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A spokeswoman for
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement confirmed the contents
of a story by CNN on Friday about the report, but declined to
provide a copy of the report.
The report says Islamic State has access to Syrian government
passport printing machines and blank passports, raising the
possibility the travel documents could be faked, CNN reported,
citing a law enforcement source. (http://cnn.it/1Rf6lE1)
The CNN source added that there was also concern that because
the militant group had access to biographical and fingerprint
data on Syrian citizens, there was also a possibility of
identity theft.
ABC News, which first reported the story on Thursday, said the
report was released to law enforcement by the Homeland Security
Investigations agency last week and raised the possibility that
militants could use the documents to travel to the United
States. (http://abcn.ws/1IKPl5I)
"Since more than 17 months [have] passed since Raqqa and Deir
ez-Zour fell to ISIS, it is possible that individuals from Syria
with passports 'issued' in these ISIS-controlled cities or who
had passport blanks, may have traveled to the U.S.," ABC News
quoted the report as saying.
State Department spokesman John Kirby, asked at a briefing on
Friday about the ABC report, replied: "We have been aware of
reports, not just in the press, that they may have obtained this
capability."
FBI Director James Comey told a Senate committee hearing on
Wednesday: "The intelligence community is concerned that they
[Islamic State] have the ability, the capability to manufacture
fraudulent passports, which is a concern in any setting."
(Reporting by Eric Walsh; Editing by Sandra Maler)
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