Besides being “crazy,” did US immigration officials know that he was a “political activist” in Russia?

There is so much news flying around now about the Boston bomber brothers Tsarnaev that it’s hard to sort through it and pick out what’s important and what isn’t.  But this little nugget in the Huffington Post (hat tip: Jeff) is something I want to share here because it goes to the question of how much screening did this family have before being given asylum in the US?

The mainstream media and Muslim apologists are going to make the case that the brothers unpredictably just went off the deep end, but as more information comes out about this family the bigger issue is what sort of people are we letting into the US in the first place?

A woman who went on many occasions to the Tsarnaev apartment for a facial treatment relates this account of what the mother (Zubeidat Tsarnaeva) said happened in Russia before they came to America.  Incidentally, Zubeidat had reportedly been fired from her spa job and was doing facials at home—LOL! you know this had to be in violation of health laws in Massachusetts!

From the HuffPo:

In my last year of college I was getting a facial from her, and asking her about why she had originally come to the United States with her family about eight or 10 years previously. She told me that she and her husband had been lawyers and political activists in Russia. They had fled the country after “something that her husband did.” Her daughter had recently been divorced at this time, and her daughter’s ex-husband had taken their child to Russia, refusing to return him. Finally the child was returned. When my mom asked Zubeidat how they had gotten the child back, she told her that ‘her [Zubeidat’s] husband was crazy’ and everyone knew it. When he threatened the daughter’s ex-husband’s family, they returned the child.

I guess everyone (but US immigration officials) knew he was crazy.  We are still waiting for more details on how this bunch received asylum.  Were they resettled by a refugee resettlement contractor?  Or, did they arrive here and ask for asylum and go before an immigration judge?  There will be records that are surely being unearthed.   If you find out the details before me—-please send the info. my way.

And, here is what else I want to know:  If they were so persecuted back in Russia, then why did the parents return to Russia? 

One more thing!  The Gang of Eight amnesty bill introduced in the Senate last week has a refugee section we will be telling you more about—it makes it easier for more refugees to get into the US, less screening and elimination of the requirement that you have to prove you were personally persecuted—great huh!

Boston Marathon bombing archive of our previous posts is here.

Send a message to the US State Department

The next hearing on how many (and which refugees) to bring to America in FY2014 is in May.  Go here to see how you can send in testimony.  You do not have to be an expert on the program and testimony can be short (civil please)!