Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff defended the process to screen Iraqis before clearing them for entry. "We have a responsibility," Chertoff told the Houston Chronicle. "But we still have to process them. If someone says, 'Oh, I helped you,' we don't say 'Come on in,' because they might not be telling the truth. We've got to verify that they really did help." The expanded program was created by legislation sponsored by Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., and signed into law by President Bush on June 3. The administration rolled out the program in Washington on July 9 for translators and others who have provided valuable services to the Americans in Iraq and found that their lives were endangered as a result. The visas are especially valuable because the translators' families also can enter the U.S. The provision is...
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