Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, wants the Departments of Homeland Security and State to turn over the immigration history of the suspected bomber in Monday’s attempted terror attack in New York City.
Grassley, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, sent letters to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen on Tuesday requesting the information, including whether the suspect, 27-year-old Akayed Ullah, was on any terrorist watch lists and whether he ever applied for any U.S. visas.
Ullah allegedly was wearing an “improvised low-tech explosive device” that detonated in a highly-trafficked walkway connecting the Seventh Avenue subway lines and the Eighth Avenue subway lines. The device was held together with Velcro and zip ties.
Ullah and three others were injured in the explosion.
A native of Bangladesh, Ullah came to the U.S. in Feb. 2011 on a family immigrant visa. He later obtained a green card and is now a legal permanent resident.
According to reports, Ullah was able to obtain the family immigrant visa through his uncle, a U.S. citizen who petitioned for Ullah’s mother to receive a visa to come to the U.S. As the child of a sister of a U.S. citizen, Ullah was able to emigrate.
“If these sources are correct, this further highlights the need to consider whether our country is best served by a family, non-skills based legal immigration system,” Grassley wrote.
Grassley said he wants Ullah’s immigration history to “better understand what motivated this act of terror.”
President Trump has called for an end to chain migration and the Diversity Immigrant Visa Program, and instead wants to implement a merit-based immigration system.
