The Islamic State in Iraq and Syria have been receiving the support of "several hundred" Americans as they travel to Syria to join the fight with them, a House Republican said Wednesday. ISIS jihadists, already well-established in Syria, launched an offensive in Iraq on June 9 and have rapidly seized control of vast swathes of Sunni territory since then, The Hill reported.
Since the visa waiver program, which allows citizens from three dozen countries to travel to the U.S. without a visa, is known to be impaired with vulnerabilities, it might make it easier for "thousands" of Westerners from the terrorist group to enter the U.S. undetected, Rep. Candace Miller (R-Mich.), the chairwoman of the Homeland Security Border and Maritime Security subcommittee, said.
"These thugs have no regard for life," Miller said. "Many are eligible for visa free travel, through the visa waiver program. Time is of the essence."
Meanwhile, a Homeland Security Department official said Americans and Westerners pose a "short-term" threat to the U.S.
"I do believe it could be short-term and long-term threat to the United States," said Troy Miller, acting assistant commissioner for intelligence and investigative liaison for the U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
However, a State Department official disagreed. "We certainly assess that ISIL presents a long term threat to the country ... we don't see a near term threat directly from them, no evidence yet of that," said Jennifer Lasley, deputy undersecretary of State for analysis, using an alternate acronym for the group.
Although the subcommittee's ranking Democrat, Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (Texas), refrained from characterizing the threat level, she said "this hearing recognizes that ISIS is a threat to the United States."
As many as 12,000 foreign fighters have gone to Syria to fight with ISIS, including over a thousand from Europe who would be eligible to travel back to the U.S. without a visa, Lee said, noting that the visa waiver program has allowed several terrorist groups to attempt attacks in the past, including the would-be 20th hijacker on Sept. 11, 2001, and the so-called "shoe-bomber."
"It happened in part because our visa and border security defenses were not very effective," Miller said.
Over the weekend, Obama said that he intends to use Wednesday's speech as a means for "preparing the country to make sure that we deal with a threat from ISIL."
"I just want the American people to understand the nature of the threat and how we're going to deal with it and to have confidence that we'll be able to deal with it," the president said in an interview with NBC News's Chuck Todd on "Meet the Press".
"Over the course of months, we are going to be able to not just blunt the momentum of [ISIS]," the president added. "We are going to systematically degrade their capabilities. We're going to shrink the territory that they control. And ultimately we're going to defeat them."
Cooperation from Western allies would also make it an easier task to defeat the ISIS, Miller said. Canada, specifically, has "been reluctant" to share intelligence with the U.S. such as airline manifests, according to The Hill.
"Getting that information is really critical," said John Wagner, assistant commissioner of the Custom and Border Protection's office of field operations.
"One of the things we would like to see is a stronger response from some of our partners overseas," he said.
"We are a very free and open society, but we're looking at a changing world here," Miller said.
According to a recent CNN poll, most Americans fear that ISIS has terrorists living in the U.S.
While about 70 percent of Americans surveyed believe the Islamic State groups have the resources to attack the U.S., an even greater portion of Americans - 76 percent - support additional airstrikes against ISIS.
