Bombings in New Jersey and New York City might have been prevented had Homeland Security officials vetted social media accounts held by the perpetrator before he immigrated to the United States, according to a Republican congressman who has unsuccessfully pushed for legislation to require the screening.
“Terrorists are using the digital battlefield to their advantage, and we’re one step behind,” Florida Rep. Vern Buchanan said Monday, referring to Ahmad Khan Rahami, the 28-year-old man suspected of planting bombs in Manhattan and New Jersey.
The remarks threaten to reignite a debate over whether the Obama administration allowed officials to engage in adequate screening of visa applicants.
Reports have indicated that Rahami, who came to the United States as an Afghani immigrant in 2011, kept journals and other material on social media praising Anwar Awlaki, a top al Qaeda leader, the Islamic State and past terrorist attacks including the Boston Marathon bombings and the Fort Hood shooting.
Buchanan in 2015 proposed legislation that would require DHS officials to screen social media accounts held by visa applicants. The proposal came after the revelation that a December attack in California perpetrated by the American-born Syed Farook and his wife, Tashfeen Malik, a Pakistani immigrant, might have been prevented had the policy been in place.
The Obama administration argued that security officials had never been explicitly prohibited from engaging in the screening, an assertion contradicted by some reports. The DHS in June proposed allowing applicants to voluntarily disclose their social media accounts on application forms, a proposal largely panned by critics in Congress as inadequate.
“Rahami’s activity on these social media sites could have alerted authorities five years ago,” Buchanan added in his Monday statement. “The government cannot afford to overlook any foreigners’ social media as ISIS hopes to carry out more violence across the U.S.”
