An article by Sandy Fitzgerald

Since the 9/11 attacks, 72 people coming from the seven Middle Eastern countries named in President Donald Trump's executive order on travel and refugees have been convicted on terrorism charges, according to a new report released Saturday.

According to the nonpartisan Center for Immigration Studies, the report stands "in stark contrast to the assertions by the Ninth Circuit judges who have blocked the president's order on the basis that there is no evidence showing a risk to the United States in allowing aliens from these seven terror-associated countries to come in."

At least 17 of those who have been convicted claimed to be refugees, while three came into the United States as students. Twenty-five more eventually became American citizens, the report shows.

According to a breakdown of the countries and the numbers of people who were eventually convicted of terror crimes:

·         Somalia: 20

·         Yemen: 19

·         Iraq: 19

·         Syria: 7

·         Iran: 4

·         Libya: 2

Jessica Vaughan, the center's director of policy studies, said she based the report on information from a report in 2016 from the Senate Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Immigration and the National Interest.