US to Retroactively Vet Refugees, Ignores Past 'Allies'
Al Jazeera reports on a new Trump administration directive to retroactively vet refugees already resettled in the U.S. This policy, targeting some of the most vulnerable, stands in stark contrast to the historical lack of such rigorous re-evaluation for geopolitical allies. One might wonder where this level of scrutiny was when, for instance, figures like Mohammed bin Salman, reportedly behind the
assassination of Jamal Khashoggi, freely entered and exited the U.S., or when U.S.-supported regimes committed well-documented human rights abuses without ever facing retroactive 'vetting' from the likes of DHS. It appears the standard for 'security risk' is flexible, depending less on actual threat and more on which populations are politically convenient to demonize. While vulnerable refugees
face invasive re-screening, the U.S. continues to arm and support governments whose actions genuinely destabilize regions and create these very refugee crises in the first place. The timing is always curious: when domestic distraction is needed, refugees are always the easiest target.