Homeland Security’s inspector general announced late Wednesday that he will open an investigation into President Trump’s new extreme vetting executive order, beginning the first official watchdog review of the new administration.
The IG said requests came in from members of Congress, from whistleblowers and on the auditor’s complaint hotline.
The investigation will cover not only the executive order itself but also whether the department and its officers complied with court orders, and will look into accusations that some agents went beyond the law and the order in detaining travelers.
Mr. Trump’s policy, announced Friday, puts put a 90-day hold on new admissions from Yemen, Libya, Syria, Somalia, Sudan, Iraq and Iran. It also paused the refugee admission program for 120 days. In both cases, the halt was intended to give officials a chance to improve screening.
But the rollout was rocky, with Homeland Security officials acknowledging they goofed by not communicating better within their department, with other government agencies and with the airports and airlines that were responsible for checking travelers in.
As of Wednesday morning Homeland Security had blocked 940 travelers from reaching the U.S. under the policy. But nearly 1,700 others who were covered by the temporary ban have been let in under waivers exercised by the administration.
Democrats and some Republicans on Capitol Hill have blasted Mr. Trump both for the ban itself and for the way he carried it out, saying it showed poor management skills.
The White House, though, said the policy was rolled out as it intended.
A handful of federal courts have blocked parts of the new policy.
• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.
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