The Obama administration will likely propose changing the so-called fiance visa program after investigators determine exactly how one of these visas was given to the wife who later joined her husband in a shooting in California last week, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said on Thursday.
“[S]omeone entered the United States through a K-1 visa program and proceeded to carry out an act of terrorism on American soil,” Earnest said. “That program is, at a minimum, worth a very close look.”
The State and Homeland Security departments are scrutinizing the program to see if flaws in it allowed a woman who clearly was a terrorist threat and engaged to an American enter the country, Earnest said.
“[A]nd if there are changes that are necessary, that can strengthen the program and greater ensure our security, then the president will certainly direct those agencies to implement them,” he said.
Earnest would not commit to halting the program while investigators determine exactly how Tashfeen Malik, who along with her American-born husband Syed Rizwan Farook killed 14 people and injured another 21 last week, slipped through the vetting process when she came here from Pakistan to marry Farook.
“I’m confident that as they review the program, if they determine that it is not in our national security interest to continue to the program, that they’ll forward that recommendation to the president,” Earnest said. “But this is still ongoing.”
The K-1 visa program, as it’s formally known, is administered by the Departments of State and Homeland Security.
“[I]f there are changes that need to be made to the program, to strengthen our national security, based on the vulnerabilities that have been exposed here, then the president won’t hesitate to order those reforms being implemented,” Earnest said.
