The men involved in the Paris attacks were French or Belgian nationals; at least one held a Syrian passport, though its authenticity is uncertain. Robert Mendendez says he won’t back a bill passed by the House last week aimed at tightening controls of refugees coming from Syria and Iraq. The disconnect is alarming to Congress and to the American people. That interview determines if applicants are, in fact, refugees – people who have been forced to flee due to war or persecution. “What is clear is that there can be no discrimination on the basis of religion, ethnicity or any other factor when it comes to resettlement of refugees”.
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“I will oppose any attempt to relocate Syrian refugees to Alabama through the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program”, Bentley said in a statement at the time.
She said the bill “fails to meet our values” and “slams the door” on refugees. Here’s the situation: Every year, the administration sets the maximum number of refugees the program will accept from each region of the world. Those concerns also have prompted Capitol Hill lawmakers to push for legislation that would place new hurdles in the way of accepting Syrian refugees. “Refugees wait 18-24 months while the screening process is completed”. She has stated she would be for bringing refugees to the states, but only if the U.S. makes sure other nations are welcoming their fair share of refugees.
“If people have a the chance to hear the individual stories here you will see the degree to which, you know they represent the opposite of terrorism and the opposite of the kind of despicable violence that we saw in Mali and in Paris”, Obama said at an event this week. That is definitely a challenge…. “We will destroy this terrorist organization”.
“We are not well served when, in response to a terrorist attack, we descend into fear and panic”, Obama said in the Philippines on Wednesday.
That’s why on Thursday the House passed the American SAFE Act in a bipartisan, veto-proof majority vote. In OH, only 85 Syrians have been placed, including 54 refugees in Toledo, 15 in Cleveland, a family of nine in Cincinnati and seven in Columbus.
Once a refugee in need of resettlement has been selected, the entire process is turned over to the security services of national governments, which then begin their own careful screening.
The bill imposes no religious test. It simply insists on greater security. That is simply common sense.
The first step in the refugee vetting process, as outlined in the letter, is an interview with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.
Republicans in the race to be on the ballot in the November 2016 presidential election also debated the issue, with Donald Trump saying he would implement a database to keep track of Muslims in the United States, and Ben Carson comparing refugees to “rabid dogs”.
The Chaldeans are among tens and possibly hundreds of thousands of Christians from Iraq and Syria who have been displaced by fighting in their respective countries and persecuted by Al Qaeda, Islamic State (ISIS) and even the Iraqi government, the Fox News report said.
The threat is serious, and it will not go away anytime soon.
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In the process, they’ve inspired fear among Americans and sent the message to the world that the U.S.is reluctant to do its part to address one of the world’s foremost humanitarian challenges.
