Administration officials say that, on average, it takes 18-24 months for a Syrian refugee to be granted passage into the U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry announced a plan in September to bring 10,000 Syrian refugees into the USA over the next year.
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Tuesday Governor Bill Walker joined other USA governors in a briefing with officials from the White House, Federal Bureau of Investigation, and U.S. State Department to learn about policies and procedures related to admitting Syrian refugees into the United States.
Refugees of all nationalities, including Syrians and Iraqis, now undergo the most rigorous and thorough security screening of anyone allowed into the United States, “all aimed at ensuring that those admitted do not pose a threat to our country”, the statement said.
Congress is under extraordinary pressure to act. The state governors and politicians pollute American values by using the recent terrorist attacks as a political platform.
“The House Republican legislation would immediately shut down all refugee resettlement from Syria and Iraq – possibly for many years – and severely handicap future refugee resettlement around the world”, Democratic Reps.
“We’re fully aware that governors can not technically bar or preclude certain groups of refugees but it certainly doesn’t make our lives any easier and it certainly doesn’t make the refugees coming here feel welcome if they know these statements are being made”. The one Democrat on the list, Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire, is now seeking a U.S. Senate seat.
“We hope it never comes to that, but theoretically, they could say, ‘No”.
Since the attacks, Clinton has advocated for accepting refugees fleeing Syria but stressed that she, as president, would not commit ground troops to the fight.
The Obama administration, though, said the country already has a “strong, evolving security screening in our refugee admissions program”, and added, “The measures called for in this bill would divert resources from these efforts”.
That includes refugees, but so far, the governors wanting to keep them out of their states are not backing down. But we can not allow terrorists to take advantage of our compassion.
But legal experts say the governors have little or no power to enforce a ban on such refugees.
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Upon arrival in the United States, each refugee is eligible for a $1,975 arrival and placement grant that is managed by one of nine refugee resettlement agencies working with the federal government.
