AUSTIN, Texas — Both Texas senators and Senate Judiciary Committee Republicans are pressing the Biden administration to explain how the British terrorist who took four people hostage inside a Texas synagogue this month was allowed to enter the country, given major flags in his background.
Republican Sens. John Cornyn and Ted Cruz, along with the nine other party members on the committee, asked Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, State Secretary Antony Blinken, and FBI Director Christopher Wray in two letters to explain why Malik Faisal Akram was not listed on the U.S. terrorist watchlist or barred from admission for another reason, given claims that he had a criminal record and had been investigated by British authorities for ties to an Islamic terrorist group.
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“In light of the numerous red flags in Akram’s record, we are extremely concerned about the adequacy of our visa adjudication and admission screening protocols. As Akram’s own brother told reporters: ‘How had he gotten into America? … Why was he granted a visa? How did he land at J.F.K. airport and not get stopped for one second?’” the Republicans wrote in a letter to the secretaries Tuesday.
Akram “was the subject of a short, low-level investigation by the U.K.’s MI5 domestic intelligence agency in the second half of 2020,” NBC News reported, but he was cleared as a terrorist threat and added to a U.K. list of 40,000 subjects of interest who were investigated for potential terrorist ties.
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Akram’s brother, Gulbar, disclosed in an interview that his brother had a criminal record. He was arrested more than two decades ago and sentenced to six months in prison for “violent disorder” following a domestic incident. His brother also said he was a “deeply troubled man.”
Akram is believed to have traveled to the United States under the Visa Waiver Program, meaning he faced less screening and vetting than a visa or green card recipient would.
The Republicans asked for answers before Feb. 8.
The senators are seeking information from the FBI on whether it considered Akram a jihadist or Islamic fundamentalist terrorist, its intelligence-sharing protocols with British officials, what information U.S. and British intelligence officials shared about Akram before and after the day of his attack on Jan. 15, when the U.S. learned of Akram’s U.S. travel plans, how he purchased the gun used in the incident, and whether he tried to buy one legally and was blocked.
In the separate letter to DHS and the State Department, the senators asked for Akram’s travel documents. Akram entered the U.S. on a flight to John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York either in late December or early January. Because England is one of 40 countries that the U.S. considers a lesser national security threat and the citizens of which are allowed to travel to the U.S. without having to obtain a visa, tourists may travel to the U.S. for less than 90 days but must first be approved through U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Electronic System for Travel Authorization.
However, travelers under the program “do not undergo the in-person screening generally required” to receive other types of visas, the Congressional Research Service concluded in an October 2021 report. Because the tourists do not have their biometric data taken, such as fingerprints, facial scans, or retina scans, that information cannot be run against the Department of Homeland Security’s Automated Biometric Identification System or the FBI’s Next Generation Identification system. Instead, their biographical information is checked against other biographical databases.
It is possible that Akram lied when filling out his ESTA or that his criminal history was not mentioned in the databases that his information was screened against.
Republicans want records of the forms to see what Akram claimed, as well as his travel history before the incident.
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Akram was killed by the FBI after releasing the four hostages he took at Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville, Texas, on Jan. 15. During the standoff, he had demanded the release of Dr. Aafia Siddiqui, a Pakistani woman serving an 86-year prison sentence in Texas for the attempted murder and armed assault of U.S. military personnel in Afghanistan.
