Hillary Clinton called for the rigorous screening of immigrants Monday to ensure that dangerous actors do not make their way into America.
“I am absolutely in favor of and have long been an advocate for tough vetting for making sure that we don’t let people into this country,” Clinton said during a press conference in New York.
Her remarks come as police search for Ahmad Rahimi, an Afghan immigrant suspected in connection with recent bombings in New Jersey and New York.
Clinton said that visitors, in addition to “people who come here to settle,” should be better vetted.
“We need a better visa system,” she said. “Let’s remember what happened on 9/11. These were not refugees who got into airplanes and attacked our city and our country.”
In a reference to her opponent, who in August urged the “extreme vetting” of immigrants, Clinton advised not getting “diverted and districted by the kind of campaign rhetoric we hear coming from the other side.”
“There are millions of law-abiding peaceful Muslim Americans,” she said. “This is the kind of challenge that law enforcement can be and is prepared to address, namely going after anyone who would threaten the United States.”
