House GOP launches probe into Homeland Security’s hiring of ex-PLO operative

The House Homeland Security Committee has opened an investigation into how the Department of Homeland Security got here to rent a girl who beforehand labored for a terrorist group and who espouses virulently anti-Israel views.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services positioned the worker, Nejwa Ali, on go away this week after her historical past was uncovered, however the company has not answered questions on whether or not it knew on the time she was employed that she had labored lower than two years earlier on the Palestine Liberation Organization’s workplace within the U.S.

Rep. Mark Green, chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, demanded Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas resolve Ms. Ali’s hiring and the way she was allowed to stay on the job as an asylum officer and immigration adjudicator, all whereas attacking Israel and in latest days celebrating Hamas in social media posts.

“It should go without saying that former spokespeople for groups that have been designated as foreign terrorist organizations by the U.S. government shouldn’t be working in our Department of Homeland Security,” stated Mr. Green, Tennessee Republican. “We’re demanding answers from Secretary Mayorkas as to why Ali, who also publicly espoused pro-terrorist and anti-Semitic beliefs, was allowed to maintain her role as an asylum officer.”

Mr. Green revealed the investigation in a letter to Mr. Mayorkas, which was obtained by The Washington Times. The letter was additionally signed by three of Mr. Green’s subcommittee chairmen.

Mr. Mayorkas, who’s Jewish and whose household misplaced 9 members within the Holocaust, has not but spoken publicly about Ms. Ali, and the Republicans are giving him an opportunity to take action.

They identified that Mr. Mayorkas delivered a speech on Oct. 12, after Hamas’ murderous sneak assault, celebrating the Biden administration’s efforts to reel in antisemitism.

“At the same time, DHS was employing an individual who apparently champions violence against Israel and innocent Israeli civilians, while also supporting Hamas,” the GOP lawmakers wrote.

The Daily Wire first reported final week on Ms. Ali’s historical past of Palestinian activism, together with her time in 2016 and 2017 as a public affairs officer for the PLO’s delegation in Washington.

Congress designated the PLO as a terrorist group within the Eighties, although below a presidential waiver, the PLO delegation was allowed to function. The Trump administration ousted them in 2018.

USCIS issued an preliminary assertion condemning antisemitism, and by Wednesday night introduced Ms. Ali had been positioned on go away.

Mr. Green and his colleagues stated the company’s sudden resolution makes it sound like “the department’s hiring officials were previously unaware of or ignored Ms. Ali’s background.”

The Times has reached out to the Department of Homeland Security for this story.

Ms. Ali stated on her LinkedIn profile that she began at USCIS as an asylum officer in July 2019, which implies she determined whether or not to start out the asylum course of or grant asylum to individuals who claimed they confronted persecution of their dwelling international locations.

At the beginning of this yr, she listed herself as an adjudication officer, which implies she dealt with a variety of immigration profit selections.

In latest weeks Ms. Ali had taken to social media to make anti-Israel remarks and spotlight comparable feedback from others. She instructed The Daily Wire she did have fun Hamas militants who invaded Israel and killed indiscriminately.

The lawmakers requested to evaluate any of Ms. Ali’s asylum selections which will have concerned a Jewish applicant or somebody claiming Palestinian roots. They additionally sought paperwork on the hiring resolution and the choice to position Ms. Ali on go away.

Mr. Green stated Mr. Mayorkas should come clear about different “potential security risks” who’ve been employed at Homeland Security on his watch.

Several disturbing public instances at USCIS have come to gentle in recent times, together with a case prosecutors revealed two years in the past of a person who was permitted for a bogus asylum declare, then granted citizenship after which employed by USCIS itself — all below a false id.

Making issues worse, his spouse labored as an anti-fraud officer at USCIS.