Donald Trump Says ‘No’ To Syrian Refugee Trojan Horse, Echoing Pope Francis’ Fear Of I.S.I.S. Infiltrators

Donald Trump has reaffirmed his opposition to the United States’ acceptance of refugees from Syria, and 24 U.S. governors have taken a similar stand in the aftermath of the Paris attacks by Islamist terrorists. At least three of the suspects in the Paris assaults have ties to Syria, according to CNN, and at least one is believed to have entered Europe with refugees.

CNN‘s Christiane Amanpour cited a French senator briefed by the Ministry of Interior as claiming that one of the jihadists was identified as the man who arrived on the Greek island of Leros on October 3 among numerous Syrian refugees. The terrorist in question was one of the three bombers who detonated themselves at the Stade de France Friday evening, a fact Donald Trump connects with the current refugee crisis.

According to New York Daily News, Lebanese education minister Elias Bou Saab warned British Prime Minister David Cameron on September 14, 2015, that up to 2 percent, or one in 50, of all refugees entering Europe might be undercover “radicals.” The suggestion that two of every 100 migrants flooding Europe could be I.S.I.S. fighters was in sync with Pope Francis’ own views, and those of Donald Trump.

Speaking to a Portuguese radio station on the same day, the pope warned that terrorists might be trying to infiltrate Europe by sneaking in with the tens of thousands of migrants entering the continent from the Middle East. He was commenting on the proximity of Sicily to the source of the threat, mimicking Donald Trump’s Trojan Horse theory.

“Just 400 kilometers from … an incredibly cruel terrorist group. So there is a danger of infiltration. This is true.”

Meanwhile, according to the Wall Street Journal, investigators in France and Greece have determined the fingerprints taken from the suicide bomber who blew himself up outside France’s national sports stadium match those of a man who used the island of Leros on October 3 to gain entry into Europe. The passport shown to Leros police belonged to an Ahmad al-Mohammad, 25, from Syria. The same passport was discovered near the remains of the suicide bomber outside the Stade de France on Friday, November 13 — public information available to the U.S. governors and Donald Trump.

In September, German police arrested a 21-year-old Moroccan asylum seeker in the district of Ludwigsburg. He was identified as a terrorist using a “false identity” after authorities linked him to an arrest warrant issued by their Spanish counterparts. According to the New Observer, he stands accused of recruiting fighters for the Islamic State, and has played the role of contact person for fighters needing to travel to Syria or Iraq, another possibility irking Donald Trump and other critics of President Barack Obama’s refugee policy.

Along with the arrest, “boxes” of fake Syrian passports had also been intercepted, the New Observer reported. The phony documents were reportedly destined for sale and distribution to bogus “war refugees,” fuelling Donald Trump’s concerns. In a similar development, the German newspaper, Tagespiegel, revealed that 10,000 fake Syrian passports were seized by police in Bulgaria on their way to Germany.

According to Business Insider, Fabrice Leggeri, who heads Europe’s border agency, has raised the alarm about a fake Syrian passport market with a special appeal to economic migrants who are not allowed to stay in Europe, as Donald Trump suspects. Asserting that the people who buy fake Syrian passports often speak Arabic and likely come from North Africa or the Middle East, Leggeri recently issued the following statement.

“There are people who are in Turkey now who buy fake Syrian passports because they know Syrians get the right to asylum in all the member states of the European Union.”

CNN reports that at least 24 U.S. governors have announced they will not admit Syrian refugees into their states. Alabama, Georgia, Texas, Arizona, Michigan, Illinois, Maine and New Hampshire are among these 24 states standing firm against the refugee plan. Donald Trump is not alone in his criticism of the current administration’s Syria policy.

[Photo by Jan Kruger / Getty Images]