Despite reactions from several governors, mostly Republican, President Obama is sticking to his plan and says he will accept about 10,000 Syrian refugees.
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Governor Jay Nixon is calling for safeguards when it comes to refugees.
According to a federal database 29 Syrian refugees settled in Missouri so far this year.
Catherine Hanaway, a former Missouri House Speaker and U.S. Attorney, said: “The Islamic State has claimed credit for terrorist attacks in other states such as Texas, threatened more attacks on America and poses a real threat to the safety of our state”.
Arkansas’ governor said he doesn’t believe the United States should be a permanent place of relocation for the refugees. Numerous Syrian refugees are fleeing violence in their own country but Europe, Asia or Africa are logically the best places for resettlement or for temporary asylum. All but one – Gov. Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire – are Republicans.
The president and CEO of the U.S Committee for Refugees and Immigration says under the Refugee Act of 1980 governors can not legally block refugees.
The governors are responding to heightened concerns that terrorists might use the refugees as cover to sneak across borders.
Back in Missouri, St. Louis mayor Francis Slay, himself a descendant of Lebanese immigrants, tweeted that the Paris attacks have motivated him to increase efforts to help Syrians find a home in St. Louis.
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An official of the primary refugee resettlement agency for the St. Louis region argued that there are stark differences between the refugee program in the USA and what is going on in Europe, where Syrians “burst forth” into countries without vetting. “To pick on the refugee process make no earthly sense”, she said. If any of those hurdles are not met, the refugee is not admitted, she said. She said they are all doing fairly well.
