DHS report says foreign-born extremists typically radicalize 'several years' after coming to America

John Kelly.
(Image credit: Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

A new report from the Department of Homeland Security finds foreign-born extremists who plan violent attacks in the United States typically radicalize only after they have lived in America for some time.

"We assess that most foreign-born, U.S.-based violent extremists likely radicalized several years after their entry to the United States," the document says, "limiting the ability of screening and vetting officials to prevent their entry because of national security concerns." In other words, President Trump's suspended immigration executive order — all other controversies aside — may not be the best tool to weed out extremists, because they often aren't radicalized at the time of immigration.

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Bonnie Kristian

Bonnie Kristian was a deputy editor and acting editor-in-chief of TheWeek.com. She is a columnist at Christianity Today and author of Untrustworthy: The Knowledge Crisis Breaking Our Brains, Polluting Our Politics, and Corrupting Christian Community (forthcoming 2022) and A Flexible Faith: Rethinking What It Means to Follow Jesus Today (2018). Her writing has also appeared at Time Magazine, CNN, USA Today, Newsweek, the Los Angeles Times, and The American Conservative, among other outlets.