President-elect Donald Trump has promised to implement many changes on immigration policy in his second term. Among them is “extreme vetting” of immigrants, an idea echoed in the 2024 GOP platform. The president-elect has been claiming for years that America is overrun by terrorists and criminals, often saying that the government doesn’t know who’s coming into the country.
But this is a baseless claim.
Current legislation on this matter already vets for all kinds of criminals, terrorists, affiliates of authoritarian regimes, and anyone who may otherwise seek to overthrow the government or use violence against Americans. This legislation has been in the Immigration and Nationality Act for decades – and is thoroughly enforced. Exhaustive background checks are conducted the first time anyone tries to set foot in America, from tourists to immigrants. Countless people are excluded every year from coming here when their backgrounds raise red flags, as evidenced by the visitor visa refusal rate.
Americans usually don’t go through all this vetting when they travel abroad, but foreigners coming to America do, even when they are from friendly countries.
Just ask any foreign person who has ever sought come to the to the U.S. for any reason, even if to just to visit Disneyland for a week. They are asked to submit a mountain of paperwork proving, among other things, that they don’t have a criminal background or are otherwise dangerous. Rigorous checks are made against FBI, Interpol, and other databases to corroborate each individual’s sworn statement that they don’t come here to engage in violence and that they are not members of terrorist or other excluded groups. Even after passing such vetting, foreigners continue to be vetted regularly. For example, two English tourists were detained and expelled in 2012 after posting threatening messages on social media even after obtaining a travel authorization.
Customs and Border Patrol enforces current legislation and routinely refuses admissions to the few individuals who are thought to be a risk and present themselves at a port of entry, as evidenced by the statistic of arrests of individuals with criminal records and those in the terrorist watchlist.
Contrary to what the president-elect claims, the American government knows exactly who’s coming in when they come legally – whether to visit or stay here. The only people getting in without vetting are those who cross the border between ports of entry. One important way to get them vetted is to expand options for legal immigration. This will also help stop border patrol from being overwhelmed by border congestion and help them focus on catching those trying to sneak in.
Vetting the people coming based on objective threats in is a legitimate government function. Foreign agents, terrorists, violent criminals, and others seeking to violate the rights of Americans should be kept out. While no vetting regime can guarantee zero risk, the current one is at least keeping out many foreign would-be terrorists, given the rarity of terrorist attacks conducted by foreigners on American soil since 9/11.
Trump proposes extreme vetting mostly due to alleged concerns of a supposed terrorist threat that visitors and immigrants may pose. But just as foreigners rarely commit terrorist attacks, there’s no evidence that immigrants commit a disproportionate number of ordinary crimes. In fact, as immigration increased, crime rates plummeted, and research suggests that immigrants are considerably less likely to commit crimes than native born Americans. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, immigrants make up almost 14% of the population. Any massive group of people is likely to have a small percentage of bad actors.
It is America’s weak foreign policy that has left us precariously susceptible to foreign threats, with no strategy to deal with enemy regimes like Russia and Iran. Anyone who’s serious about protecting America’s national security should focus their efforts on building a pro-America foreign policy that opposes and destroys the threats abroad, rather than waiting until they allegedly show up at our shores.
If the real national security threats are abroad, why does Trump keep pushing his immigration policy as a national security solution?
Part of Trump’s tactic is to instill a sense of danger in the voters. By making exaggerated claims of the alleged dangers posed by people currently coming in, he creates a sense of urgency and fear that propels his political supporters who hope that he will be “tough” and end the threat.
The claims that immigrants are threatening America’s safety, and the implication that anyone can just walk in without being screened, is unserious and a distraction from real national security issues.
When thinking of supporting measures such as “extreme vetting,” and given the actual extent of vetting that currently takes place, consider whether politicians are presenting you with facts when they tell you that “we don’t know who’s coming in, or if they’re trying to manipulate your concerns and stoke fear.
Agustina Vergara Cid is a Young Voices contributor. You can follow her on X at @agustinavcid
