Karen Greenberg was quoted in an NBC News article about the refugee vetting process under President Trump’s administration.
The administration denies it is intentionally obstructing refugee resettlement, and maintains that it has merely introduced new security vetting that takes more time but keeps Americans safe.
However, former officials, including senior intelligence officers, say the Trump administration has consistently overstated the potential security threat posed by refugees, and conflated the issue with illegal immigration and those seeking asylum.
“There is no evidence of a significant threat from refugees as a group,” said Karen Greenberg, director of the Center on National Security at Fordham University Law School.
Of 175 cases prosecuted in the U.S. against ISIS supporters, she said, 11 were refugees or had received asylum status.