Gov. John Hickenlooper announced Monday that Colorado would accept Syrian refugees.
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“It’s a two or three year process, so there’s lots of time to analyze it”, Hickenlooper said. Refugees fleeing war by the tens of thousands fear the Paris attacks could prompt Europe to close its doors, especially after police said a Syrian passport found next to one attackers body suggested its owner passed through Greece into the European Union and on through Macedonia and Serbia last month.
The United States can’t aldisfigure low in people “who haven’t gone through a thorough background investigation and vetting process, ensuring that they won’t do harm to our country and its national security”, said U.S. Sen.
“Syria’s refugee crisis will not be resolved until the situation on the ground is stabilized”, he said in a statement.
“I don’t think so”, Hickenlooper replied. But, because no vetting process is completely foolproof, there’s still a legitimate concern that extremists could come here disguised as refugees. That includes Colorado Republican legislative leaders, who are calling on the governor to stop accepting refugees until more safeguards are in place.
“What we should be asking is, how do we make sure, how do we guarantee as much as possible, the safety of Coloradans?” he said.
There is “no way to stringently vet the refugees coming from Syria because there are no databases in Syria to confirm the most basic of information, like their identities”, said Congressman Scott Tipton.
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An online petition on Change.org has been started that asks Coloradans to oppose allowing Syrian refugees into the state.
