Presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump claimed in a speech Monday that “hundreds of thousands of refugees” are flowing into the United States, with “no system” in place to vet them – a claim that’s repeatedly been dispelled as false.
On the heels of the deadliest shooting in American history, Trump attacked Democrat Hillary Clinton during a talk in New Hampshire, accusing her of a plan to admit “hundreds of thousands of refugees from the Middle East with no system to vet them or to prevent the radicalization of the children and their children.”
“We are not screening people. So why don’t we have an effective screening system? We don’t. We’re being laughed at all over the world,” the billionaire businessman continued.
Joined by his fellow Republicans, Trump has for months trumpeted the notion that a weak vetting process allows terrorists posing as refugees to enter the country through porous borders.
But according to a fact-check by Politifact, refugees seeking asylum in the U.S. must first undergo an eligibility process that lasts four to 10 months, a security clearance that can also require several rounds, an in-person interview, a green light from Homeland Security, and then a final security check before they’re cleared to enter.
That intensive process can take anywhere from 18 months to two years to complete, according to Politifact.
Trump’s claim about “hundreds of thousands” was also far out of step with recent trends. The U.S. admitted 69,933 refugees in total from all countries.
President Obama has proposed increasing the number of refugees admitted to 85,000 in fiscal year 2016 and 100,000 for the following year.
