In a Thanksgiving address, the USA president likened the plight of these refugees to that of the Pilgrims who came to America in 1620.
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President Barack Obama is appealing anew for acceptance of Syrian refugees, saying “so much of our greatness comes from our generosity”.
Almost four centuries after the Mayflower set sail, the world is still full of pilgrims – men and women who want nothing more than the chance for a safer, better future for themselves and their families, Obama said in his weekly address, referring to the boat on which the pilgrims arrived in the New World. The figure has been criticised by refugee activists who point out that countries such as France and Germany are settling far greater numbers.
The Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) sent a just such a letter to state agencies on Wednesday, warning states that they can not refuse to accept, or deny benefits to refugees fleeing the war-torn Middle East. The letter was sent after 31 states – 30 of them with Republican governors – announced publicly that they will not allow refugees fleeing ISIS in Syria or Iraq to resettle in their states.
In three USA opinion polls published by Bloomberg, NBC News and the Washington Post/ABC News this month, 53 to 56 percent of respondents said no more Syrian refugees should enter.
One of the Vermont Republicans seeking his party’s nomination to run for governor next year says he’s become more comfortable with the vetting of Syrian refugees after learning more about how refugees are screened before they are brought to the United States.
The House bill would add a requirement for the Homeland Security secretary, along with the head of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the director of national intelligence, to certify that each refugee being admitted poses no security threat.
The House has passed a bill that would effectively ban Syrian refugees altogether despite the most stringent screening policies in the world. “Almost 400 years later, we remember their part in the American story – and we honor the men and women who helped them in their time of need”, Obama said, reported Breitbart. “The notion you would put on pause the that we would welcome refugees fleeing the violence is not true to who we are as a country and it is also not true to who we are as a city”, Emanuel said.
The Obama Administration is issuing a showdown with states that are refusing to accept Syrian refugees.
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House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) slammed the Obama administration as “hypocritical” over the letter. But Obama is speaking to his people in the language they know best: the language of fairy tales and folklores.
