AUSTIN, Texas — The British terrorist who held four people hostage at a Texas synagogue over the weekend is believed to have traveled to the United States on the basis of tourism, meaning he faced less screening and vetting than a visa or green card recipient would.
Malik Faisal Akram of Blackburn, England, entered the U.S. on a flight into John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York either in late December or early January. He traveled on a tourist visa, according to a U.S. official who anonymously spoke with the Associated Press. Because visas for tourism are not required for British travelers who plan to stay for less than three months, it is likely that Akram traveled through the U.S. Visa Waiver Program.
England is one of 40 countries that the U.S. considers a lesser national security threat and the citizens of which are allowed to travel to the U.S. without having to obtain a visa. Under the Visa Waiver Program, tourists may travel to the U.S. for less than 90 days but must first be approved through U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Electronic System for Travel Authorization.
However, travelers under the program “do not undergo the in-person screening generally required” to receive other types of visas, the Congressional Research Service concluded in an October 2021 report. Because the tourists do not have their biometric data taken, such as fingerprints, facial scans, or retina scans, that information cannot be run against the Department of Homeland Security’s Automated Biometric Identification System or the FBI’s Next Generation Identification system. Instead, their biographical information is checked against other biographical databases.
It is possible that Akram, whose brother claimed he had a criminal record, lied when filling out his ESTA or that his criminal history was not mentioned in the databases that his information was screened against.
The DHS declined to comment on how Akram traveled to the U.S. or what he disclosed as his reason for visiting. The DHS referred the Washington Examiner to the FBI, which did not respond to a request for comment.
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“Under the Trump administration, we made sure to expand transparency on immigration matters and immigration stories to the greatest extent possible. The Biden administration has moved in the opposite direction and is not providing immigration histories in the way DHS did,” said Jon Feere, former ICE senior advisor to the director and chief of staff during the Trump administration.
“ICE could absolutely provide the immigration history of this individual in significant detail. If there were any reason why ICE felt that it couldn’t, the DHS secretary could waive any types of protections and put the information out itself,” Feere said.
Chad Wolf, former acting DHS secretary under Trump, said within several hours of law enforcement identifying who the hostage taker was on Saturday that the DHS and the FBI would have created a profile about him, including any derogatory information about him. They would also look at how many times he has or has not traveled to and from the U.S., as well as details about his most recent trip.
“The secretary, attorney general, and FBI director have that information in hand by now. What they choose to release is a different story. They can decide not to release any of it,” Wolf said. “In the Trump administration, we routinely chose to release unclassified background information so the American people could understand who a particular person was or wasn’t. How they traveled to and from the United States — the administration should be able to release that information.”
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“The American people have a right to know,” said Tom Homan, former acting ICE director. “If DHS has that information, they ought to release it.”
