The K-1 visa used by Tashfeen Malik to enter the U.S. under scrutiny

Tashfeen Malik and Syed Farook.
(Image credit: Twitter.com/BlakeNBC)

United States visa programs are being scrutinized following last week's shooting in San Bernardino, California, and one immigration scholar says the visa issued to one of the shooters is a relatively rare way for a Muslim to enter the U.S.

In the case of Malik, her husband, fellow shooter Syed Farook, submitted the K-1 visa application, and the Department of Homeland Security vetted Malik against national security and law enforcement databases, WSJ reports. The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services unit was charged with making sure the relationship between Malik and Farook was valid, and after the petition was approved, Malik was fingerprinted and Pakistan issued the visa that permitted Malik to come to the United States. On July 27, 2014, Malik was admitted to the U.S. at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago, and in August, Malik and Farook were married in Riverside County, California. She filed for legal residency a few weeks later, and background and security checks by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and FBI did not find any negative information. She received a conditional green card on July 23.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.