Caption + In this November 16, 2015 photo, Republican presidential candidate Dr. Ben Carson speaks at a news conference in Henderson, Nev.
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Carson said the U.S. should provide more aid to Jordan’s relief efforts, rather than let Syrian refugees into the U.S. Like the other Republican presidential candidates, Carson does not want Syrian refugees coming to this country.
“They want to go back home, obviously”, Carson told ABC’s This Week. And of course wave all heard about the difficulties there but to be able to talk to the ranchers we have been terrorized to be able to talk to the sheriffs and sheriff deputies who put their lives on the line just to have (inaudible) come tell them you have to release these people. “They want jobs. Do you welcome them into America now?” “They were quite willing to stay there as long as it takes before they can get back home”, he said.
In an interview on CNN after his visit, he added that refugee camps are “really quite nice”. “You’ve got these refugee camps that aren’t completely full”.
He also suggested that it would be best for Middle Eastern host countries to absorb most of the millions of Syrian refugees that have fled their civil war-torn homeland. And it was pretty uniform.
“I said what kinds of things can a nation like the United States do to help? So, maybe they can teach us a little bit about how to interpret language”.
Early on Saturday, he was due to visit a United Nations-run Syrian refugee camp, north-east of the capital, Amman, a Jordanian security source said.
“In terms of money, when I looked at the refugee camps in Jordan, there’s about a three billion [dollar] shortfall annually”. Some 4 million Syrians have fled and most have wound up in Turkey, Lebanon or Jordan with hopes of migrating to northern Europe or other prosperous countries.
Retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson has been clear that he believes bringing Syrian refugees into the United States is searching for trouble. “And it’s very obvious to a lot of them”, Carson said.
Pressed on why bring up Halloween candy, Carson said: “My point in comparing it to the Halloween candy is to say that you know this is not a big deal”.
He said his trip was “about fact-finding – about getting an opportunity to see firsthand without having things reinterpreted over something that is really important”.
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Thus far, the United States has accepted 1,900 refugees, though the Obama administration has pledged to allow as many as 10,000 to resettle in 2016. And less and less refugees are even making it to Jordan in the first place anymore – now that more restrictive border screenings are in place, as well as how much more risky travel in Syria has become.
