answer that question.

Senator Grassley and Senator Ernst are asking though. While official authorities have refused to comment on Al-Nouri's immigration status, their letter to the State Department demands answers by the end of February.

U.S. Senators Joni Ernst (R-IA) and Chuck Grassley (R-IA) are seeking answers on how a suspected al Qaeda leader wanted for murdering two Iraqi police officers was able to receive refugee status in the United States and later become a U.S. citizen. February 13, 2020 The Honorable Mike Pompeo Secretary U.S. Department of State Washington, D.C. 20520 The Honorable Christopher Wray Director Federal Bureau of Investigations Washington, DC 20535 The Honorable Mark Koumans Acting Director U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Washington, D.C. 20529 Dear Secretary Pompeo, Director Wray, and Acting Director Koumans: The Department of Justice recently announced the arrest of Iraqi national Ali Yousif Ahmed Al-Nouri.[1] An Iraqi judge issued an arrest warrant for Ahmed Al-Nouri, and a U.S. federal magistrate judge subsequently issued an arrest warrant based on a request by the Government of Iraq for his extradition.[2] The Government of Iraq has alleged that Ahmed Al-Nouri murdered a Fallujah Police Directorate first lieutenant in June 2006 and another police officer of the same directorate in October 2006.[3] Ahmed Al-Nouri is also alleged to be a leader of al-Qaeda in Al-Fallujah, Iraq.[4] According to news reports, Ahmed Al-Nouri entered the United States as a refugee in 2008.[5] He then became a lawful permanent resident of the United States. One news report goes on to say that Ahmed Al-Nouri became a naturalized United States citizen about two years ago.[6] To better understand the circumstances surrounding Ahmed Al-Nouri’s application for refugee status and the national security implications of allowing a member of a designated foreign terrorist organization into our country as a refugee, please provide a briefing on this case addressing the questions outlined below no later than February 27, 2020: U.S. Department of State Please explain the vetting process through which Ali Yousif Ahmed Al-Nouri received a refugee visa. Was Ahmed Al-Nouri ever subjected to additional screening associated with the refugee visa application? Was Ahmed Al-Nouri vetted through the Visa Security Program and was a Security Advisory Opinion ever requested and/or issued? Did Ahmed Al-Nouri ever apply for any other U.S. visa before being granted a refugee visa? Did Ahmed Al-Nouri apply for visas using any aliases? Federal Bureau of Investigations When did Ahmed Al-Nouri come to the attention of the FBI and U.S. law enforcement? Did the FBI know about Al-Nouri’s alleged ties to al-Qaeda before the request for extradition from the Government of Iraq? U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Please provide the background on Ahmed Al-Nouri regarding his immigration history, including his refugee visa, adjustment of status to a lawful permanent resident, and naturalization as a United States citizen. Was there any indication during the applications processes that Ahmed Al-Nouri was or may have been a member of al-Qaeda? Thank you for your attention to this matter. If you have any questions, please contact Drew Robinson of Senator Grassley’s staff or Corey Becker of Senator Ernst’s staff at (202) 224-5225.

These are important questions and we need them answered because the implications go far beyond Al-Nouri to the entire broken Iraqi refugee system.