Obama’s comments come after 31 governors, all but one Republican, have so far said they would resist the Obama administration’s plan and would not welcome the refugees in their states.
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The USA secretary of homeland security, Jeh Johnson, said the bill was counterproductive to America’s humanitarian obligations.
Ryan said the GOP bill would require a new standard of verification to filter out terrorists. But, he wrote, “We must never confuse the people who look to us for safety and opportunity with those who wish to do us harm”.
“Slamming the door in their faces would be a betrayal of our values”, he said. That’s not who we are. Lavinia Limon, U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants President.
As conflicts worsen in Syria and the amount of refugee families increase, Obama vowed that the United Stated would accept 10,000 more Syrian refugees in addition to the 70,000 that the USA planned to take in this year. “They can’t kick people out of the country and they can’t really even kick someone out of their own state even, but they can do various things legally to throw up roadblocks and that’s probably what they’re referring to”, said Garnett.
Obama administration officials stressed that criminal history is only part of the process and consideration, but acknowledged there are limits to what’s available.
He said a few Republican rhetoric on the issue was a “potent recruitment tool” for Islamic State militants.
Ryan, a US Representative for Wisconsin’s 1st congressional district, assembled a task force on Tuesday to work on legislation dealing with Syrian refugees that the House could vote on as soon as Thursday.
A few conservatives backed an amendment that would put a six-month moratorium on admitting refugees. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said a hold on allowing more refugees may be needed, but others like Sen. Still, President Obama has insisted that the USA will continue to accept the refugees, slamming Republicans for suggesting that they pose a security threat.
Fewer than 2,000 Syrian refugees have been admitted into the US, a point of contention with European countries that have brought in hundreds of thousands of refugees from across the Middle East and Africa.
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“Many of us on the City Council have expressed the opinion that Gov. Rauner has no legal authority to block Syrian refugees fleeing violence from being placed in IL”, Ald.
