DHS Sued for Hiring Former PLO Spokeswoman to Screen Immigrants, Continues Salary Amid Anti-Semitism Claims
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is facing legal action due to allegations regarding its continued employment of Nejwa Ali, a former Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) spokesperson, even after controversial revelations by The Daily Wire. The news outlet disclosed Ali’s previous posts that supported terrorism and expressed extreme anti-Semitic views, leading to significant criticism. Despite this exposure, Ali remained on the DHS payroll, posted about her situation online, and implied support from Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.
DHS suspended Ali but did not dismiss her, and she publicly mocked her paid leave status. The Center to Advance Security in America (CASA) filed a lawsuit against DHS for not complying with a Freedom of Information Act request for documents related to Ali’s hiring and duties. The request sought to investigate whether Ali allowed dangerous individuals to enter the U.S. or unjustly denied entry to others, particularly Israelis, and to evaluate the department’s hiring vetting processes.
The lawsuit, lodged in a DC federal court, criticized DHS for not responding to the CASA’s information request even after more than 200 days and demanded that the court force DHS to release the requested documents or provide a detailed explanation for not releasing them. This ongoing controversy raises serious questions about internal security practices and personnel vetting at DHS.
The Department of Homeland Security is facing a lawsuit after Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas refused to explain why a former spokesperson for the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) was still employed by the department months after The Daily Wire exposed her support for terrorism and extreme anti-Semitism.
Nejwa Ali was hired by the U.S. government to “perform credible fear interviews by reviewing evidence, credibility, and determine admissibility” of asylum-seekers. While working for DHS, her social media consisted largely of a jihad against Jews, posting memes celebrating Hamas terrorists paragliding into a dance festival with guns, writing “F*** Israel, the government, and its military. Are you ready for your downfall?” and sharing videos with captions like “F*** Israel and any Jew that supports Israel,” The Daily Wire revealed October 18.
DHS said it put her on leave after that story, but six months later, she was still being paid, gloating online about her unpaid leave and seeming to suggest that Mayorkas was protecting her. On social media, when somebody commented on her page, “When you do everything you can to get fired but the boss says NO,” she responded, “hilarious, seriously.
The department violated the Freedom of Information Act by refusing to provide documents about Ali in response to a November request, according to a new lawsuit filed by the Center to Advance Security in America (CASA) against DHS.
The FOIA sought “records related to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Adjudication Officer Nejwa Ali and a potential conflict of interest in administering her duties,” exploring whether she ushered in dangerous Palestinians or denied entry to Israelis.
The request also sought to determine what kind of vetting DHS did when hiring her. DHS says that asylum seekers are thoroughly vetted, but it seemingly either did not even vet the person hired to do the vetting, or it knew she worked for a terrorist group and hired her anyway. Ali was working for the PLO until the United States designated it a terrorism group, and it was banished from Washington.
The lawsuit, filed in DC federal court on May 31, said that DHS acknowledged receipt of the FOIA, but had not responded to it in any way more than 200 days later. It also requests internal emails about DHS’ effort to control the narrative about Ali.
It asks a judge to “Order Defendant to produce, within ten days of the Court’s order, or by other such date as the Court deems appropriate, any and all non-exempt records responsive to CASA’s FOIA request and an index justifying the withholding of all or part of any responsive records withheld under claim of exemption” and “Award CASA the costs of this proceeding.”
James Fitzpatrick, CASA’s director, told The Daily Wire that “CASA submitted this FOIA request immediately upon learning of Nejwa Ali’s work for the Palestinian delegation to the U.S., UNWRA, and the virulent, disgusting, anti-Semitic content on her social media pages.”
“We are particularly concerned with transparency on communications regarding Ali’s security screening. It is troubling that someone with Ali’s resume could be given authority to facilitate asylum seekers to the United States. The American people need to know what DHS knew about Ali’s prior work and statements and when they knew it,” he said.
While federal agencies often put employees on paid leave to conduct a disciplinary investigation, Ali has made the case open-and-shut, responding to a question about her support for Hamas para-gliders after The Daily Wire’s story by saying in recorded audio: “I abso-f–inglutely celebrate them, a–hole, f— you!”
Mayorkas refused to explain the holdup to Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Missouri), instead calling his questions about it “despicable.”
Ali has used her paid leave, courtesy of taxpayers, to join radical protests at the Israeli embassy during work hours and doxx members of the military.
Mayorkas has tested the limits of the Freedom of Information Act, which prior administrations like Barack Obama’s touted as a centerpiece of transparent government, even refusing to tell the public how many people on the terrorist watchlist had crossed the border, citing the “privacy interests” of the suspected terrorists.
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