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72 terrorists came to U.S. from countries named in travel ban

The report, prepared by the conservative Center for Immigration Studies was released yesterday. The study reveals 72 individuals convicted of criminal charges involving terrorism came from one of the countries named in the executive order signed by President Trump on Jan. 27: Iran, Iraq, Syria, Sudan, Somalia, Libya and Yemen.

The report was compiled from information gained from an earlier report made by the Senate Subcommittee on Immigration and the National Interest and released last June. The subcommittee was chaired by Sen. Jeff Sessions who is now the Attorney General of the United States.

Although the report of the Senate Subcommittee is no longer available on the Senate website, a summary of its findings can be found on the Fox News website,

The subcommittee found 580 persons have been convicted of terror-related offences since 9/11. Of these individuals, 380 were foreign born. Of these 380 people, 72 came from one of the seven countries that were named in the travel ban. The 72 people from one of these countries breaks down as follows:

Somalia: 20, Yemen: 19, Iraq: 19, Syria: 7, Iran: 4, Libya: 2 and Sudan: 1.

Of those who came to the United States from one of the seven countries, 17 came as refugees, three obtained student visas and one person had a diplomatic visa.

Of these 72 individuals, 33 were convicted of serious criminal offences and were sentenced to imprisonment for at least three years. These offences include unlawful possession of weapons, conspiracy to commit a terrorist act, material support of a terrorist group and possession of missiles or explosives.

The remaining 39 individuals were convicted of less serious crimes such as fraud-related offences. Some critics argue because of the nature of these offences, they should not be included the category of terrorism-related crimes.

The statistics compiled by the Senate Subcommittee and the Center for Immigration Studies contradicts what the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals found in a decision rendered on Thursday. In that decision, upholding a lower court ruling setting aside the travel ban, the appeals court found there was no evidence an alien from any one of the designated countries ever committed a terrorist act in the United States.

SEE ALSO: US appeals court rules against Trump on travel ban

Jessica Vaughan, the Director of Policy Studies at the Center of Immigration Studies and author of the report, described the fact aliens from the seven countries do not commit terrorist acts as a “myth.” She told the Boston Herald the myth was put out by people who were upset at the restrictions put on Syrian refugees. Seventeen refugees from one of the seven countries have been convicted of terrorist offences in the United States.

Vaughan also says Trump’s travel ban was perfectly legal under Section 212(f) of the Immigration and Nationality Act. That section gives the president the power, by proclamation, to bar any alien or class of aliens from entering the United States for such time period as is deemed necessary if allowing entry would be detrimental to the interests of the United States.

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