San Bernardino shooter Malik sent extremist Facebook messages in 2012

The visa screening process has come under review by the Homeland Security and State departments, after it emerged that one of the shooters in this month’s San Bernardino, CA, attack had immigrated to the United States on a “fiancé visa” – and that she has posted troubling evidence of radicalization on social media long before she was approved for the visa.

The messages, which were described by one law enforcement official as “her private communications … to a small group of her friends”, were posted before she entered the USA on a K-1 fiancée visa in July 2014.

That means they probably wouldn’t have been found even if US authorities had reviewed social media as part of Malik’s visa application process.

Malik, 27, sent at least two separate messages in 2012 and 2014 pledging her support to the cause of Islamic jihad, the officials told the Los Angeles Times on condition of anonymity.

Officials responsible for visa programs have cited four concerns about using social media as a screening device, even if it is only one tool in the toolbox: time constraints, potential for misinterpretation, abuse of privacy and federal policy.

On the day of the shooting, Ms. Malik acknowledged her allegiance to the Islamic State terrorist group on a Facebook.

The couple supported the Islamic State and apparently shared extreme Islamist thoughts.

There are ongoing debates in the Department of Homeland Security as to whether it is appropriate to check social media in background checks for immigration.

The House has passed bills to require tougher certification for the 10,000 Syrian refugees Mr. Obama has said the US will accept this year, to tighten the visa waiver program to insist that risky foreign visitors go through in-person screenings before entering the USA and now the demand for a social media plan.

The source in the Wall Street Journal report revealed that not all social media posts will be examined.

“I don’t think there are any indications that there was public use of social media that was missed, and we are looking into other questions about how they may have communicated to each other that avoided our detection”, said Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., after being briefed by law enforcement late last week.

USA officials have said that Malik and Farook were completely unknown to US spy agencies before the San Bernardino shootings. “They could have denied this visa” if in that they had screened her on-line accounts, Home Homeland Safety Committee Chairman Michael McCaul, R-Texas, told Fox News source on Tues.

“Had they checked out Tashfeen Malik … maybe those people in San Bernardino would be alive”, Schumer said, in an interview with ABC News.

It’s important to note that, according to the ABC News report, some officials said Malik used a pseudonym in her online messages.

White House spokesman Josh Earnest said he’s not sure that any legislation would be needed to require the department to look at social media accounts during the visa vetting process.